KITH

A few days after finding Red I received an email from Stacy Apelt. He is in charge of the 2010 Knife In The Hat (KITH) on Bladeforums.com. Was my knife ready? What knife? Oh yeah. I signed up for this KITH in July on the forum. Luckily I did have a knife ready for the exchange. It happened to be a “Bee & Trout” that I made for a friend that wanted a skinner instead. This was a small forged knife that was crazy sharp and felt like a scalpel in the hand. All I needed to do was make a sheath for it and it would be ready to ship. The guy this knife was going to is Justin Reeder (ClemsonReeder) in Summerville, SC. It shipped out Dec. 9th, I hope he likes it.



So in the KITH you don’t know who is sending you a knife. The names are drawn at random and it is the luck of the draw. Well, after a long day at a really slow Holiday Bazaar Dec. 11th in Linden, TN I stopped to get the mail in a downpour. There was a bow inside waiting for me. Everything had to be unloaded from the truck before being ruined in the rain. With the work done I got my chance to open the box from Dan Pierson. Inside was a beautiful Nessmuck style knife that Geioge Washington Sears would have been happy to carry. It has lightly spalted stabilized curly maple handles, a 3/32” A2 blade that shaves and is accented with copper pins. This is a really awesome package that I will cherish for years to come.

Red Dawn

The day after Thanksgiving I had to work at the turd factory. Being a holiday I decided to hunt a couple hours before heading to work. Just as hunting time started I saw what I thought was “The Fox” coming towards me. That is until I saw the tail wagging as it came down the trail. This was a dog, messing up my hunting, and it proceeded to set it’s furry butt down right at the base of the tree I was in. I yelled and cussed and spit at the trouble maker to no avail. It wasn’t going nowhere. When I got down outta the tree this young red dog was waiting for me like she knew me. She followed me home and passed a couple dog tests. Those were…getting along with Charlie and not bothering the chickens. She got a good bill of health from the vet and is now my new shop dog. She is the dog I’ve been looking for, for quite a while. Guess I have no choice when she found me. I named her simply Red.

Tusks and Boogers

Tusks- A while ago, I showed the scrimshawed sperm whale tooth to my friend Dan Shaw and he expressed interest in making a trade for a pre ban tusk that he had. You might be able to see it's broken, but to me it is some nice handle material. I was happy to trade and can’t wait to see it on a knife. Maybe I’ll make the knife that actually inspired me to make my first knife. It was a blued hunter with wrought iron bolsters and ivory handles that was raffled in a magazine back in the ‘90s. Who knows? Do I need another knife? YES!
Dan also makes these cool walnut boxes with burl tops that a knife just might fit into. He offered a few to me for help in finishing them. Dang I like to barter and trade. What have you got that I can use? They will look cool on my show table.



Boogers- For the gift exchange at the city shop I got Boogers(Jason) name to buy for. I grabbed a knife blank off the bench and cut up some G11 for the handles cuz they are booger green. It is a 6” EDC with G11 handles and copper pins & thong tube. The sheath for it was done in leather even though kydex was my first choice. That little knife sharpened up real nice. Hope he likes it and uses it. Paul drew my name and got me a Camo Jacket. Dee gave me a Carl Schlieper Sodbuster knife with yellow delrin handles and brass liners. Another wonderful day.

Thanksgiving

So much has happened in the last 6 weeks that I have to be thankful for. The best thing first. It's 7a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 17th. I get a call from my daughter. She is getting ready to go to the hospital to deliver her first baby. The baby can't seem to wait cuz he's a month and a day early. Milwaukee here I come! Airline tickets were purchased, and the trip north started about 1:00p.m. By the time I got to Nashville airport she already delivered Little Bobby aka Robert Patrick Olin at 3:05p.m. My plane touched down in Milwaukee at 8:45 and I was picked up by my son Sam. We headed to the hospital where I got to see my beautiful new grandbaby, my daughter Jessie and Bob. The baby was so small and seemed so fragile but he caught on to that feeding thing pretty quick. He only weighed in at 5 pound 2ounces. Both baby and mother were in great health...such a relief. Life is very precious. Bobby spent a week in the hospital to make sure he was ready to face that big ol' world out there. He's right in track and growing like a weed. Can't wait to see him again. I miss y'all a lot.

I spent the next few days buzzing around. Up to the hospital as often as possible and going out with Sam. BTW Hangovers are worse as you age! My folks came down to see the baby and it was nice to see them. My sister let me stay at her house a couple nights which was nice. I just don't get to see family and friends very often. Going to the city is nice but I need to get back to the country before too long.

Running At The Speed Of Life

Hey Ya'll! Can't believe it's been 5 months since I wrote anything here. With the summer being so long and hot it was nearly impossible to spend any amount of time in the shop. Most days I'd go out for a little while and hammer out some copper for new jewelry. Didn't do much knife work at all. WAY TOO HOT. Now with summer behind us and a beautiful fall upon us it's time to get things going again.

Leslie and I hit the road to Grand Junction, TN on October 9th for the 13th Annual Ames Plantation Harvest Festival. It was a long 2+ hour drive to get there and it was worth it. Once we arrived we had a wonderful breakfast provided by the show coordinators. Our tent was set up all by it's lonesome along a split rail fence. It turned out to be a great spot as most people had to walk past us. This was the first time we dressed somewhat in period clothing too.

You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was sunny with a high of 85. The coolest thing was a cannon going off every 30 minutes or so. You never knew when it was going to happen and BOOM! people were jumping out of their skin. Then everyone started to talk loudly.

