Montana Knifemakers Association Summer Show - Missoula, MT - July 19-21, 2002

The MKA 2002 show was a 3-day show featuring some of the best talent from Montana and the surrounding area. I definitely agree with the assertion I heard many times over the weekend - this show is one of the most underrated shows as far as level of talent behind the tables.

The show experience really started for me on Wednesday night, heading over to the Bybee’s place to help prepare supplies before we got ready for the 500-mile drive from Sammamish, WA to Missoula, MT. First of all, for the knifemakers who buy supplies, I now know how much work goes into preparing the supplies before you get them. Jessica, Chuck and I spend most of the evening sanding and shellacking the wood blocks and Jessica and I did the ritual price stickering on the drive over.

Having never been past Snoqualmie on I90, the drive over was quite an experience. Eastern Washington is basically miles and miles of desert and fields. After the long drive we got into Missoula at around 2am for a few hours of shut-eye before the show opened.

The show had a really relaxed atmosphere. Most of the table holders did show up until a bit after the show opened. For the most part Friday was slow as far as traffic, which allowed the perfect opportunity for table holders to visit each other. Ed Caffrey was right next to us, Thomas Haslinger just across and up, and Tom Ferry a little ways down from Ed. The show wasn’t all knives and supplies; Bruce Bump’s Chinese Pugs had a litter and they had the cutest puppies for sale.

On Friday evening after the show closed, Wendell Barnes and his wife Carolyn invited everyone at the show to a BBQ at his place. Carolyn did an excellent job at organizing and preparing food for a large number of hungry knife show goers. After dinner, Bruce Bump took his Mastersmith test, administered by Ed Caffrey. The test requires the smith to use a Damascus bladed knife and first cut through rope, then chop two 2x4s in half then shave hair. Once this is accomplished, the blade is set in a vise and the knife must be bent to 90 degrees without breaking. I got into the garage just after the 2x4s had been chopped and Bruce was setting up for the bend test. Ed’s advice was to move it slow and steady. He pulled the knife little by little increasing the angle and stresses on the blade. Right when Ed said to stop a loud snap was heard and my heart just sunk; I thought the blade had broken off. Ed and Bruce carefully removed the blade from vise and inspected it. The blade had begun to snap, but did not go very far through. Bruce had successfully passed the performance test and now has to present five knives at the Blade Show in Atlanta next June. Congratulations Bruce!

One of the big draws for the show, and a major fundraiser for the club is the raffle. Unlike other shows, nearly every item was a relatively high dollar item, and the odds of winning weren’t too bad. Some people I saw buy 75 tickets! The cool thing about the drawing is that they’re held every hour on the hour, and you must be present to win. This really gives people incentive to stick around the show.

I found the knives at this show to unbelievable. This wasn’t the normal “tactical” crowd that gets a lot of talk and attention on the Internet. The level of craftsmanship in the room was incredible. Joe Olson had a few folders that were just beautiful. Shane Taylor had “The Last Dragon”, the tenth and final knife of his Dragon series of folders. The carving on the scales was the most complex that I had ever seen. Ed Caffrey had a folder with carved titanium handles where the Damascus pattern continued into the handles through carving and coloring (this knife will probably be on Bladegallery soon). Nick Wheeler had a very impressive fluted handled dagger and won Best Hand Forged with one of the cleanest bowies I’ve seen. Tom Ferry had a Timascus folder composed of a “3-Way” billet (three titanium alloys in the Timascus mix) featuring flames carved into it. Roger Dole sold a very cool chain Damascus dagger that he forged during a hammer-in at Bill Cottrell's shop. Jessica picked up a very slick art folder featuring blued Damascus with a Samodorok gold process on the scales from Deryk Munroe (who won Best Fantasy with another knife). Bob Lum, who didn’t have a table, even came to the show (no, not to brown bag!) to hang out and was caught taking a cat nap outside the show on Sunday (I have a picture, but promised Bob I wouldn't put it on the internet;) ).

I guess what I liked about this show, besides the knives, was the way in which the show was organized and run. Bob Crowder, Wendell Barnes, Dan Nedved and many others worked hard to create a show that was very enjoyable for tableholders and collectors alike. For anyone who wants to attend a fun, relaxed show, featuring work from some of the best knivemakers in the country, this show is a must.

~Mitch 7/25/2002