Who The Heck Are Ya?

i'm not much for posting i usually just read and try to absorb some wisdom.my name is joe marsillo i'm a union iron worker (crazy idiot hanging by my fingernails 50 feet above nothing).I live in middletown ,N.Y. about an hour from NYC .I'm new to knifemaking i just fired up my forge last week and hopefully will be making knives in a year or 2 :barf: i wish i could put more time into it but my 'ol lady thinks i have to much fun banging hot iron.I bought my first custom knife from bruce evens,I think thats the bug that bit me to start making knives :D
 
Hello, My name is Jim Gardner, I live about 20 or 30min. north of Atlanta in Alpharetta,GA. (I know that sounds like a fraternity) ...I've been making knives since 2002....my shop is always open to any maker who would like to come over and play in the fire....forge,powerhammer,grinders,whatever you want to do!!! this thread is a great idea, you never know who you might meet......Remember....Hit it while it's HOT!!! :D :D :D
 
hey ya'll, I'm Alex Cothran. i've been hangin around here for a while now, and figured i'd go ahead and officially introduce myself. I'm an outdoorsy kinda teenager who's into about anything that can potentially hurt you. lol i saw some of Dave Beck's handiwork in The Hunted and decided i needed one of those knives. considering how i AM a teenager who manages to stay near broke 90% of the time, and how a WSK can't be had for less than $300, you can probably guess the rest. since then i've gotten as hooked as the bank account and the calendar would allow. I live in Mt Pleasant SC, just outside of Charleston. Jim, i might take you up on that sometime, if it ain't a problem. If any of ya'll are comin this way please give me a yell, i dont hav much of a shop, but i'll talk about knives all day!

Alex
 
valimas said:
i'm not much for posting i usually just read and try to absorb some wisdom.my name is joe marsillo i'm a union iron worker (crazy idiot hanging by my fingernails 50 feet above nothing).I live in middletown ,N.Y. about an hour from NYC .I'm new to knifemaking i just fired up my forge last week and hopefully will be making knives in a year or 2 :barf: i wish i could put more time into it but my 'ol lady thinks i have to much fun banging hot iron.I bought my first custom knife from bruce evens,I think thats the bug that bit me to start making knives :D
Click to expand...

Joe you're not to far off from our Necka club..
you're sure welcome.. and a H/I is coming up.
ck it out..
www.necka.net
 
valimas said:
i'm not much for posting i usually just read and try to absorb some wisdom.my name is joe marsillo i'm a union iron worker (crazy idiot hanging by my fingernails 50 feet above nothing).I live in middletown ,N.Y. about an hour from NYC .I'm new to knifemaking i just fired up my forge last week and hopefully will be making knives in a year or 2 :barf: i wish i could put more time into it but my 'ol lady thinks i have to much fun banging hot iron.I bought my first custom knife from bruce evens,I think thats the bug that bit me to start making knives :D
Click to expand...
Yep!!! What Dan said. I usually have people over on Saturdays just hanging around and making Damascus come on over sometime. :D
 
plugs is my handle on ebay and other sites as i was ans still am a plug or lure collector and have been for a great many years. my name is aaron mcdonald i live in okla. city and was in the marble and granite buisness for 30 years making and installing countertops and fireplace fronts now i am wanting to learn pocket knife making thanks aaron
 
Hey folks...

Aspiring bladesmith here. Spend most of my shop time ham-fisting and beating blades out of crappy steel or files. All "blacksmith blades" so far... Steel handles, but boy are they twisted purty! ;) Hoping to get a course in at John C. Campbell under Dr. Batson in the new year.

Been blacksmithing just over a year. So far I'm living a couple of my childhood dreams in my hobby time - blacksmithing and knife-making. Yeehaw!

For my day job, I'm a Ph.D. student in wildlife biology. I'm involved mostly in black bear and elk research. Some hands-on, some by computer. Check out my website if you like:

http://web.utk.edu/~jkindall

See ya'll 'round! If you see a rank greenhorn hanging around and not saying much, it's just me soaking up the "giblets" of knowledge. :D
 
Just in case you did not bother to read when I introduced myself a month ago :D
I am Mike Pretorius. I live in Montreal, Canuckistan. Damned immigrant from South Africa, thats me. My family and I came here 9 years ago when my company offered me a transfer. My handle is the name that appears on my knives.
I am a tool and die maker in the plastic extrusion industry. Sadly there are very few knifemakers in this area so I feel a bit isolated. This forum is a lifeline and an incredible source of unselfish info.
Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions, plenty more to come. :D :D :o
I know I should check out the "archives" instead of trying everyones patience but sometimes it is nice to ask a direct question and get a direct reply, the one-on-one contact makes me feel less isolated.
Take care all you fine gents. :thumbup:

Mike
 
Oh no, not another South African tool and die maker that wants to make knives! The last one that came around, well, everyone knows what happened then......
 
