Stock Removal and ABS?

etp777

etp777

Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Messages
2,259
OK, I was informed by one of our helpful members and his lovely wife that I could join ABS even if I'm only donig stock removal for now(still working on forging in the apt. ;) )

Anyways, I couldn't find any info on this on the ABS site, and their email link for the "Answer Guy" didn't work. So if anyone could give me some info on this or point me to person to ask, I'd appreciate it greatly.
 
The "helpful member and his lovely wife" were correct. You do not have to forge knives to be a member of the ABS.

Obviously, you do have to forge blades to be eligible for JS and MS testing, but to just be a member of the organization, you don't even have to make knives.
 
One thing worth mentioning, you would not want to use your ABS membership in association with any advertising for your knives if they are strictly done by stock removal. That would most certainly be frowned upon.

The ABS offers two membership categories, regular and associate. The first is for working bladesmiths and the second is for collectors and anyone else interested in the forged blade.

If you don't see the ability to forge blades in the near future, but still want to support and be a part of the organization, you might opt to join as an associate member. I believe the dues for associate membership is about half that of the regular dues.

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Also, what happened when you attempted to send an email to Joe Keeslar (the Answer Guy)? Did it just get kicked back? Let me know, and I'll be happy to notify the ABS Webmaster of the problem.
 
Thanks for the input, think I'll get associate for now(or will when I sell a few more blades, try to pay for stuff like that with blades). And yeah, won't ever use abs in relation to my knife making until I'm actually a bladeSMITH. :)
 
TANSTAAFL,

I am in the exact same boat as you. I have been making stock removal knives for about 5 years now. One thing you might want to consider before you sign up as an associate member... You need to be a regular member for 2 or 3? years before you can test for your Journeyman's stamp. If you sign up as a regular member (Apprentice), time will start ticking off of the wait even though you are not currently forging.

Rick
 
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