Hello all, happy to be here among people with the same interests as me. My name is Mike Travers. I was born and raised in New York but now I'm from Cape Cod Massachusetts and for years I have wondered if there were any other knife makers on the cape. I have had to learn how to make knives the hard way, book by book starting with The $50 knife shop about seven years ago as I'm sure a lot of you have as well. I'm looking forward to finally having a real person to give me some feedback. Between a 9 to 5 and two kids, its hard to find time to get in the shop so its been slow going. I find myself day dreaming about that chunk of steel on my shop bench while I'm at work so time is a very precious resource when you don't have any. It's actually a little hard to think how much further along I would be if I had all of you as a resource from the start. Oh well, I'm here now and I can't wait to read the archives and words of all of you other knife makers here in The American Bladesmith Society and proud to be among you. Thanks for having me.
Welcome to the ABS Mike. We're glad to have you with us. If we can help, let us know. You might scan the forum and see if any of the subject matter prompts a question. Lin Rhea
Mike
Welcome to the American Bladesmith Society and the ABS Forum. It was great talking with you on the phone the other day and as I said you will find the members of the ABS very willing to answer your questions about bladesmithing. I really liked hearing that you have already viewed every video uploaded to the ABS YouTube Channel.
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
Welcome to the forum Mr. Mike. I like your story, sounds familiar.
For me its a matter of school from 8:00 to 3:00 and being part of a family with nine children.
But you will soon find out, as I did, just how much the ABS can boost your skill and knowledge.
Once again welcome and have fun Bladesmithing.
Jonathan Stanley
Apprentice Smith
Hey Mike,
Welcome welcome. The webmaster pointed me in the direction of your post, as I am local...ish. I lived in Boston until about six months ago, when I moved up to central New Hampshire. I am a journeyman, and I've been making knives in New England (staring under JD Smith, MS) since roughly 2007.
How far out on the cape are you, what kind of equipment do you have access to? How have things been going--any particular difficulties or outstanding questions about knife making?
A couple of suggestions for you, if you'd like to learn more:
1) JD teaches bladesmithing (intro, and basic pattern welding) at MassArt each semester. It is available through their continuing education program, and that's how I got my start. I don't know how feasible it would be for you, logistically, but it usually runs from 6:30-10:00 one night a week. JD is an outstanding teacher and a top quality knife maker. Until I moved, I helped him teach for the last three years or so, and I was still learning great new tips from him all over the place.
2) since it sounds like that might be logistically challenging for you, another way to go would be Joe Szilaski. He's a master smith operating out of upstate New York, and he frequently offers intensive, two-day classes over the weekend. I've taken three or four with him. From Boston, I'd just wake up early on Saturday, drive the three hours to get to him, and then drive back Sunday evening. Joe is a great guy, great knife maker, great teacher. And he can usually put his students up at his house during the seminars.
3) are you aware of the ABS school at the New England School of Metalwork? They offer lots of classes with top teachers, and they have a terrific facility.
4) if you find yourself in central New Hampshire (near lake Sunappee), stop on by! I'm building a brand new workshop as we speak, should be done in a couple weeks. Once I'm up and running, I will also be offering classes/seminars.
Cheers, and welcome!
Zack
Zack Jonas
Journeyman Smith
Absolutely amazing! Thanks to all of you guys Lin,Dan, Jonathan and Zack for the warm welcome. I have been dying to get home today to dive into the forums info. To answer your questions Zach, I live very close to the bridge. About 45 min from Boston. As far as questions, I have 7 years worth of questions,lol, that a lot have already been answered by the forums here and I will continue to read for however long it takes. I'm a sponge right now. If there is something that I cannot find on here I will ask but for now I'm a little overwhelmed like a kid in a candy shop. Every knife I've ever made has been made on a craftsman 2x42 belt sander and in a forge that I made out of an old propane tank. I lined the inside with kaowool and refractory cement with a single burner. I have a few homemade anvils made of rails and so on and on. Everything from scratch in my shop. I would say my biggest difficulty has been even grind lines over the past few years. I have learned to master it but the 2x42 is about as lame as it gets. I have been saving up for a KMG but something always seems to come up. I'm sure you've heard this story a few times now. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished with minimal resources and almost no budget and no formal training but I'm not even close to the level of craftsmanship that most of you are on. I will post some pics of my work soon. Thank you for the list of training resources available in my area, I have already spoken to my wife about them and plan to try to find a way to get to some of them. And finally, thanks for the invite to your shop, truly unexpected. I'm off to read. Hope to talk to all of you further in the future.
Mike I strongly recommend getting up to the New England School of Metal Work for one of the ABS two week intensives. It is a long stretch to get away from the day job and the family but if you can manage it the experience is well worth it. I attended the the spring session with Jim Crowell and the education I received was top notch.
Welcome to the ABS and the Forum Mike!!
Mike, welcome. Good to have you here and in the ABS. Any questions, we will do our best to answer them.
Welcome again.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
|quoted:
Mike I strongly recommend getting up to the New England School of Metal Work for one of the ABS two week intensives. It is a long stretch to get away from the day job and the family but if you can manage it the experience is well worth it. I attended the the spring session with Jim Crowell and the education I received was top notch.
Thank you. I'm gonna try my best to get out there.
|quoted:
Welcome to the ABS and the Forum Mike!!
Thank you Steve
|quoted:
Mike, welcome. Good to have you here and in the ABS. Any questions, we will do our best to answer them.
Welcome again.
Brion
Thank you Brion I'm sure I will.
Hi Mike!
Welcome to the ABS! Come for the knives, but stay for the people.
I am the resident Bladesmith up here at the New England School of Metalwork. We are an ABS approved training facility and have classes in every type of metalwork including damascus, blacksmithing, casting and welding. We also have on site dorms to cut down on expenses.
Call my cell at 207 713 4203 with any question or check out www.newenglandschoolofmetalwork.com
Cheers,
Nick
Welcom Mike. Get into a class and you'll be suprised how many of those questions get answered in the first couple of days.
Dale
Dale Huckabee
Journeyman Smith
dalehuckabeeknives.weebly.com
Hey Mike! Welcome to the forums! PM me anytime if you need to.
JD Smith
Master Smith
