Sleepless...

Great Pics Lorien. Glad to have met you and hope to see all of you again next year. Dave the pre funk was awsome. Looking forward to next year for that also..
 
Thanks for the write-up and pictures...

I thoroughly enjoyed the show and meeting everyone in person.
 
Lorien,

Thank you for taking the time to A) take the photos and B) spend the time uploading them and compiling this thread. I really appreciate the opportunity to look through the pictures and have the chance to see so many amazing people and their work.
 
Mareko obliged me with a cheezy salesman pose, and for that I will always be grateful :)
He's another dude I met at the show who I had some great conversation with. Good dude for sure.

Check out the bolster design on his kitchen knife, I'm not sure if he has a name for it, but I call it a 'pinch ramp'. His cutting demo at the PRE FUNK showed how useful it can be, even with an incomplete handle. I understand that most kitchen cutting is more efficient when the spine of the blade is being held, while the handle is there mostly for leverage, or something like that. But I'm no pro. Mareko is.








Here's Geoff Keyes, rightfully proud of this tanto he made. He also had this little vest knife that he made which you'll see a pic of a little later. It was one of my faves, from the perspective of my hand's eye.





Saign is making some killer shit! I especially loved his Excalibur helm, which reminded me of one of my favourite movies. Just check it out. I was blown away.











Ah, Q Dog...what to say...One of my favourite people in knife making. As you know, his work is off the hook.
Mike is about as straightforward a guy as I've ever met, and is an all around interesting person.
I'm super excited about working with him on yet another project that began to really crystallize at the show...(hint; it's not a coffin handle...)

that is some toight patterning!





um, this is an integral, eh?




Mike was giving out free hugs...I took a pass.




I've already commented on the awesomeness of Adam Desrosiers, but some things cannot be overstated. In addition to his awesomeness as a person, he happens to make the sickest knives! Check this beastly integral out!








more to come...
 
Kiku Matsuoda's table was full of dramatic pieces. He's got a unique approach and his knives can hold their own in any room. Yes, I wanted one...or four...




Such a winning smile!




I didn't get any pics of Bruce himself, but man it was great to finally meet him. Bruce is one of those guys who I've gotten to know through the forum and whose work I have yearned to see for a good long time. One of these days, there will be a Bump in my collection :)

He showed this folder recently, and I was thinking it was a pocket watch pocket sized thing. Um, no.




One of the most interesting knives of the show was interesting in large part due to the sheath. Quite often, knife makers just create a knife and deal with the sheath later, and in those cases, the sheath is simply a holder for the knife. This knife has dual spring loaded quillion, which fold back when the knife is sheathed. There is a groove milled into the face of the upper guard which engages a steel bar in the sheath, locking it into place. To disengage the lock, you just push the upper quillion down with your thumb and out she comes. The sheath is actually two sheaths in one, which is hard to describe, but evident upon inspection.

Typical Bumpnovation!










I am now completely enamored with checkered handles. I'm going to design a knife around that feature one day soon.

 
I did not get to see that knife, as it was in the judging area when I went by Bruce's table. That looks incredible, Bruce sure has a mind for mechanisms and the damascus is off the chain!
 
J.D. Smith is a dude I've gotten to know a bit through social media like facebook, who I've been really looking forward to meet. Speaking of awesome people, he is one of the awesomest! And the knives he brought...simply jaw dropping. He and his business partner, Joseph, make up a team known as AmerRuss. Joe is from Russia, and J.D. speaks the language and observing the two converse was interesting to say the least. My heritage is Russian, so I felt a natural affinity there.

These knives are off the hook. Definitely the most intricate of the show. Never seen so much silver, rubies and diamonds in one place.

Here's J.D. and Joe;





Prepare for some major mindblowingness-























The man, the myth, the legend! J.D. Smith- BOSTON STRONG!

 
next batch of pics are from the judging room. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a pic of all the knives submitted for judging, but with this thread you get what you pay for, lol :)

















 
wow, stuart was runnin' wide open right to the line there, workin' hard and makin' it happen! cool.

thanks for the trip to the show, nice to be able to participate albeit virtually...i was here on the island filing buffalo horn and making glue out of rice as usual...
 
Hank Knickmeyer, (sorry if I spelled your name wrong dude) had some really cool stuff at the show. Didn't take the opportunity to talk with him, but I really enjoyed checking out his steel artistry. He's quite talented, as you can see;












Like everyone at the show, I was blown away by Andrew Meers' work. Andrew is a protege of J.D. Smith, and I had no idea, but when I saw his table, I knew there had to be a connection. One of my regrets from the show was not having more and better pictures of Meers' table, but the lighting in that corner sucked big time and I had to dispose of a few of the pics I did have because they were no good. He's 29 years old, and my guess is that if he sticks with knife making, he could very well be one of the top makers globally.








