Smashed Pumkinfest

Ok!  Glad that's over with.  Pumpkinfest turned out to be a long COLD day with lots of really nice people.  Sales were way down for us and it looks like we might have to  give up on this show in the future.  There were plenty of folks passing by the tents, but I think the cold kept'm moving so they could stay warm.  Received lots of compliments on the quality of my work but they weren't buying.

Here was our setup.  Lots of things to look at and touch.  A bunch of new knives and Halloween decorations.

  I guess when this guy looked down upon our tent it really had an impact.  Oh well!

That's all I am going to say.  Gotta keep it all positive.  Stopped at Papa Murphy's in Spring Hill on the way home and picked up 4 pizzas and some Single Malt Scotch.  We love Papa Murphy's and they will be wonderful treats for us.

More Show News:
A Stroll Through Clifton will be held the same weekend as the Pickwick Christmas Show.  That is a real bummer for us because we have wanted to do both shows.  We were looking forward to the Clifton show because it's only a few hours long for two evenings.

We also have decided that it's time to look into more Heritage Festivals.  I do believe that sales are better to people that not only appreciate your work for how it looks but actually use the products too.  We'll be investigating shows that aren't too far away and more Old Timey in nature.

Plump Little Pumpkinfest

After the success we had at the Ames Plantation show it was necessary for me to get right back into the shop and get some more work done.  All of the FireStyx were gone so the first thing I did was make 50 more.  These little things sell like hotcakes and are so fun to use.  I needed to make more antler handled seam rippers and diamond sharpeners too. 

It seems that there were quite a few open spots in the new knife display after the show.  Guess what?  Commence to making more knives!  Now!!  And don't stop till you got'm done!!!  Got that?  Here's a few of them, almost ready for Pumpkinfest 2012.

Leslie posted these on FaceBook and people gave the impression that they liked them.  There are more in the works but I don't have the pics available as I'm posting.

From L-R:
Damascus Hunter with Maple Burl handle.
Forged Frontier Knife with really cool Spalted Maple handle.
Nessmuk style in 1095 with Curly Hickory handle.
Utility Knife in Aldo's 1095 with Mystery Burl handle.
Wharncliff Knife in VW steel with Cocobolo handle.

We are looking forward to a fantastic show, despite whatever the weather may throw at us.  It sounds like there may be some early rain and only a high of 57, but hey it's almost November.  Be ready or be left out.

_______________________________________

While I'm at it I may as well post another knife that is about ready to ship out.  Literally.  The blade is 52100 steel and was donated by Aldo Bruno the NJ Steel Baron, it was cut out by Great Lakes Waterjet and heat treated by Peter's Heat Treat.  This was a great opportunity for me.
My KnifeDogs.com Post:

Wanted to post up the military knife I built thanks to KnifeDogs. First off, the knife will be going to our son. He is in the Marines. He was picked to train for Marine Special Operations. Unfortunately just before he was to leave he broke a bone in his hand and was lucky enough to have his training delayed till the next class.



So being the guy he is I figured it would be best to send the knife just prior to his leaving. The knife was 90% complete until a few weeks ago. I decided to give it some color so I blued the blade. I used the blue liners Boss had given out earlier this year and glued them to some home made micarta. This micarta was made from a vietnam era duffel bag and looks pretty cool. It also has special meaning as it belonged to a good friend.



The sheath is made from .083 black kydex with small molle clips attached. I'm going to make a belt loop for it also.

This project really turned out to be very special. So glad I could be a part of it and sincerely want to express my appreciation to all the men and women out there that sacrifice so much for this great country.

Pat

Cani Credimus - In Dog We Trust

Thanks Everyone And See Y'all  After The Show!

Pat

Our Ames Was True!

Holy Plantation Patman!  The Ames Heritage festival was a great success.  More vendors than ever and more sold by everyone than in previous years.  It was such a good time.  We got to stay in Bolivar the night before so the 15 minute drive to the plantation was very easy compared to 2 hours before and 2 hours after.

While setting up a customer from last year came by and promptly purchased the first knife of the day.  It just so happened to be the one that Leslie was going to keep if it lasted through the show.  Tough Luck there Sweetheart!  I sold 4 more knives throughout the day and traded one to a guy for a set of elk antlers.  They will look great as knife handles.  We also sold all of our FireStyx. 

All in all it was a warm, breezy and totally beautiful day.  Can't wait till next years show.

Ready...AMES...Fire!

Holy Knives Patman!

It's time for the Ames Plantation Heritage Festival in Grand Junction, Tennessee.  Just finished a few knives in time to take to the show.  First up though is a new knife display I needed for the Franklin Pumpkinfest.  My friend Dan Shaw helped me get this figured out and built.

This will show off up to 17 knives and comes apart into five pieces for easy set up.  Made from walnut  and plexiglass it should highlight the knives while keeping youngn's from touching the sharp blades.  Looks like this guy got a little too close to my Branding Iron.

Finished this yesterday and couldn't post these pics without showing some knives.

It ain't the best picture but I really needed to know how it would look with some blades in there.  Hope to see the next picture of this display with lots of empty spaces.  You know...from selling a bunch.


Here is a new knife.  It is a Damascus blade with Black Ash Burl handle.  I like this one.  It has a dark brown leather dangler sheath.

A few more new ones.  Top is Maple Burl with Copper pins and 1095 steel.  Middle is Buckeye Burl/Toxic Green liner with Nickel Silver pins and 1095 steel.  Bottom knife is Buffalo Horn with Copper pins with 1095 steel.

The last picture is the two sheep shear knives I made.  Antler Crown was used for the handle with Copper pins and they fit quite well in the hand.  These pics were posted on facebook.

We are looking forward to a GREAT show at the Ames Plantation.  Hope to see a lot of friendly faces there.