There was a steady stream of people all day long stopping to check out my wares. Fire Stix and Chimes were the best sellers as usual. Jewelry did well and I sold 3 or 4 knives. A good time was had by all. As it turned out this may have been a better choice than the Meriwether Lewis Festival. Our friends Doug & Claudia of Sunart Studios may join us next year at the show.

I couldn't get myself motivated to restock my inventory for a handful of days. Only problem with that is the next show is less than two weeks away. So I kinda took it easy until after Leslie left for Milwaukee on Oct. 14th. She gave daughter Jessie a baby shower for our newest grandbaby. I wish I could have gone up there with her cuz I sure do miss my kids. Things went well up north, while I spent my time working on stuff for the upcoming Alabama Renaissance Faire.

In the last week I came up with new items to sell. Diamond Knife Sharpeners with antler handles, sewing seam rippers with antler and leather barrettes for the fair maidens. We'll probably come up with more ideas at the Ren Faire. Hopefully things will sell and we have a medieval time.

After the Ren Faire it is Deer Hunting time which I'm very psyched about. Muzzle Loading starts November 6th and we'll be out trying to put meat in the deep freeze. On Nov. 13th I've got a homebrew class scheduled and it looks like there'll be 6-10 guys here for that. Should be fun for everyone. It's great teaching stuff and what could be better than making beer and drinking it too. After these guys brew a batch or two I'd like to have a beer tasting/judging day with all the different homebrews. Gun Deer starts Nov. 20th. Then it's already Thanksgiving. We shall be eating one of the three turkeys we've raised here at our place. What a wonderful holiday...no material expectations. Just people enjoying mother earths bounties, and oh yeah, hunting. The Artisans of Wayne County will be having a show to hawk our wares for christmas.

Take Care

Well it's about time that I update the Blog. The last post was 2 1/2 months ago and things have been happening.

Had my first real show on March 20th as I mentioned in the last post. The Blooming Arts Festival in Linden was put on by the Buffalo River Artisans. I only sold a few knives but my Chimes were a hit as well as my Fire Stix. You could not have asked for a more beautiful spring day to chat with a lot of nice folks. A couple guys evn brought me a BUNCH of antlers that I can use. Matt and Chad I haven't forgotten you.

There were over 50 artists, musicians and vendors set up around the courthouse and the main street. It was a busy day and lots of fun.

The Buffalo River Artisans have opened an artists Co-op in a nice shop right on 412. They are looking for artisans to become part of the co-op which entitles them to display and sell their work. I saw some very interesting work in there.

Blooming Arts Festival

My friend Randy called me the other day to inform me of an upcoming art show. As he was passing through Hohenwald, TN he spotted a sign for the Blooming Arts Festival in Linden, TN. The Blooming Arts Festival made it's debut in 2009. It takes place March 20, 2010. Randy gave me the contact number and immediately I called to find out how to become involved. A nice lady told me to go to http://www.buffaloriverartisan.com/ to fill out an application and send it in with a photograph of my work.

The application was filled out, a photo was decided upon and my lovely wife took the envelope to the post office the very next day. They post on the application that it may take up to two weeks to notify potential artists of acceptance. I can't wait to hear from them. There is lots for me to do before the show.

Knives need to have handles put on. Sheaths have to be made. A few new items will be produced to entice customers. So much work and so little time.

A New Year Ahead

Well, 2009 went by pretty quietly. The time I spent out in the shop really increased and I'm getting more proficient with my blade grinding and handle making.

November 7th, Leslie and I went up to Nashville to check out the Nashville Gun & Knife Show. My reason was to see how many knifemakers were represented at the show and how big it was. There was only one custom knife-maker selling at the show, but the show tables were all booked up through 2010. As luck would have it, the NKCA-National Knife Collectors Association was showing in an adjacent room. After talking with a NKCA board member we learned they were only showing 3-4 times a year along side the Gun & Knife Show. The NKCA did not have any knife-makers present at this show and seemed glad to have a knife-maker willing to sell his custom knives there in the future. Hopefully this will turn out to be a rewarding situation for us both.

December 12, 2009 was the first show I sold at. It was sponsored by the Artisans of Wayne County and held at the Columbia State Community College in Clifton, TN. Many talented artists and artisans were selling interesting things for Christmas gifts. I set up my table with fire stix, bullet starters and lots of knives. This being the first show of the AWC, there really wasn't a great deal of traffic. However, even with limited customers, I managed to sell 8 of my knives. Doug & Claudia Kalmer of Sunart@netease.net said they were happy I did so well and I should start gearing up for bigger and better shows.

2010 has started off with a wild cold snap. The shop has been too cold for me to work in. I have been spending a great deal of this down time on www.KnifeDogs.com knife forum. There are so much information on knife making in the forums. I'm trying to get more involved with the forums to help get my name out there.

Yesterday I got a fire going in the shop and worked for 4 1/2 hours. A lot of the time was spent tending the fire but I got 11 knife blanks cut out. That was the first time I'd been out to the shop in a week. Soon this cold spell will end and more time can be spent on my knives.

The thought of doing more shows like the Meriwether Lewis show on the Natchez Trace and First Fridays in Florence, AL has me looking for new things to make. My plan is to make some knife display stands, jewelry, leatherwork, more muzzleloading or re-enacting gear and walking sticks. Leslie bought me a 10x10 tent so I can have my products covered and maybe even look professional. Most of these venues like to have artists demonstrate their crafts, so I'm also trying to figure that angle out.

I'll try to keep the blog updated in 2010. There should be a lot to report.