Blade - October 2022

88 Pages·2022·106.1 MB·English

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OCTOBER 2022
CONTENTS
38
Steve Schwarzer’s
happy place.
(Schwarzer image)
62
Fabio Barros Full
Leaked dagger. (Andre
Maino image)
56
Dellana’s fi leworked folders.
(Dellana image)
FEATURES
12 50
THE FUTURE IS NOW THE BLADE SHOW EFFECT
Top bladesmiths teach tomorrow’s stars how to forge today. As the dust settles, cool knife trends emerge from Atlanta.
By Mike Haskew By Les Robertson
18 56
FORGED AND FRIENDS WHERE’S THE BREAK?
Damascus, straight carbon and stainless, and bunches more. How to conceal the break between blade and lockbar on a lockback.
By BLADE® staff By Dellana
22 62
THE MANY MOODS OF MOSAIC A NIGHT FOR THE EDGES
Mosaic damascus takes blades to an entirely different level. The balance of BLADE Show ’22’s custom winners get their due.
By Mike Haskew By BLADE staff
30 68
YOU OUGHT TO AUTO MECH IT SO
Press the button and rock and roll with four hot automatics. Mech-1 framelock folder takes a licking and keeps on cutting.
By Dexter Ewing By MSG Kim Breed
38 72
SHOP DUMP THE KNIFE JAMIE PARADISE CARRIES
Examine the tools of Steve “Mr. Mosaic Damascus” Schwarzer. English teacher totes one in his school’s colors, no less.
By Pat Covert By Jamie Paradise
44 82
RECORD-BREAKERS’ DELIGHT THIN TO WIN
Celebrate top annual ABS knives, bladesmiths and members. Schroeder’s stainless damascus offers a bold, simple pattern.
By B. R. Hughes By BLADE staff
[4] BLADE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OC T OBER 202 2
SPOTLIGHT
6 | READERS RESPOND
7 | COVER STORY
10 | UNSHEATHED
49 | WHERE TO GET ’EM
74 | KNIFE EVENTS CALENDAR
76 | BLADE SHOPPE
78 | WHERE TO NET ’EM
79 | AD INDEX
80 | NEXT IN BLADE®
30
Heretic Wraith
(Marty Stanfi eld
Photography image)
22
A Will Stelter Eureka moment. (Stelter image)
OC T OBER 202 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ ]
READERS RESPOND
Upward-Spiraling Cost “I WAS ABLE TO BUY
a profi t at those prices. I could list dozens
I read Steve Arnone’s lament in the “Read- more—the kids have plenty of choices.
IT FOR ONLY $35
ers Respond” of the August BLADE® As for the high-end custom knives by
about the upward-spiraling cost of col- the known makers, I have a very few,
BECAUSE IT DID NOT
lector knives. I’m in his same age group and I don’t begrudge them any price
(a little older), have also been collecting they charge. Th e knives take a long time
knives for decades and of course have no- to make, are works of art, and my guess HAVE A MAKER’S
ticed the same thing—who hasn’t? is that many of the makers do it for the
When he feels sorry for the 12-year-old love of knifemaking, not to make an easy MARK ON IT.”
kids who see today’s knives slipping out buck.
of reach of their budgets, I think some
clarifi cation is in order due to the diff er- Dave Bergt, Houston,
ence between collectible custom and fac- Texas maybe not the latest fad in today’s mar-
tory-made knives. I think Steve is talking ket but they are honest-to-goodness real
mainly about custom knives by known P.S.: By the way, I didn’t mention it, and custom knives. Th ey’re more fun than
knifemakers as opposed to quality facto- I’m sorry to say it, but I also know why you buying the latest Taiwan tactical for even
ry-made knives that include, but are not can still get terrifi c pocketknives for rea- more money. Smaller knife shows, gun
limited to, the Rough Rider variety. My sonable prices today. Twenty to 30 years shows and even fl ea markets are a good
guess is that the majority of kids in the ago, knives made in China were junk. To- place to hunt for such knives.
USA who start to collect knives are going day they are superb, a match for factory- In fact, at a recent Allentown gun show
to buy factory-made knives. Meanwhile, made, mass-produced knives made any- I found a very well-made custom hunter
they won’t discover and start to buy cus- where. Virtually every $25-to-$50 knife I with a stag handle, brass fi ttings and an
tom collectibles until they are long past pick up today that I can’t believe how well excellent heavy leather sheath. I was able
their youth and can aff ord them. made it is oft en is marked, you guessed it, to buy it for only $35 because it did not
However, while these budding collec- “Made in China.” I wish that weren’t the have a maker’s mark on it.
tors are in their teens, there are many case but that is how things have evolved.
very-high-quality knives in the $30-to- Byron Mellinger, Wyomissing,
Where To Find ’Em
$50 range. I am sometimes amazed at Pennsylvania
how high quality the knives are for that In the “Readers Respond” of the August
price. One example, and this is just one issue, Steve Arnone writes that young For the latest knives, knife news, trends
of many, is the CIVIVI Chronic Linerlock collectors will never be able to aff ord and more, visit blademag.com, BLADE®’s
C917B fl ipper for $48. No kid needs any- custom knives. He is forgetting about the popular Instagram page @blade_maga-
thing more—though he will, of course, aft ermarket. zine, and on Facebook and Twitter.
need to be sure he doesn’t take the knife I have been collecting custom knives
to school. Th e Kershaw Kai 5100 Seki Ja- since the 1980s and set up at the Easton,
pan Lacquer Gentleman Folder sells for Pennsylvania, knife show, where I always
half of what the Chronic C917B does, and have full custom knives for $100 to $300.
it’s hard to believe the company can make Th ey’re usually from early makers and
HOW TO REACH US!
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[6] BLADE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OC T OBER 202 2
[ ]
COVER STORY
O
ur annual Forged Knife Spe-
cial Issue features cover images
with a forged theme.
Will Stelter’s Serpentine Multi-bar
Santoku has a mosaic damascus blade
with a most unusual wavy pattern and is
one of the knives in the story on mosaic
damascus (page 22). Mike Quesenber-
ry’s Turkish Twist Fighter and Hen-
ning Wilkinson’s subhilt fighter each
won awards at BLADE Show 2022—
Quesenberry for Best Damascus and
Wilkinson for Best Fighter (page 62).
Neels Van Den Berg’s Leaf Dagger
took home the American Bladesmith
Society’s B. R. Hughes Award for the
best knife submitted by an applicant for
ABS master smith, a rating that Neels
obtained as well during the ABS annual
meeting (page 44) at the BLADE Show.
All the images of the cover knives are by
Eric Eggly/PointSeven.
Finally, ABS Master Smith Ray Kirk
teaches his grandson, Raker Thomas
Kirk, how to forge in Ray’s knife shop in
Tahlequah, Oklahoma (page 12). Th e im-
age is by Mrs. Lou Ann Kirk.
For the latest knives, knife news,
trends and more visit  blademag.com,
BLADE®’s popular Instagram page
@blade_magazine, and on Facebook and
Twitter.
OC T OBER 202 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WORLD’S #1 KNIFE PUBLICATION
Vol. XLVIII, No. 13, October 2022
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[8] BLADE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OC T OBER 202 2