On the Road Again with Merle

[Old Engineer]

This weekend Merle joined me (as well as a few other Porch regulars) at the Badger Knife Club show in Janesville, WI. As I was preparing this post, I realized I didn’t do nearly as good a job taking photos as I could have, but hey… I was busy looking at knives and chatting with folks who like knives as much as I do (and who don’t give me the blank stare my wife does when I talk to her about knives), so pictures took a back seat a bit.

Friday morning started off pretty early; I picked H herder up at 5:00 AM, and we got to Janesville around 9:30. We met up with Old Engineer (Harry) @Amir Fleschwund (Jeff) @sunknife (Greg) and @Signalprick (Jason) for breakfast before the show started. We sat and ate and talked knives and had a nice time. I got to check out one of Jason’s knives for the first time in person, as well as one of Mike Moran’s knives that Neal had brought with him. Both really nice knives! I think I’m going to have to get my hands on one of each.

After breakfast we headed over to the Badger show, where we also met up with @Jakeywax31 (Paul) and @bigfish64 (Todd). I had known that most of these guys were heading to Janesville for the show, but I didn’t know that Todd would be there, so it was a pleasant surprise getting to meet him.

This was my second year going to the Badger show, and it really is a lot of fun. Tons of old knives to CE and CF, as well as some custom makers and other cool things to check out.

With Day 1 in the books, those of use who were staying overnight — Paul, Todd, Neal and myself — headed for dinner in downtown Janesville at a nice little Irish pub called O’Riley & Conway’s.

At Paul and Todd’s recommendation, I tried New Glarus Brewing’s Spotted Cow, which was I really enjoyed. We had some some excellent fried cheese curds, and three of the four of us had fish and chips, which was great.

(I only realized after the fact that Merle was completely out of focus in that photo.)

This morning we woke to a few inches of snow. Thankfully we were all staying at the hotel where the show was, so we didn’t have to drive anywhere to get right back to looking at knives as soon as the show opened back up.

Although I had scanned every table at least four times on the first day and handled lots of knives, I still managed to find some things on the second day that I hadn’t seen before, and bought a few (I think) gems, as well. Here’s Merle with the knives that I picked up at the show.

I had a really fantastic time. Getting to see so many cool old knives in person really is great, but maybe even better is getting to meet and spend some time with some of the guys I’ve known from the forum here for years. Neal, Harry and Jeff, it was great seeing you guys again! Paul, Todd, Greg and Jason, it was awesome getting to meet y’all for the first time and hang out and chat. I hope we can all do it again next year!

Good Photos and Great Haul my friend . Now I start my countdown of 363 days until the next time .

Harry

 

[herder]

I finally got to meet marvelous Merle face to face this weekend, heck of a good guy.
But the real pleasure was going down to the Badger knife show with my good friend, Barrett.
A great show, but to be honest, just hanging out with old and new friends was the best of all!!!
Wonderful to see Harry, Jason, Jeff, Greg, Paul, and Todd, along with others at the show.
As Harry said, only 363 days until next years Badger show...

 

[Old Engineer]

I finally got to meet marvelous Merle face to face this weekend, heck of a good guy.
But the real pleasure was going down to the Badger knife show with my good friend, Barrett.
A great show, but to be honest, just hanging out with old and new friends was the best of all!!!
Wonderful to see Harry, Jason, Jeff, Greg, Paul, and Todd, along with others at the show.
As Harry said, only 363 days until next years Badger show...

Likewise my friend .

Harry

 

[btb01]

Great report Barrett, you couldn't ask for better company than that my friend

Thanks, Jack. We had a great time!

I can imagine you were feeling a little out of focus yourself after a few hours in that Irish pub!

Might’ve been more from the lack of sleep from getting up at 4 AM than from the beer.

Barrett, thanks for the report on the Badger Knife Club show.
Sounds like all the folks from The Porch had a great time meeting up there!
Looks like Merle helped you pick up some commendable cutlery. Who's the maker of that Barlow with the barrel on the bolster?

- GT

Thanks, GT! You should try and make it over one year, I don’t think it’s too far from you. (Of course, it’d be a lot closer if there weren’t a big lake in the way!)

That’s a good question on that smaller Barlow. It’s a bit of a mystery, to be honest. The stamp on it says “Chero-Cola Company.” The guy selling it admitted that he hadn’t been able to find out much about it. He was asking what would’ve been a very fair price if it were a really old knife, but more than I would have risked without knowing a bit more. I had Neal come look at it with me, and his best guess was that it was a reproduction made in the ‘70s or ‘80s in Germany, around the same time there were some similar-looking reproduction Russell Barlows made. The guy selling it seemed to agree with that assessment, and significantly adjusted his asking price accordingly. So it probably isn’t that old of a knife, but still pretty unique/cool-looking, and I got it for what I think was a good price, even if it is just a well-made reproduction.

