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Old 04-10-2005, 03:42 PM
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Buddy Thomason Buddy Thomason is offline
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Review: 17th Batson Bladesmithing Symposium & Knife Show

This exceptional annual event was held agin this year at the .....


Lots of history behind the location .....


It's a beautiful area in the springtime .....


But the spring showers are occasionally heavy filling the streams, creeks and rivers to overflowing .....


The event is sponsored by the Alabama Forge Council. The members of this group take pride in their work and have improved the facilities with their fine metal-work .....


The weekend involves hands-on forging .....


There are many excellent demonstrators too. Here Christopher Deringer teaches 25 or so intetrested attendees how to forge an integral blade .....


..... and Billy Bates showed how to engrave using a hammer and hand cutting tools.


There's usually a Railroad Spike knife contest. Last year there were enough entries for both an adult and a youth class. This year there were only three entries. I was pleased to join BR Hughes and Mark Zalesky as a judge in this event. After much discussion, messing around with the knives and pretending to be really officious about it we unanimously selected the one on the right.
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Old 04-10-2005, 03:44 PM
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During Saturday afternoon there is a knife and related items show .....


Kenny Rowe had a lot of great leather-work for sale .....


Peggy Ward displayed her exceptional beadwork .....


Dr. Jim Lucie brought along a jaw-dropping bunch of authentic William Scagel knives .....


Mark Zalesky, editor of Knife World, usually looks down his nose at anything but original antique Bowie knives. However, he was quite captivated by this Scagel D-Guard fighter which was actually used by its owner during WWII to dispatch an emeny combatant in the Pacific theatre.


Jim Batson, the enthusiastic force behind the 'Batson Symposium,' brought three of his excellent historical reproduction blades - a coffin handle bowie, a mokume naval officer's short-sword and a very special dog-bone handle bowie fighting knife - a reproduction of the L. Kimball/Vicksburg featured in the Antique Bowie Knife Book and which sold for $44,000 at auction in 1992. I was fortunate to be able to bring home with me Jim's reproduction of this famous bowie knife. More about this incredible knife in a separate post .....


As a surprise, Jim Batson's lovely daughter, Sara Beth Fair, showed up with a painting for her father, in honor of his birthday! She'd painted Tahchee, the Native American guide, scout and hunter made famous by an old painting of him carrying a bowie knife in his belt. Jim has written an article about Tahchee which will appear in the next issue of Knives Illustrated.


Of course there is the all-important last cutting competition before the World Championship finals at the BLADE Show in Atlanta this coming June. It is here at the Batson Bladesmithing Symposium that the finalists are determined after a year's worth of fierce competition at hammer-ins and knife shows around the country. Enjoy these animated views by clicking them open just as you would for the other pictures in this thread, wait patiently for them to load and chuckle as you see the action .....

Larry Harley cuts the rope:


Reggie Barker (last year's World Champion) tries to cut the 248 tightly rolled and taped pages. Nobody succeeded at this one!


And finally, Dickie Robinson performs the tissue cut .....


In summary, this is an exceptional event for many reasons and well worth attending if you love blade forging, meeting many fine makers and suppliers in an informal setting, experiencing an intimate view of a serious cutting competition or purchasing some special knives for your collection.

Last edited by Buddy Thomason; 04-14-2005 at 09:51 PM.
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Old 04-10-2005, 03:56 PM
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Oh yeah - and the finalists are (drum roll please) .....

Dickie Robnson, Reggie Barker, Dan Farr, Daniel Winkler, Jim Crowell (alternate), and Adam DesRosiers from Alaska.
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Old 04-10-2005, 06:33 PM
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Thanks Buddy for this first-hand look into the competition, and other pictures. Guys like me that can't make these events really appreciate the efforts of guys like you that can attend.


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Old 04-10-2005, 08:07 PM
LYNN DRURY LYNN DRURY is offline
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Thanks, Buddy, For The Wonderful Post And The Play By Play Action.
You Did A Wonderful Job!


Lynn Drury
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Old 04-12-2005, 10:35 AM
Wulf Wulf is offline
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Great pictures, Buddy! Thanks for posting the review - I wish I could have been there myself but it's nice to at least catch a glimpse of what I missed.


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Old 04-13-2005, 10:45 AM
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Wow, thanks!


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Old 04-14-2005, 02:17 PM
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Terrific review and pics Buddy - many thanks!

Roger
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Old 04-14-2005, 04:36 PM
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I enjoyed that - Thanks.

Stephen
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