Mastersmith Ray Kirk Spring Shop Tour Report

The spring shop tour that was held here at my home on May the 14th turned out to kind of cool weather wise and very good turn out. We had 50 people that signed the guest list and I know of a few that didn’t. There was less than 60 and the weather did warm up some and we had a great time.

Jeremy Steely was first to do a demo on how to take pics without getting the glare from the blades with his home made set up. He had eliminated a few of the mistakes in his trial and error photo shots. He showed how to set the camera to get the most out of it and to show the knives in their best light.

The frame was made from 1/2” pvc and a pc of white nylon clothe stretched over the frame to disperse the glare. A very fine demo and we appreciate it. I have already improved my picture taking skills. Of course, there wasn’t much of a direction to go but up for me.

The second demo was done by our stand by forger, Brion Tomberlin. Brion forged a dagger to shape as he explained the steps in determining the final shape. The way he made the metal move under the hammer was very informative. It looked so simple to see him do it. Again, Thanks to Brion for doing the forging.

The fish fry with brown beans and fried potatoes was served by the ladies that attended and we couldn’t have made it without them. Thanks a BIG BUNCH to the ladies.

The tail gate sales were good and every one had a chance to look around at what others had brought.

The iron in the hat brought in $180.00.

We also have a new Lifetime Member, Howard Allman of Krebs, Oklahoma. I would like to say Thank You to our new member for joining and hope you enjoy the meetings.

Roy Miller will host the next shop tour at his shop the first week end of October. His main course of food will be Tex-Mex so make plans to attend with the complimentary foods that go with it. An email will be sent with the directions and other contact info as we always try to get a good head count for the food. Why are we always thinking about eating? Must be the main reason we have the shop tours.

For those that attended and took some pics, please email some of them to me as I didn’t get to take pics this time. Calvin has sent me some that he took but I would like some more if I can get them.

Be thinking of some demos for the next shop tour. Roy has already planned on doing a couple of different ways of etching damascus and if you would like to see how something is done, please let me know.

Ray Kirk

www.rakerknives.com

KGA Sec/Treas<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">