BLADE Show is in its 33rd year! In one month, knife enthusiasts and industry professionals will meet at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, GA, for the largest knife show in the world. Over 900 exhibitors are registered for booths or tables at the event.
I will be in attendance again this year and hope you bring you some of the highlights of the show and anything new that catches my eye.
The tables are packed with edged goodness and nearly any famous living knifemaker you can name will be there. I highly recommend you make the pilgrimage at least once in your life to this show of shows. I am pretty stoked to be going!
Below is a list of the events and the seminar schedule.
- Steve Culver’s “Laffite’s Revenge” cut ’n shoot knife/pistol was the cover knife for the July BLADE®, and won “Best Of The Rest” in the 2013 BLADE Show custom knife judging competition. Steve will dissect the piece as only he can in “How To Make a Cut ’n Shoot”
- In “Ivory: Past, Present and Future,” knifemaker Jim Hammond and scrimshander Sandy Brady will explore ivory’s role as the ageless canvas of man, the primary types of ivories used in knifemaking, how to make and maintain an ivory handle, and existing ivory laws, along with the issues that lie ahead for knife enthusiasts and the knife industry.
- In “Sharpening On a Stick,” knifemaker Jared Williams will cover different ways to sharpen a knife wherever you are with whatever’s handy, including stones and other common items—even mud on a stick. He also will discuss different types of edges for different types of work.
- Abe Elias uses, designs and writes about bushcraft knives on a regular basis. He will show you how bushcraft knives are used, what to look for in the knives, proper blade grinds and more in “How To Use Bushcraft Knives”.
- Ernest Emerson will review the seven essential skills needed to survive a deadly attack in “Surviving Inside the Kill Zone.” As Emerson notes, “Never be the one who says, ‘I never saw it coming’”.
- Tactical and handforged knives have more than their share of adherents. Purveyor Les Robertson specializes in selling both and knows what to look for in them all. Let him school you on these two hot knife genres in “Tactical & Handforged: What To Look For”.
- Will your loved ones know what to do with your knife collection and how to get the most out of it if for some reason you are unable to? BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Bruce Voyles tells you how to prepare for such eventualities in “Estate Planning and Your Knife Collection”.
- Want to make knives but don’t know how to get started? Bladesmith Chris Amos apprenticed under Ed Fowler and knows what it’s like to break into the bladecrafting game in today’s climate. He discusses how to get going, the basic tools needed and answers any and all questions in “Knifemaking For Novices: How To Get Started”.
- In “How To Read a Knife,” ABS master smith/BLADE field editor Ed Fowler will demonstrate the difference between “showboat knives” and the workhorse knives of the historic Texas frontier, and also those from the Civil War and World War II.
- In “Camera Basics and Studio Setup,” Eric Eggly of PointSeven Studios, the official BLADE Show photographer, will explain F-stops and shutter speeds and the whys, what’s and how’s of each, and how to build a studio setup on a budget.
- In “How To Throw Knives & Tomahawks,” Bobby Branton will outline and demonstrate the sport of throwing knives and hawks—including maybe even a new factory hawk or two—the best tools for the job, and more.
- Bid on some of the American Bladesmith Society’s top handforged damascus, straight-carbon-steel and other knives, with proceeds going toward the Society’s educational efforts, in the ABS Auction.
- James Williams performs the tameshigiri—the cutting of straw mats—demonstrates the proper techniques of iaido—the drawing, using and replacing of the sword—and more, in his always popular “Japanese Sword Demonstration”.
- In “Bladesmithing For Children,” the American Bladesmith Society’s Wes Byrd, Larry Harley, Joe Keeslar and Tim Potier outline how kids can get involved in the forging of knives under the supervision of those who do it for a living.
- Get your BLADE Show Saturday and Sunday off to flexible starts with knifemaker Jot Singh Khalsa’s “30-Minute Yoga Intro For Deep Relaxation & Stress Reduction.:
Seminar Schedule
*Schedule Subject to Change.
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
10 a.m. 30-Minute Yoga Intro For Deep Relaxation & Stress Reduction—Jot Singh Khalsa, Room 104
10 a.m. How To Throw Knives & Tomahawks—Bobby Branton, The Courtyard
10-11:45 a.m. ABS Auction, Room 103
11:15-12 a.m. How To Use Bushcraft Knives, Abe Elias, Room 104
11:30-12:15 a.m. Bladesmithing For Kids—Wes Byrd, Larry Harley, Joe Keeslar and Tim Potier, Room 109
12-3 p.m. Buck Collectors Club—Room 103
12:30-1:15 p.m. Estate Planning & Your Knife Collection—Bruce Voyles, Room 109
1-2 p.m. 7 Essential Skills To Survive Deadly Attacks—Ernest Emerson, Room 104
1:45 p.m. Japanese Sword Demonstration—James Williams, The Courtyard
2-2:45 p.m. Tactical & Handforged: What To Look For—Les Robertson, Room 109
2:15-3:30p.m. How To Read A Knife—Ed Fowler, Room 104
3-4 p.m. How To Make a Cut ’n Shoot, Steve Culver, Room 109
4 p.m. Knife Photos: Camera Basics & Studio Setup—Eric Eggly, Point Seven Studios, Room 104
4:15 p.m. Ivory, The Ban & Your Knives—Jim Hammond & Sandy Brady, Room 109
4:15 p.m. 12th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition—BladeSports International, The Courtyard
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
8-9 a.m. Worship Service—The Rev. W.D. Pease, Room 103
8-8:30 a.m. BladeSports International Meeting, Room 109
10-11 a.m. Yoga Intro For Deep Relaxation & Stress Reduction—Jot Singh Khalsa, Room 104
10:30 a.m. Sharpening on a Stick—Jared Williams, Room 103
11:15 a.m. Knifemaking For Novices: How To Get Started—Chris Amos, Room 109
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