 
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Dave Lisch is a wizard.











Don't get on the wrong side of the blade when Dave is wearing this face;




That's better!

 
In my opinion, Tom and Mary Sterling had one of the most interesting tables at the show. While the knives aren't your typical cuppa, his work exists on another plane altogether, and was so diverse in scope and deep in talent that I found myself going back there over and over. I would have liked to pick something up from him for my wife, but it sadly just didn't happen. Maybe next year...



this was DAMN cool!






as was this;




Pretty much the coolest thing at the show, I thought;












I think I know the feeling on display in this piece;





This Serge Panchenko knife, utilizing a Hawk mechanism, is a great segue...




...into the knives on the Hawk table;









I'm quite the gear nut, and I have major respect for the cool shit the Hawk team is known for. So clever, the mechanisms devised, but a cool mechanism does not a good knife make- it has to feel good and work well, too. These knives are light, and feel great in hand. They utilize a silicon rubber band to keep the knife closed and to assist it in opening. They don't lock, but a firm grip provides everything needed to keep them open while in use. Definitely wanted one!
 
I'm going to have to finish this thread for the weekend and get back on it on Tuesday. This is fitting, since the first day at the show is coming to a close. The next installment will include the awards at the reception on the evening of the first night, and some more photos of work by some of the artists that so far have been left out.

But I will finish off, for now, with two makers who I greatly enjoyed meeting and talking with; John Doyle and Bruce Bingenheimer. I'm sorry, but I can't remember which was which:p

I didn't get a table shot of Bruce's that worked out, but pics of his knives are floating around elsewhere in this epic thread. If you ever see this guy, shake his hand. He's the real deal!




John is a rad dude as well. Very soft spoken and highly intelligent. His knives really do reflect the man I'd gotten to know.




My pics of his knives turned out great, and I think it has something to do with the colour of the table cloth he used. Feast your eyes...




his most handled knife of the show;




good thing I took a picture, this one didn't stick around long;





Well, that's it for now. See ya next week, eh!
 
Lorien, thank you so much! I have regretted not making the SHORT drive there and burning some vacation time. This makes it worse, and better at the same time! I won't miss it next year for sure.
 
I was super excited to attend this event. I had sold knives and set aside enough to attend and possibly buy a new custom. Unfortunately my former accountant, when advising me on withholding and quarterly tax payment neglected to mention my tax rate went up by 3%.

That took the knife money and much more to pay.... no knives or fun money for the foreseeable future!

Hopefully this will become an annual event, as it is close enough for me to drive over.
 
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Thanks for the killer photos/writeup Lorien! Now I'm kicking myself extra hard for missing this show...Seattle is pretty much my favorite city we've ever visited and there's just too much pure AWESOMENESS going on in that place when a massive herd of knife addicts all gather up there. I know exactly how you felt in Dave's studio too...it's like walking straight into the mind of a hyperactive steel junkie! Every nook and cranny in that place has something cool and completely unexpected tucked away in it. I could dig around in there for weeks without ever getting bored! No way in hell I'm gonna miss it next year! I can sell a kidney to fund the trip if I need to...I hear you only REALLY need one to function anyway :)
 
Mike, thanks for your comment, I completely understand where you're coming from wrt Seattle, kidneys and such! I think we'll get along great, and I can't wait to meet you next year :)

While I was at the show, my bike shop underwent a complete interior paint job, so the first thing I had to do when I got back to work on Tuesday was put it all back together, and also to deal with customers and do repairs. Then on Wednesday night, which is always ride night, I went down super hard while I was showing off to the young folk at our ride. Pretty sure I cracked a rib. I literally crashed at their feet, and one of them actually got shined by my bike which was tumbling through the air. I'm still not sure how it happened, but my shirt had a muddy impression of the tread from my rear tyre which corresponded to a tread shaped group of scratches up my back. Like, it was a complete impression, all the way from my waist up to my left shoulder. So, working, and breathing in fact, has been extra challenging this week. I thank this thread for allowing me something to focus on, even though its been so time consuming. That's also why I so greatly appreciate you guys for taking the time to check out the thread and give me the odd pat on the back. I'm glad to be a member of this tribe.
 
Thanks for posting this thread. Looks like another "must see" for me sometime in the near future.
 
Lorien, Thanks again for sharing your perspective on the show. There was a lot more to this show than I was able to get around to seeing. That may not be considered a bad thing. As I stayed close to my table both days. I really enjoyed your great sense of humor as well.

See you next year.
 
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