I just finished taking some pics of it and the other knives I picked up, which I’ll post over in the new additions thread, and probably some other applicable threads (the Barlow thread, etc.).

 

[btb01]

I finally got to meet marvelous Merle face to face this weekend, heck of a good guy.
But the real pleasure was going down to the Badger knife show with my good friend, Barrett.
A great show, but to be honest, just hanging out with old and new friends was the best of all!!!
Wonderful to see Harry, Jason, Jeff, Greg, Paul, and Todd, along with others at the show.
As Harry said, only 363 days until next years Badger show...

That’s definitely the best part. I’m looking forward to next year already!

 

[5K Qs]

Thanks, GT! You should try and make it over one year, I don’t think it’s too far from you. (Of course, it’d be a lot closer if there weren’t a big lake in the way!)

That’s a good question on that smaller Barlow. It’s a bit of a mystery, to be honest. The stamp on it says “Chero-Cola Company.” The guy selling it admitted that he hadn’t been able to find out much about it. He was asking what would’ve been a very fair price if it were a really old knife, but more than I would have risked without knowing a bit more. I had Neal come look at it with me, and his best guess was that it was a reproduction made in the ‘70s or ‘80s in Germany, around the same time there were some similar-looking reproduction Russell Barlows made. The guy selling it seemed to agree with that assessment, and significantly adjusted his asking price accordingly. So it probably isn’t that old of a knife, but still pretty unique/cool-looking, and I got it for what I think was a good price, even if it is just a well-made reproduction.

I just finished taking some pics of it and the other knives I picked up, which I’ll post over in the new additions thread, and probably some other applicable threads (the Barlow thread, etc.).

Thanks for the Barlow info, Barrett; that's quite intriguing. And getting it for what YOU think was a good price is the important thing. I don't have nearly enough experience and information to know the "true market value" of hardly any knives, so as long as I think the asking price is what I'm willing to pay, I'm happy (even if, objectively, I got bamboozled).

When I heard about your trip to the show from the Twin Cities area, I thought back to the trip my wife and I (and dog) took to St. Paul last summer. I had figured Janesville WI was near the halfway point, about 4.5 hours from Grand Rapids MI, although I consider it kind of a brutal drive since we have to traverse much of the Greater Chicago "metroplex". (And last summer, that trip took us over 8 hours because we were unwise enough to follow the route suggested by an ancient Garmin GPS device.) Regarding the big lake in the way, I've looked briefly at the possibility of taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. Saves a lot of miles (and avoids Chicago), but doesn't save any time. I don't know what it costs these days.

- GT

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks, Jack. We had a great time!



Might’ve been more from the lack of sleep from getting up at 4 AM than from the beer.

I know you have a good deal of stamina my friend It was good to see you wearing your no nonsense boots too!

 

[btb01]

When I heard about your trip to the show from the Twin Cities area, I thought back to the trip my wife and I (and dog) took to St. Paul last summer. I had figured Janesville WI was near the halfway point, about 4.5 hours from Grand Rapids MI, although I consider it kind of a brutal drive since we have to traverse much of the Greater Chicago "metroplex". (And last summer, that trip took us over 8 hours because we were unwise enough to follow the route suggested by an ancient Garmin GPS device.) Regarding the big lake in the way, I've looked briefly at the possibility of taking the ferry across Lake Michigan. Saves a lot of miles (and avoids Chicago), but doesn't save any time. I don't know what it costs these days.

I didn’t even know there was a ferry! I’m sure it wouldn’t actually save time, but it might be an interesting way to travel. I did briefly look it up, and it isn’t exactly inexpensive, either, but maybe worth avoiding Chicago.

I know you have a good deal of stamina my friend It was good to see you wearing your no nonsense boots too!

They’re the only shoes I wear in winter.

Merle hasn’t been up to too much since we got back from the knife show. We did have a tasty meal at Shake Shack yesterday. I asked the rest of the family if they wanted anything, but they said they weren’t hungry.

Just kidding, of course. I had a double cheeseburger with bacon and crispy onions, cheese fries and a strawberry shake. Delicious!

 

[5K Qs]

I didn’t even know there was a ferry! I’m sure it wouldn’t actually save time, but it might be an interesting way to travel. I did briefly look it up, and it isn’t exactly inexpensive, either, but maybe worth avoiding Chicago.



They’re the only shoes I wear in winter.

Merle hasn’t been up to too much since we got back from the knife show. We did have a tasty meal at Shake Shack yesterday. I asked the rest of the family if they wanted anything, but they said they weren’t hungry.

