- Joined
- Jun 8, 2000
- Messages
- 3,140
My wife and I went to the Solvang custom maker's show yesterday. Wow! I can't believe that I live within a 90 minute drive and never made this show before. It was like a who's who of most of the top makers that I usually only get to read about. Words barely describe many of the knives I saw. Most of the makers were incredibly nice to boot.
I had a real pleasant conversation with Buster & Julie Warenski who do unbelievable work. Gil Hibben had a sub hilt fighter with a great scrimshaw of a wicked woman on white linen micarta (see photo) and was real nice to talk to. Phil Boguszewski was showing an awesome folder featuring Titanium Damascus bolsters (pic ditn't turn out, damn!) and seems like a real nice guy. The chance to meet the likes of Warren Osborne, Bob Lum, Bud Nealy, Joe Kious, Chris Reeve, Jimmy Lile....the list goes on and on. It was truly a great day. Frank Centofante had some great stuff and was very approachable and Stan Fujisaka has found a way to do the most incredible pictures on the Ti bolsters using some multi color anodize process. I mean birds, hot rods, flowers, all sorts of stuff. There was also a guy named V.H. Barnett who only had one piece, but boy was it cool. His knife is actually a liner lock folder. Unfortunately, Joe Kious didn't have any of his engraving stuff on the table, but his book of pics was really incredible. John W Smith had some awesome knives as well although they're beyond my means for the moment.
Did I mention I thought I met Jimmy Lile, but am not smart enough to read a name tag? After visiting all the tables at least twice I kept coming back to the Lile Handmade Knives table. Jimmy's wife (I'm embarrased I forgot her name) and the gentleman working the booth (again, no name) were so very nice and there was this one knife that kept calling out to me on their table. There were actually many knives calling out to me from many tables, but with domestic peace in mind, I knew I couldn't take them all home. I finally took the plunge and came home with my first custom and what a beaut she is. A Jimmy Lile Combat fighter with a 7" clip point blade made from 3/16 D2 and black linen Micarta slabs and thin red spacers. If you follow the link below to the pictures I've posted on Yahoo Photo and look at the picture titled Lile 2, it's the second knife from the bottom. It's got a fully tapered tang with a full guard and is balanced so well it just floats in my hand. My neighbor who is definitely not a knife guy picked up on the balance immediately when he picked it up as he was expecting it to be front heavy considering the rather prominent blade size. Keep in mind that my knife is 11.75 inches OAL to give you an idea of the size of the Bowie at the bottom of the pic.
I also got a chance to show off my snazzy new Bladeforums t-shirt. It got quite a bit of attention. I was surprized to find out how many makers and collectors had never heard of the forum. Perhaps we'll get a couple new members out of it? I was also quick to point out that it is not my website, I am just one of the forumites, but that this really is quite a community we have here.
Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it.
jmx
Link to pix: http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/jmxcpter/lst?&.dir=/Solvang+2002&.src=ph&.view=t
PS: There's more than one page of photos, so make sure you don't miss some!
I had a real pleasant conversation with Buster & Julie Warenski who do unbelievable work. Gil Hibben had a sub hilt fighter with a great scrimshaw of a wicked woman on white linen micarta (see photo) and was real nice to talk to. Phil Boguszewski was showing an awesome folder featuring Titanium Damascus bolsters (pic ditn't turn out, damn!) and seems like a real nice guy. The chance to meet the likes of Warren Osborne, Bob Lum, Bud Nealy, Joe Kious, Chris Reeve, Jimmy Lile....the list goes on and on. It was truly a great day. Frank Centofante had some great stuff and was very approachable and Stan Fujisaka has found a way to do the most incredible pictures on the Ti bolsters using some multi color anodize process. I mean birds, hot rods, flowers, all sorts of stuff. There was also a guy named V.H. Barnett who only had one piece, but boy was it cool. His knife is actually a liner lock folder. Unfortunately, Joe Kious didn't have any of his engraving stuff on the table, but his book of pics was really incredible. John W Smith had some awesome knives as well although they're beyond my means for the moment.
Did I mention I thought I met Jimmy Lile, but am not smart enough to read a name tag? After visiting all the tables at least twice I kept coming back to the Lile Handmade Knives table. Jimmy's wife (I'm embarrased I forgot her name) and the gentleman working the booth (again, no name) were so very nice and there was this one knife that kept calling out to me on their table. There were actually many knives calling out to me from many tables, but with domestic peace in mind, I knew I couldn't take them all home. I finally took the plunge and came home with my first custom and what a beaut she is. A Jimmy Lile Combat fighter with a 7" clip point blade made from 3/16 D2 and black linen Micarta slabs and thin red spacers. If you follow the link below to the pictures I've posted on Yahoo Photo and look at the picture titled Lile 2, it's the second knife from the bottom. It's got a fully tapered tang with a full guard and is balanced so well it just floats in my hand. My neighbor who is definitely not a knife guy picked up on the balance immediately when he picked it up as he was expecting it to be front heavy considering the rather prominent blade size. Keep in mind that my knife is 11.75 inches OAL to give you an idea of the size of the Bowie at the bottom of the pic.
I also got a chance to show off my snazzy new Bladeforums t-shirt. It got quite a bit of attention. I was surprized to find out how many makers and collectors had never heard of the forum. Perhaps we'll get a couple new members out of it? I was also quick to point out that it is not my website, I am just one of the forumites, but that this really is quite a community we have here.
Thats my story and I'm stickin' to it.
jmx
Link to pix: http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/jmxcpter/lst?&.dir=/Solvang+2002&.src=ph&.view=t
PS: There's more than one page of photos, so make sure you don't miss some!
....but then again I spent all my money at the Oregon Show last week ...lol.
