2016 American Bladesmith Society Knife Auction - Knife Photos and Desciptions
Blade Show, Atlanta, GA - Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 10AM
Top makers in the world of bladesmithing have donated an exciting set of auction knives for the American Bladesmith Society Annual fund raiser at the 2016 Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair in Atlanta, GA on Saturday, June 4th, in Room #103 Cobb Galleria starting a 10:00 am.
As in past years the ABS gives the opportunity for bladesmiths to submit knives for its annual auction. One master smith and one journeyman smith are chosen to do a fixed blade, one master smith to do a folder, and two or more directors from the ABS board to do a knife of their choosing. This is our second year offering a new category to recognize the talents of our international ABS bladesmiths. The international auction knife by an ABS master smith showcases the talent of a growing number of worldwide ABS ranked smiths. This year the chosen maker is renowned ABS MS Rodrigo Sffredo from Brasil.
Each year there is one special knife donated to the ABS Auction to support the efforts of TOMB (see detail description below). This year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the historical event when Bill Moran presented modern damascus pattern welded blades to the knifemaking community. In honor of that even, the TOMB knife this year is an actual Bill Moran knife which was donated by the late Bud Branch.
On occasion the ABS will accept for auction a collaboration knife. In years past some of the ABS board members would frequently create a collaboration piece. More recently, we have occasionally accepted a collaboration piece that exemplifies the educational mission of the ABS; wherein a master smith, journeyman smith, and an apprentice smith have collaborated on a single piece. A collaboration folder is included in this year’s 2016 ABS Auction.
Of the seven knives pictured, there is one pattern welded light recurve fighter, a slip joint folder, one bowie with a dramatic hamon or temper line, one special hunter, one Gaucho style knife, one damascus bowie, and a Bill Moran skinner.
Let us take a look at these fantastic knives.
ABS International Master Smith Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: Rodrigo Sfreddo, Master Smith (Brasil)
Modern Gaucho Knife. The skill and artistry of one of the world’s greatest bladesmith, Rodrigo Sfreddo, is brought out in this exceptional piece. The Damascus knife has an integral guard construction with an amazing complex handle construction that is Rodrigo’s keyhole style. The handle has a hidden tang which supports the strength of the keyhole style structure. Rodrigo has offset keyhole with a polished steel border. Impressive craftsmanship. The Damascus steel is composed of 125Cr1 and 15N20 steels. The pattern is a dramatic W pattern. This piece is just astounding in its beauty and complexity.
ABS Journeyman Smith Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: Stephan Fowler, Journeyman Smith
Light Recurve Fighter. Stephan Fowler is presents for auction a superb piece. The blade of this light fighter is 1400 plus layers of W2 and Wrought Iron forged to perfection with the intentional look of the old Bloomery style steel used in knives and swords prior to the 1800s. The steel produced by these early furnaces often had steel with varying degrees of carbon. Master smiths at the time would often pattern weld the steel to make high quality steel for a sword or knife. Stephan’s goal was to reproduce the look and the blade exhibits this quality. The blade is approximately 8.5 inches. The guard on this superb piece is twisted W pattern Damascus shaped into a double style guard. Filework and a heat treated Titanium spacer accent this excellent donation to the ABS. the handle material is ancient bog oak with domed stainless pin. The leather sheath that accompanies the knife has ray skin panels and the inside of the sheath is lined in doe skin.
ABS Master Smith Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: Timothy Potier, Master Smith
Damascus Bowie Knife. Timothy Potier makes this year’s Master Smith knife. This is a highly crafted and exciting bowie knife the measures 19 inches overall. The knife is 7/16 inch thick with a blade the measures 21/4 inches in width. The damascus blade steel is a combination of L6 and W2 pattern welded construction. Timothy added 1/8 inch thick L6 shim stock at the 80 layer count before folding to achieve a total of 326 layers. The added L6 gives three bold stripes on each side of the blade. Timothy indicates that this gives an overall appearance of “rivers and ripples†on the blade. The guard on the knife if A36 steel heat blued with a torch. The ferrule on this piece is constructed of three pieces of German Silver. The center piece is hammered providing a strong visual textured contrast to the medley. The handle is Sambar stag of exceptional quality. The buttcap is 3/16th German Silver with a hand filed star burst pattern. The knife is accompanied with an alligator leather sheath hand made by Scott McInnis from Shreveport, LA. A wonderful piece from a great master smith.
ABS Master Smith Folder Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: Brion Tomberlin, ABS-Master Smith
(To be shown soon)
ABS Board of Directors Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: Kevin Cashen, ABS-Master Smith
Special Bowie Knife. Kevin Cashen’s unbelievable talent is easily seen in this handsome 14 inch overall bowie knife. The steel is 1095 AISI which Kevin forged to a 9.25 inch blade. Kevin Cashen is known for his superb metallurgical knowledge and he used this expertise to create a blade with a classic choji style hamon or temper line. The blade was polished to over 2000 grit finish to reveal the dramatic crystalline structure and activity in the hamon. Complementing this fantastic piece is a fossil walrus handle. This is an amazing piece. Clean lines and simply beautiful.
