What I did on my Christmas Vacation.......

[Gary W. Graley]

Sort of....The Chesapeake Knife Show was today! and a full day it was!

Picked up a little beauty from a maker named
M. Takahashi, small stag handled fixed blade, tapered tang, very sweet.

Met a lot of fellows too!

Win Heger, great guy! we were roomies the night before the show, got the VIP Pass so we had a gathering with the makers and got to go into the show early as well...he brougt along some nice soft bags for knives, very strong and soft, plus he had some Photon II's at a nice price as well, think he has a few left. Win also had a lot of gorgeous knives, engraved and just spectacular!

Bob Curran, Narruc1 was present with his TON of knives, and beauties they were! Last I saw of him he was working on a folder from WD Pease and also a BM42 butterfly, I sort of put on a short show and got the interest up on working on that...

The Jones boys, don't call them Boys! they are a serious pair of knife makers! lots of Tactical items present! Nice to meet them there!

PJ Tomes, what a unique fellow he is, very nice knives, great time with him at the get together...

Boomer2, met briefly, busy guy!

HD Charlie and friend, now this guy has BIG knives, had fun showing knives on Saturday night show and tell, that Hossom....WOW !

W.D. Pease, what a nice man he is, and can he make a knife! I had gotten a small fixed blade of his through Win Heger a short while ago with Stag handles, well he brought Win one of the last fixed blades and this one had Sheep horn and I was going crazy and begged Win to let me trade my stag for the Sheep horn....

I was a very happy camper!!!!

Met Taz there too, he only had a short time, kind a like Cinderella Knifemaker I would guess, but he is NO Cinderella! Strong looking guy, but then he is in college at York PA, home of the Barbell place so he can't help but press a little iron now and again. He brought three of his knives in process, a bowie, a tanto he calls a Ronin (sp) and a small hunter, he has just gotten his Grizzley grinder and I expect great things from him, he certainly has the Steel Virus!!

JPopp, now here is a guy that trades and sells knives faster than me!?! Extremely nice guy, but then I really didn't meet anyone that wasn't !

Poor RJ Martin, he was there, no table but walking around with his hand all bandaged up, RJ we are pulling for you to heal up quick!

Rick Hinderer also showed up with some new tacticals as well, nice work Rick!

Mike Snody, what a really nice fellow and he brought quite a lot of knives along with him, working in CPM3V and says he loves it, so I might be getting something from him in that, too bad he didn't get any sleep Saturday night, said the floor above was making such a racket, I said it was probably someone forging a knife for the show....last minute work!

ChefGet, Micheal Gettier, here is a Chef with some very strong arms, this guy is plenty tough! I shook hands and his forearm felt like steel cable, just how hard is it to be a Chef in your area? Micheal Treated the Bladeforum guys to a SUPER meal of ribs and beer and bottle water, I took the water, but had a lot of ribs which fell off the bone, oh man were they tasty! We had some left and he wrapped it up and I ferried it back to the show for Les and Ted Merchant and the other BladeForum guys that missed out. Thanks again Michael! and he also had some knives there.....

While there I meet a few more forum members, but don't remember they're names and hope they will add to this thread, but the Damon was there, nice collection he had, Paracelsus and his son were there and two others that were just plain fun to meet up with and talk knives....my brain is burned out as I can't recall the names...

All in all I certainly enjoyed the fellowship and the steel that was present, very nice group of guys to play show and tell, and a lot of them seemed to like my Criswell sword! and no it's not for sale!

G2, tired and finally home, bid you goodnight! oops goodmorning!

------------------
"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...



[This message has been edited by Gary W. Graley (edited 12-20-2000).]

 

[Kodiak PA]

Wow Gary...sounds like you had a great weekend. Beats the vasectomy I got on Friday.

------------------
~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
JKM-Chai

 

[JOCKO]

Gary,
That W.D.Pease knife is a beauty! Bill does love using sheephorn.
I started buying knives from him in 1979 and have probally owned 80 or more of his knives over the years. I still have the first one I bought from him it is a three finger boot knife with stag handle scales which I sent to George Sherwood for engraving. With the engraving the total I have into the knife is $160.00. Those were the good old days.
Good collecting!
JOCKO

 

[Kwaiken56]

Hey Gary, Now that sounded like a fun-filled weekend! That Takahashi looks sweet! Glad you had a great time, but I bet it's good to be home. Looking forward to those sheaths!

Greg, LOL!!

Even woke up one of my sons sleeping in here. (Sorry, but that DID sound funny)

AL

------------------
"When loss and gain are alike to one, that is real gain.."

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Kodiak PA, you always were a little TOO nutty! Don't forget to see that Tom Selleck movie called `Folks', one nut!

Also I sold my Boa to a nice gentleman at the restaurant and when I took the ribs to the show on my way home, I did a last walk around the show and ended up getting a Benchmade 940, Osborne, green handled and plain edge model, have always wanted one and the fellow at the show took pity on me and took my remaining coinage for that knife, it's a great folder, highly recommend it! The Kershaw Boa? It too is a very well made knife and razor sharp, but the blade shape just didn't suit me....I won't say what Baltimore Chef

convinced me to get one....but it's ok now as I was able to sort of trade for the 940 and am happy now, as was the fellow I sold the Boa...