Just kidding, of course. I had a double cheeseburger with bacon and crispy onions, cheese fries and a strawberry shake. Delicious!

Appealing burgers, fries, and shakes! If the Lake Michigan ferry has food service like that, sign me up!

- GT

 

[mrknife]

How are Merle's travels going? I love the concept, its almost like a bladeforums short snorter!

 

[btb01]

How are Merle's travels going? I love the concept, its almost like a bladeforums short snorter!

Jack, Merle finished up the list of hosts and got back to me at the end of February, but his journey’s not quite over yet. I’ll be sending him off to California soon so he can try his hand at being a cowboy.

 

[Horsewright]

Yahoo:

Looking like we'll be getting lil better weather than we've been having. Lately its been, to paraphrase John McClane (Bruce Willis in Diehard), "Come on out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs."

And I left Montana for California:

 

[Horsewright]

Well Merle arrived here in Tehachapi California yesterday afternoon. It was cold and misty but I had the doors open on the shop and was working. While we didn't have time for a proper shop tour then Merle jumped right in and helped out with the projects I was working on.

I was working on this matching rifle scabbard and Rangeflap holster. They are going to an outfitter in Oregon.

All the tooling had been previously done and the scabbard and holster had been oiled, condition and prepped for construction. An unique feature on this particular scabbard was the customers business logo. He'd asked if I could hand tool that into the scabbard and I'd told him that really wasn't doable. However, I have a buddy that has a laser. so I checked with him and yes he could do the logo on a piece of leather. He even had the same leather I use for the scabbard already, as he's a maker too, so it would match pretty close. Here it is getting ready to be glued onto the scabbard prior to sewing.

Meanwhile Merle was having fun helping me to pick the right piece of water buffalo leather to line the holster with.

Everything glued up and waiting for the glue to dry. Most makers use a contact cement for leather work and basically everything that is sewn is glued first.

So we used The Beast, a Cobra 4 to stitch on the logo. Merle hanging with this guy:

Merle was kind of excited cause he thought he was gonna get to cut the excess threads off. He was disappointed when I told him I use a soldering iron for that.

Because we had to fold the scabbard into several funny shapes while sewing on the logo to get it fit in the machine, we put another coat of conditioner on it. Merle was getting cold so he put his jacket back on:

We then glued up the scabbard for final sewing and while that was drying we went inside and used the lighter machine, a Cobra 18 to sew the lining into the holster. Merle got to drive:

I did let him help trim off the excess lining leather once we got back outside and he was excited about that. He let his new friend, a pro, handle the curves though cause well a knife has got to know his limitations:

Merle was really pleased with the work we got done that afternoon. This project is finished except for the straps for the scabbard. We'll do that in the morning though:

Merle had noticed that Nichole, my wife, was working inside too when we went in to sew the holster lining. He wanted to see what she'd been up too. He found out that she'd been working on a group of custom belts.


All were water buffalo and lined:

Nichole had finished before we did and was outside. She was working with Mitchy our yearling colt. He's kinda in a stage right now. Think early teenager that doesn't know that they don't know but think they do.

Wasn't there a song Merle and Mitchy?..... No, guess that was Pancho and Lefty. Oh well time to go feed and start the day this morning.

 

[btb01]

Well Merle arrived here in Tehachapi California yesterday afternoon. It was cold and misty but I had the doors open on the shop and was working. While we didn't have time for a proper shop tour then Merle jumped right in and helped out with the projects I was working on.

I was working on this matching rifle scabbard and Rangeflap holster. They are going to an outfitter in Oregon.

All the tooling had been previously done and the scabbard and holster had been oiled, condition and prepped for construction. An unique feature on this particular scabbard was the customers business logo. He'd asked if I could hand tool that into the scabbard and I'd told him that really wasn't doable. However, I have a buddy that has a laser. so I checked with him and yes he could do the logo on a piece of leather. He even had the same leather I use for the scabbard already, as he's a maker too, so it would match pretty close. Here it is getting ready to be glued onto the scabbard prior to sewing.

Meanwhile Merle was having fun helping me to pick the right piece of water buffalo leather to line the holster with.

Everything glued up and waiting for the glue to dry. Most makers use a contact cement for leather work and basically everything that is sewn is glued first.

So we used The Beast, a Cobra 4 to stitch on the logo. Merle hanging with this guy:

Merle was kind of excited cause he thought he was gonna get to cut the excess threads off. He was disappointed when I told him I use a soldering iron for that.

