Top masters in the world of bladesmithing have donated a series of art knives for the American Bladesmith Society Annual fund raiser at the 2013 Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair in Atlanta, GA on Saturday June 1^st at 10:00 am. This event promises to be even better than the auction last year. Collectors and aficionados of high end custom knives will have an exclusive opportunity to view and hear detailed descriptions by the makers themselves of possibly the best knives at the entire show.

James R. Cook has the honor of making this year’s Master Smith 2013 Auction Knife for the American Bladesmith Society. JR’s knives are in a class by themselves and this Master Smith has been at the cutting edge of bladesmithing pushing innovation and yet staying within the boundaries of the traditions of the forged blade. According to JR, “I made what I call ‘transition’ Damascus for this blade”. JR is the creator of “transition Damascus” and his 2013 auction knife clearly brings out the unique variation produced by his innovative process. The top portion of this blade towards the spine is 1084 while the cutting edge section is a 1084 and 15N20 “W” Damascus pattern.

JR states that, “I wanted it to look like the top half is carbon steel and the bottom half is Damascus so the transition between the contrasting steels would be highlighted”.

JR indicates that, “with transition Damascus you can put 2 or more Damascus patterns together in the same blade without having a straight line weld between the patterns. One pattern will transition into the other.” While JR has been working on this process for a couple of years, this is one of the first groups of knives to demonstrate artistically this unique process. Smiths will be looking at this knife wondering how he fused these steels together to create the pattern.

Looking at the JR’s 2013 Auction Knife of the year you can easily see that this knife represents the epitome of the forged blade as art. From the balance of the blade, the acorn style tips on the guard, to the elongated clip set off a unique and handsome design. The handle is walrus ivory and the fittings are 416 stainless steel. JR personally engraved all the fittings. This is a beautiful bowie knife. JR indicates that this is his “Hidalgo” model with a blade length at 10.5 inches and an overall length of 15.75 inches. When asked about the name “Hidalgo”, JR indicated that hidalgo was a term used in Spain to indicate nobility. To refer to a person as hidalgo was to indicate that they were noble and had a generous spirit. The knife is clearly noble and none would question its spirit.