So who are the new Mastersmiths?

Did not get a chance to memorize them all, but our pal Bruce Bump made it along with John Fitch, Sava Damlovac and Michael Vagnino. We also had Heather and her husband from South Africa (last name Harvey ?) pass.



Ron Newton came away with the most awards including best of show, John Fitch won best fighter if I remember correctly, Richard Rogers won best mini.

Jim Crowell won the cutting contest with John Fitch nipping at his heels for second.
 
Thanks for the update Gus. Kevin Harvey from South Africa was listed as a JS, but I did not see Heather Harvey's name on the JS list. There were a whole lot of JSs and Apprentice Smiths trying to advance. Hopefully we will get to see the complete list of those that were successful soon.

Edited to add.

Ah, the reason that I did not see Heather Harvey listed is that her name is Heather Shoebotham.
 
Kevin's test Bowie won the A.B.S. Antique Bowie knife Award for Journeyman smiths. It was stunning. A shade less than 200 copper pique pins in the four raised ovals of the handle with a drop dead Damascus blade. His dagger also won the B.R. Hughes Award for the best knife submitted by a Master Smith applicant.

Ron Newton really had a fantastic group of knives. I believe he won three Blade Show awards including Best of Show and a new category (at least a new one to me) "Best of the Rest". He also won the M.S. version of the Antique Bowie Knife Award with his Samuel Bell style knife.

It was a fantastic weekend. The quality bar seems to raise for just about everyone and there are some very talented young makers out there doing some very impressive work. There were a record number of A.B.S. Journeyman Smith applications and qualifications and a few of those guys were right on the verge of M.S. testing quality (just my opinion here.).

Forgot to mention one of our newer members J.W. Randall also earned his M.S. stamp.

It is hard to imagine all the work that goes into making these knives. These folks spend months sweating out the details of these test knives. Hanging around with them on Friday morning after they have turned the in to the judges was pretty nerve racking for me. As a bystander, I think I was more nervous than some of the folks actually waiting to here the results of their work.

It was great to see and spend some time with Darby. He really is a great guy and we are lucky to have him around. The weekend was full of fantistic knives and good willed people. Both of those things are really what makes the experience so special and it gets better every year.
 
Jon Christensen (http://www.jonchristensenknives.com) got his JS stamp, and got the award for the best JS candidate - I can't remember the name of this specific award right now. His stuff is awesome, and he's a such a nice person too.

I got one of Bruce's MS test pieces - it's awesome.
 
Must be a great feeling to meet and talk to so many blade masters in one room!
 
Joss - it was the George Peck award that he won. His knives were cleeeeeeeeean.

I'd also like to mention that friend and fellow forumite Dan Farr (aka Sabre) was awarded his Journeyman Smith stamp this weekend as well. After the testing, he graciously donated all five of his test knives to the ABS for their banquet auction. I actually tried to buy a few of them that night, but someone kept bidding 'em up in my face ;) :D
 
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