Hello all.

My name is Iain MacDonald and I hail from sunny England (ok maybe less of the sunny :rolleyes: ) I have done some handles for some premade blades mostly scandi types. I am now looking onto making my own blades and gathering info on grinders and forges for HT.

Going to be making my own as getting knife grinders in the UK is tough ( no one makes them here that I can find) so shipping from the US would be costly. Going to be starting off with files and an angle-grinder till I can cobble together a grinder :)

Iain
 
miden said:
Care to fill me in John? :confused:
Click to expand...

OK.

This guy named Chris Reeve (former South African tool and die maker) started building knives. I think one of them was called a Sebenza, or something funny like that. I think he maybe made a couple others called other funny names like Mnandi and Umfaan, or something like that.

In any case, he's sort of been a thorn in everyone's paw ever since.





































































Because his knives are damn near flawless and really make it tough for the rest of us! There's probably at least a hundred threads about why the Sebenza is or isn't the very best folder ever made right here on Blade Forums! I've only owned two myself and Chris' execution and manufacturing prowess is pretty humbling. I've met Chris and his wife Anne at a couple shows and they seem to be real gems.

Hopefully you're as talented and nice as Chris is. If you are, you'll go far.
 
Oh, THAT South African toolmaker. :D

I know of him. Never had the pleasure of meeting him or his wife but I have e-mailed Anne. I bought a piece of damascus from one Bertie Rietveld in S.A.
I believe he is known to the ABS guys over here. The Reeves are a contact for him in the USA. I also bought the plans for my grinder from Bertie at a knife show in 1995 shortly before I left S.A.

"Sebenza" is the Zulu word for "work", something the Reeves are familiar with. I do not know what the Zulu words for "the will to succeed in a new country through hard work" are but they could make that their own too.

Sebenza is also the name of the industrial area in which my company was situated in S.A. and Anne actually sent me a pic of Chris standing beside the billboard bearing the name of the industrial area just a stones throw from where I was.
"Umfaan" is the Zulu word for a young boy. I do not know what "Mnandi" means.
Lets hope for me that all this connection is a positive sign. :D

The only thing I have in common with Chris at this point is that we are both South African tool and die makers.
He came to N.A. and got stuck in and has reaped the benefits.

me, on the other hand.........
I became interested in knifemaking in 1995 and bought the plans for my grinder from Bertie.
Later that year I attended a seminar with one Owen Wood, I believe he is also in the States now.
I have pretty much forgotten all I learned at the seminar because I did not put it to good use.
I only built my grinder in 2000.
Since then I have only made 8 knives.
Have no fear, I am not another Chris Reeve.

Hope to be though, just gotta learn to move a bit faster....... :)
Thanks,
Mike
 
hello

i don't think its that bad..look or talk to wood workers and ask them for info on fixed bench belt sanders...thats all we use..just different types of belts to remove metal and i know they can be had there..from my understand many years ago they started back up produceing wrought iron but back then in big sizes,,mybe now its in smaller sizes...and you have car leaf spings and mild steel so you do have the basic makeings.....don't give up...if you really want to learn and your resourceville you can do it

chele
tn 37683
 
Who's Chris Reeve? Wasn't he Superman?

What's a "Sebenza"? :confused:


Yeah, he ticks me off, too. :mad:

He sells those things WAY too cheap. :thumbdn:
 
Not going to give up I am only getting started :D

I do have a 450W 4 inch belt sander with a disk sander attatched. Not sure if it is suitable but I have heard of using the disk with a 1 degree angle. Till I can get a good grinder sorted I can learn to use what I have :)
 
Hello, My real name is John Pawlowski, hailing out of Newport News Va.
Most know me as big john...its more polite than fat. Been cutting my hands by stock removal part time, or on & off for about 20 yrs.
Just built a new home, with a new shop...looking to catch back up on some orders....glad to see all the activity and the variety of names and enthusiasm on this thread.
;)
Big John
 
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