ABS Board of Directors Auction Knife of 2016
Maker: James Rodebaugh, ABS-Master Smith
Shirley Basin Hunter. This is James Rodebaugh’s Collector Grade hunter. The hunter sports a blade of
O-1 tool steel hand rubbed to a perfect 500 grit finish. The knife has a differential temper to withstand just about anything a hunter could imagine using a knife for in the field. The blade is 4-1/8 inches long with an overall length of 8 and 5/16th inches. James used visually striking metals in his fittings on this fantastic piece. The guard is bronze with a running leaf engraving and the spacer is nickel silver with vine file work. The handle on this exceptional knife has exhibition grade hard curly Maple in a palm swell style favored by James. The maple handle is then hand rubbed using an oil finish. The accompanying sheath is James’s Quick Carry style with copper arrowhead and basket weave tooling.
ABS Collaboration Knife of 2016
Makers: Craig Brewer, Apprentice Smith; Dan Cassidy, Journeyman Smith; and Jack Fuller, Master Smith
Back Pocket Slip Joint Folder. This knife is a traditional Tony Bose Back pocket slip joint folder made by three talented smiths recognizing each level of recognition given to bladesmiths in the society. The blade is Carpenter CTS-XHP heat treated to a 59-60 RC hardness. Stainless 416 steel integral frame, milled to a high tolerance. The incredible level of precision that went into this knife can viewed on the YouTube ABS channel where each step was videotaped. The filework is just exceptional on this piece. The handle is traditional jigged bone. With the blade in the closed position, this superb piece measures 4.12 inches in length. Nice work and a great collaboration piece.
ABS TOMB Auction Knife of 2016:
Maker: William Moran, Late ABS Founder and ABS-Master Smith
Bill Moran swept back skinner. Each year the American Bladesmith Society has provided TOMB, The Order of the Mystic Brotherhood, the opportunity to auction a knife to raise monies for the organization. TOMB is a fellowship organization that uses its funds to support the ABS Schools. This year the TOMB knife is a Bill Moran swept back skinner donated to TOMB by the late knife collector, Bud Branch. This is a rare Moran knife in excellent condition with a sheath made by Master Smith Jay Hendrickson. The handle is curly maple and the fittings are brass. This is an exceptional collector piece.
* All knife photography for the 2016 ABS Knife Auction was by Eric Eggly at Point Seven Studio. Thank you Eric!
**A copy of the current financial statement of the American Bladesmith Society, Inc. is available by writing American Bladesmith Society, Inc., P.O. Box 160, Grand Rapids, Ohio 43522 or by calling (419) 832-0400. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis MD 21401, (410) 974-5534.
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
Note: All knife photography for the 2016 ABS Knife Auction was by Eric Eggly at Point Seven Studio. Thank you Eric!
**A copy of the current financial statement of the American Bladesmith Society, Inc. is available by writing American Bladesmith Society, Inc., P.O. Box 160, Grand Rapids, Ohio 43522 or by calling (419) 832-0400. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis MD 21401, (410) 974-5534.*
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
All I can say is WOW! Beautiful knives!
Bob
I want to tell you more about the man behind the generous donation of the TOMB knife made by William F Moran, Jr.
ABS Board member and Journeyman Smith Bob Calvert wrote a tribute to Phillip R."Bud" Branch and wants us to know more him, his distinguished life, and his dedication to the knife making community. This is about who Bud Branch was and what this knife means.
Phillip R. "Bud" Branch was a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army and a veteran of the Viet Nam war. Bud earned 3 college degrees in English, history, and accounting respectively.
He was an avid knife collector and generously purchased many knives just to help a new knife maker get started. Participating as a bidder, Bud single handedly bailed out many knife auctions on behalf of the American Bladesmith Society and TOMB. He would run the bidding price upon himself at a knife auction because he did not feel that the item was bid high enough.
Bud Branch had a tremendous desire to see the forged blade survive and prosper. He was inducted into TOMB (The Order of the Mystic Brotherhood) just before his death because of his many years of support and generosity.
Before Bud died he requested that a part of his knife collection be given to TOMB to start a scholarship to fund advanced studies for knife makers that needed financial assistance for school tuition and travel expenses.
This Bill Moran knife from the Bud Branch knife collection at this year's ABS Knife Auction at the 2016 Blade Show represents not only a chance to own a rare and wonderful knife but also an opportunity to help others at the same time.
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
Terrific group of knives and makers! Should be a successful and enjoyable auction.
Hello everyone. Well the Mastersmith folder finally made it. I had hoped to have it done much earlier but family comes first anyway here it is. It is a persian style liner lock folder,imagine that, and no it does not have a hamon. The blade is a W pattern damascus with damascus for the bolsters also, along with the back spacer. The liners are anodized titanium in a gold color to set off the handle material, which is a nice crackle mammoth ivory. I do want to say a huge thank you to a fellow knife maker, Jerry Mclure. With out his tremendous help and advice I would still be toiling away and it would not look nearly this good. He is a good friend and hell of a knife maker.
The blade rides on ruby bearings and the pivot pin is hidden underneath the bolsters. Gold screws are used for attachment of handles and bolsters. It turned out nice.
It will be on display at the ABS table at Blade until Saturday when it will be auctioned. Again I am sorry for the delay. Enjoy the pictures.
Thank you
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Nice work, Brion
Great job Brion!
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
There is a story behind every maker in this group and the participants involved. The knives are wonderful but the stories are so very inspiring and add value to the object. I commend each involved and am proud to be contemporaries of this selected group of makers and contributors.