Also when I got that Takahashi, he opened a small bamboo container and offered me to pull out a small bamboo stick, at first I wildly thought it was some kind of strange lottery and if I pulled out the one with the right colour on it, my knife would be free, no such luck! BUT, it was a unique piece of Japanese ear cleaning tools, it was, as he said in broken english, `Very old' bamboo and at the end it is curved up slightly to DIG the wax and pull it from your ear, tried it last night and IT works! Pretty neat, I'll treasure that slight piece of Bamboo as well as the knife.

Also I picked up from Win Heger a very small neck knife which I'm going to convert to a belt knife, fixed blade with about a 2" blade, sheepfoot type with G10 scales made by Rob Criswell, small but a lot of edged packed in there and very very reasonable priced! Thanks again WIN!

Al, should have your sheaths ready to go tomorrow I hope, last ones for the year as my wife wants her kitchen back for the holidays, least I can do for her!

I hope everyone that visited the show had a great time, cramped, loud, hot and sweaty but it was a lot of fun!....Got to handle a couple of Matt Lamey KNives there too, man are they sweeeet they melt into your hands, the handles are so well made and the balance of the knives just say TAKE ME....very nice Matt!

G2

 

[Taz]

Cinderella?? Lol. My ride had to be back at college by 1pm for his radio show, so we had to leave. Lets just say we went very fast on the way home!!! Gary, why didn't you tell me RJ was going to be there???? DOH!!!! RJ, was that you with the big ace bandage on your arm?? I was the kid with the shorts, red football jersey, drooling all over

. yes, it was my first show. I can't believe all of the stuff I saw! I got to meet Gary, the Jones brothers, Tomes, Chefget, Gary Anderson and was able to see a bunch of really cool knives. I wish I had some money, but I spent most of it at the Koval table. The bader table killed me...so that is what a real grinder looks like!! I couldn't stay there that long otherwise I would have gone crazy! Well, i gotta call Crucible and order some steel now and spend more $$!!!

 

[Paul Davidson]

Gary
No wonder I couldn't get a hold of you on the phone today, you lucky dog! Sounds almost as good as the Blade Show. Did you see any of the Lum Chinese folders? You know I've been waiting impatiently for that one for some time. Oh well, I'll try to call you tomorrow.
Paul

 

[Novadak]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Gary W. Graley:
a unique piece of Japanese ear cleaning tools, it was, as he said in broken english, `Very old' bamboo and at the end it is curved up slightly to DIG the wax and pull it from your ear, tried it last night and IT works!</font>

I remember those! My mom used to use those on me when I was little, I used to think they were some kind of torture device for children. They actually do work, though, same as bobby pins.

 

[Phillip Jones]

Gary,

It was nice to finally meet you.
Good choice on the Takahashi knife. He had some great looking knives on his table.

------------------
Phillip Jones
Jones Knives
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=126319&Auth=false

 

[Chefget]

Glad ya liked the ribs G2!!

Now I would like to point out that your Pease is not a Wharncliff...dispose of immediately...

Rolled steel pans are the chefs' secret to arm strength (the 3rd degree black belt in Kenpo doesn't hurt either

)

Ted Merchant, the gentleman responsible for the show for the past dozen years or so (and also a great maker!) has a site www.knifeshows.com please give a visit as he is just starting to gear up!

Beside the DDR stiletto proto (!) aquired at the show, here is a Ken Steigerwalt, arguably the most undervalued maker on the scene today!

Pearl scales, fileworked leaf-spring scale release

See ya next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Michael

------------------
Chefget's Knife Page
Cook?
RecipePack Kitchen Management software

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks for clearing that up Chefget, and thanks for posting your other Christmas present to your self!

G2

 

[Chefget]

Gary,

Please email for instructions on disposing of the Pease...

-Michael

------------------
Chefget's Knife Page
Cook?
RecipePack Kitchen Management software

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Michael, email will leave shortly....well maybe in a while....well maybe never, expect to hang onto that one a while!

Nice eh?
G2

 

[narruc1]

I also had a great time Gary, and I'm particularly impressed with you. You not only can make a great leather sheath, but you can sure use a Butterfly knife! I need you to teach me, but after the cuts on my hand heal.

Like Gary said... This was a very good show! The part that I liked the best was meeting everyone at the social on Saturday night. Everyone taking out knives, and showing them, the knife conversations, just that whole ambience. I saw a whole new side of knife collecting, and it changed my way of thinking.

This is a must show, and if you can make it, do it next year. I will just like to see it become a two day affair... More candy!

<center>

</center>

------------------

BC... For those who fought for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know... Semper Fi

 

[Gene]

Gary, (and folks), every time you guys post your treasures from these shows it almost leaves me panting. I want to reach into the pictures and handle these knives. Gary, I think you're a real stag lover like I am. I'm glad you tried a sheephorn handled blade, especially a Pease made one, (his stuff is great!). I remember talking to Ed Fowler a few years ago at a show, and asking him if sheephorn was durable. He pulled his personal carry knife out and handed it to me. He asked if I thought the sheephorn scales on his knife looked good. I agreed they did, (no cracks or shrinkage), and he told me he had been carrying and using it every day for ten years. I don't own any sheephorn handled knives but I'm glad you got one. Nice stuff.

Michael,
That Steigerwalt folder is out of this world! That is some of the best filework I've ever seen.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks Bob, be glad to teach you some more sometime, just take it easy, as Sniperboy would say, scars will make you stronger...paraphrasing a little...

Gene, yep, love that sheep horn, nice contrast and good grip, very happy guy here!

------------------
"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...