Because we had to fold the scabbard into several funny shapes while sewing on the logo to get it fit in the machine, we put another coat of conditioner on it. Merle was getting cold so he put his jacket back on:

We then glued up the scabbard for final sewing and while that was drying we went inside and used the lighter machine, a Cobra 18 to sew the lining into the holster. Merle got to drive:

I did let him help trim off the excess lining leather once we got back outside and he was excited about that. He let his new friend, a pro, handle the curves though cause well a knife has got to know his limitations:

Merle was really pleased with the work we got done that afternoon. This project is finished except for the straps for the scabbard. We'll do that in the morning though:

Merle had noticed that Nichole, my wife, was working inside too when we went in to sew the holster lining. He wanted to see what she'd been up too. He found out that she'd been working on a group of custom belts.


All were water buffalo and lined:

Nichole had finished before we did and was outside. She was working with Mitchy our yearling colt. He's kinda in a stage right now. Think early teenager that doesn't know that they don't know but think they do.

Wasn't there a song Merle and Mitchy?..... No, guess that was Pancho and Lefty. Oh well time to go feed and start the day this morning.

Great start to Merle’s time with you, Dave! Beautiful leatherwork (as always). The logo stitched onto that scabbard turned out really clean looking.

 

[Horsewright]

Great start to Merle’s time with you, Dave! Beautiful leatherwork (as always). The logo stitched onto that scabbard turned out really clean looking.

Thanks Barrett!

Well I finished up the straps for the scabbard and took some pics of it for our normal stock photos. Merle wanted to jump in and show off his new western duds. He needed them cause we got cowboying to do soon.

He liked playing model.

 

[Rookie82]

I don't know anything about leatherwork, and have never tried my hand at it. But I sure enjoy your photos showing the process, and I recognize your skills because the end product looks effortless. Masters of the craft are good at making things look easy. Very well done!

 

[RLB0414]

Great looking work Dave. Looking forward to more photos

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks folks!

Big Doings!!

So Merle says I know we're cowboying next week, we gonna do any knife making this week? I said yep we got some work to do. He was eager to jump in and help but I reminded him that it was gonna be tricky enough to teach him to ride a horse without opposable digits, knife making might be completely out. He understood but asked for a perch where he could see everything going on. I wasn't gonna be using this drill press:

I had pre ground this group of six a few days earlier than Merle's arrival and they were ready to proceed when I had a chance. All six of these blades are AEB-L. I do all the bevel grinding on AEB-L after heat treat. Only five of the six are pictured here as we're working on the bolsters and the sixth knife doesn't have a bolster.

But he's already glued up and drying:

So using Visegrips I take one of the bolster pieces and clamp it to the knife blade and use the bolster holes in the blade as a guide drill the holes in the bolster piece. I then line up the two bolster pieces together and clamp them and use the first piece as a guide to drill the holes in the second piece. After drilling I use a tapered punch to flare the holes on both sides:

I'll then release the Visegrips and using a hand drill will counter drill the inside of the holes a hair. This allows the pins to expand when peened without knocking the bolster pieces out of kilter:

I'll then rub the insides on a sanding disc stuck to a tile. This removes any burrs that might prevent the bolster pieces from lying flat.

Then repeat on the bolsters for each individual knife. Once all the bolsters are drilled I put them on each knife. I mix up a little JB Weld and spread it thinly on the inside of the bolster piece. The pins are put in and peened:

I check several times that the bolster pieces are even and make any adjustments as needed. I want a thin even line of JB Weld coming out the front of the bolster as can be seen in the pic above. The JB Weld acts more as a sealant the bolster itself is held on by peening the pins. Together this is a very strong system and with thousands of knives out there in the world, I've never had a bolster fail. My secret weapon for cleaning up the JB Weld is a Q Tip soaked in WD 40. This will get almost all the JB Weld off leaving an almost invisible joint seal. As the sealant dries it will seep out just a hair. This I clean up later with an Xacto blade.

Then repeat:

I let the bolsters set at least a couple hours before doing anything else with them. So meanwhile our farrier was here working on our horses and Merle wanted to see what was going on. So we headed down the hill to meet Alberto our farrier:

 

[JM2]

Well I am loving Merle's last hurrah. I am also learning some good tips for knife building. I've done a little bit of knife work and leatherwork, but nothing like HorseWright and other makers here do. Thanks for sharing! Horsewright

 

[JJ_Colt45]

Well I am loving Merle's last hurrah. I am also learning some good tips for knife building. I've done a little bit of knife work and leatherwork, but nothing like HorseWright and other makers here do. Thanks for sharing! Horsewright

Agreed. I am thinking of trying to get Dave to bring me out for a couple weeks and show me around ... heck even put me to work. I think it would be worth it to see the knives and leather ... guns and horses. I've done more than one day of that type work for nothing more than meals and beer ... I enjoy it so it wouldn't be a bad trade.

But does that mean I have to go through a whole pass around?