Pictures from Blade Show West

[orvet]

I took a few pictures of the Blade Show West so that those of you that were not there could see a little bit of it. I have never been to the Atlanta Blade Show, I understand it is incredibly crowded and a lot larger than this first show here in Portland. Nevertheless, I am really pleased to see them bring a Blade Show out to the Pacific Northwest which at this point in time is where the majority of the American Cutlery Industry is located.

First, let me apologize for the pictures! The lighting was horrid for taking pictures and all I had was my cell phone to take pictures with. Hopefully you can get the general idea.

I only went to the show on Friday and I apparently beat the crowd. I got there early and the first place I went was to the table of Mitchell Harrison (tune fink on AAPK) and looked at some of his impressive selection of Randall knives. I tried not to drool on them. You can see from the lighting reflection on these cases that taking pictures was not easy.

The next place I went was to Culpepper's booth to get some bone handle material. I was installing handles on a knife the day before the show and broke a chip out of one handle. I called Culpepper to see about getting some replacement handles and they told me Christy Culpepper was at the show and she had the pattern that I needed, amber bone with RV jigging.
While I was there I got a couple pictures for all you knife mechanics. Don't you wish you had this kind of a selection to choose from in your shop?

I also went to visit the folks at Fine Turnage Productions just to drool on some of their ivory. I thought I got some pictures of their table of mammoth teeth but apparently I didn't.

I also stopped to see Dave, the Kershaw Guy to buy another Kershaw Leek with the partially serrated blade. Lately I find that almost always have a Leek in my pocket. Those Onions do get around, (a joke for the Kershaw aficionados). The fellow behind the counter is not Dave but a friend of mine named Win Knight. Win and Dave are both OKCA members (Oregon Knife Collectors Association) and Win was also a Marine.

I had to stop and see some other friends of mine Sally and Gene Martin, both of whom also served in the Marine Corps as well. Sally makes mosaic pens and Gene makes knives and also makes blanks for people. I have known Sally and Gene for many years as we have tables near one another at the OKCA show. I'm bought a nice ATS 34 blank from Gene that I'm going to finish up for myself.

I spent a bit of time at the Benchmade booth fondling some of their new wares. I definitely added to my list a new Benchmade Proper.
I would have bought one at the show but Benchmade didn't have them there to sell, they were supposed to be at the SMKW booth, but the folks at SMKW didn't seem to know where they were, or know anything about them. I really like the sheepfoot version of the Proper, it's very close to a Wharncliffe and with S30V steel! Both handles are nice, but I think I like the red G10 just a little bit better for the grip. I think I'm going to have to take a road trip up to Oregon City soon.
https://www.benchmade.com/catalogsearch ... /?q=proper

I also found out another great fact about Benchmade: they give a veterans discount of 30% if you buy at their store in Oregon city or from their online store! know the owner of Benchmade, Les De Asis is very pro-veteran. I also know they like to hire veterans. When I worked for the State of Oregon doing job development with disabled veterans myself and another veterans representative met with Les and he introduced us to his personnel people. We did get at least one job placement with them. This was many years ago, just prior to their move to Oregon city. It's nice to see such a pro-veteran company and to see them doing so well!

If you haven't seen the new Proper check it out, you just might find you really like it.

[orvet]

Here are a few random pictures around the show. The WE booth was a company from China were selling knives. Some were very nice looking, though not very traditional. I looked at one of their folders that was very smooth and ask how much it was?. I was thinking it was a pretty good deal for 40 or $50 because it did open and close so very smoothly. When the guy told me it was $250 I said "Oh, thank you very much." IMHO, it would've been nice knife for $50 but I thought way overpriced at $250.

I hope you enjoy the pictures that was all I got, though it seemed like it took a lot more .

[Tony_Wood]

Dale, the Culpepper and Fine Turnage pics are over the top!!
Those type of tables are my favorites at knife shows.
Thanks for posting pics.

[XX Case XX]

Thanks for posting photos Dale. That looks like a lot of fun. I could spend all day there.

____________
Mike

[orvet]

Thanks for posting photos Dale. That looks like a lot of fun. I could spend all day there.

____________
Mike

I spent about 5 1/2 hours there Friday and my back and feet are still extremely upset with me. Of course I spent most of the time standing on my feet on concrete. When I have a table the OKCA show I have a stool to sit on and a good rubber mat to stand on. It makes an enormous difference!

There were 200+ tables and booths there so I think BSW off of to a promising start. I hope it gets better every year. I didn't see many people with used knives or old knives, there were some but it wasn't like the OKCA show where half the tables are vintage knives.
The table prices are high enough it may keep a lot of small sellers away.

[glennbad]

Thanks for the pics, Dale! You KNOW I really liked those Culpepper pics.

I had a similar experience in Mystic at the NCCA show, with the Masecraft table.

[TripleF]

Thanks for sharing Dale!!!

[kennedy knives]

Thanks for the post . I was wondering how it turned out . The Show in Atlanta has a bigger crowd, can't walk. Maybe the West Coast Blade will grow .

[Doc B]

Thanks for posting the info and pictures. The tables of handles are stunning!

[doglegg]

Kind of you to share with us Dale. Looks like a great show. Never been to a knife show. Some day. Glad you got to see old friends, always good.

[bighomer]

Thanks for posting this Dale .

[woodwalker]

Thanks for the photos for all of us to see Dale! Those Randals had my head spinning!

[bestgear]

Thanks Dale - I haven't heard the inside scoop on whether the show was a success but I'm glad the left coast is being given some attention, long overdue for this type of venue IMHO

[philco]

Thanks for the pictures Dale. Looks like there was a lot to see there.

[Quick Steel]

Really enjoyed your photos Dale. Great job. Looks like there were far more vendors than at the West show in Ontario CA some years back.
If you do hear how the show did overall, kindly pass that on to us. Thanks again.

[orvet]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures.

[Meridian_Mike]

MAN... I sure wish one of these SHO' NUFF blade shows would come close enough for me to attend.
Best I can do is go to a gun show and MAYBE see a few knives.

Mike