Oklahoma Knife Group Association Shop Tour

Bill Coye

Bill Coye

Knife Maker
A great time today at Mr. Mike Miller's shop. Mike is the president of the KGA and did a hollow grinding demo and described different equipment in his shop (much of which he built himself). Mr. Ray Kirk broke out the forge and had a demonstration of his own. He got a few folks involved which was great to watch. A couple of Oklahoma knifemaking suppliers were there to make sure we went home with some new handle material.

Good food, good folks, sunshine, great subject matter. What more could you ask for on a Saturday afternoon? A big Thank You to Mike for his hospitality!

http://theknifegroup.com/


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Yeah, it was really great. Being the total noob that I am, it was nice to get to shake hands with some of the people I've heard about.

BC
 
We had a good time . I have several pieces of equipment you won't see in others shops and as Bill said what beautiful weather. Bill brought his equipment down to show us how to stone wash a blade. A friend and my son smoked chicken quarters and pork chops. The poor table that held the deserts barely made it. It was a wonder half of us was not asleep after the meal. Ray woke us all up hammering out an intergeral. The best part of the afternoon was Ray helping Ben Patterson( age 15) and Luke Killiam ( age 14 ) make their first forged blades. Ben did an intergeral and Luke did blacksmith self handled blade. Both did very well. I heat treated Ben's blade and the 1095 blade I did the hollow grind demo to give Ben something to work on. Ben also won a BIG chunk of black walnut in our iron-in-the-hat for finish his knives. Enjoyable day all around. Mike
 
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Looks like a great turnout and a great time. Having been to a couple of these I KNOW you ate well. Wish I could have made it.

SDS
 
SDS said:
Looks like a great turnout and a great time. Having been to a couple of these I KNOW you ate well. Wish I could have made it.

SDS
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I looked for you - maybe in November at the Tulsa show?

I'll be at table C6.

Aloha.
 
It was indeed a very nice day and I enjoyed it, especially the pecan pie. :)
That is the great thing about shop tours, we get to visit other shops to see how they do it and always come away with ideas of how to improve our own.
Mike and I appreciate all that attended and enjoyed it. Some times, this is the only time we really get to visit each other as when we go to show, it is hard to do since we stay at our tables most of the time explaining our techniques and selling a few knives.
I had a pleasant surprise when I got home, David Curtiss had called and we worked out the final details on some of my seat belt cutters. Things are looking good.
Thanks to Bill Coye for posting the pics and we all enjoyed his stone washing demo.
 
Man, looks like a good time Bill.

Grinders/Forge/BBQ/good ol Okies....how did I miss this one.....:eek:

Thanks for sharing bud2thumbs

C
 
45warrior said:
Man, looks like a good time Bill.

Grinders/Forge/BBQ/good ol Okies....how did I miss this one.....:eek:

Thanks for sharing bud2thumbs

C
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The next one will be in the spring at different location. A lot of information right there at your fingertips...

BC
 
No worries Mike. I think you had James in mind....He is up in Joplin....think we can convince him to make it as well2thumbs I might even half way know what I am doing by that time. Once I get on over to Bill's I am sure he will show me whats up:D

So do we bring our own desired steel/belts/handle material etc? I will make sure to set some back if so. If not....will still be cool hanging with you guys/gals at the next tour!

mike miller said:
Sorry 45 my bad got people mixed up yeah Ponca City- I lived in Tonkawa for 10 years from late 70's
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What we try to do is set up three demos. Ray always brings his forging trailer with gas forge,anvils, and equipment to show someone how. Different demos we have shown at our shop tours are: Bill with stone wash- I did hollow grind and at another tapered tang-Ray intergal (both fulltang and integeral) Brian Tomberlin how to bring out your hammons, Jerry McClure how to hand finish a blade,Jerald Nickles and Dan Burke how to set up slip joints, Larry Parsons leather sheath work, Ray also at his shop did a welding demo with damascus and his air hammer and roller mill, Lee Ferguson did his canister for stabilizing wood, Linda Ferguson did a schrimshaw demo, Gary Crowder showed his he cuts nail nicks on his surface grinder and his set up for the fancy file work on his folders. As you can tell we have a very diverse group and everyone freely demonstrates to share their knowledge . I am extremely proud to be a member of this group and also President of the Association. We just have fun.
 
45warrior said:
No worries Mike. I think you had James in mind....He is up in Joplin....think we can convince him to make it as well2thumbs I might even half way know what I am doing by that time. Once I get on over to Bill's I am sure he will show me whats up:D

So do we bring our own desired steel/belts/handle material etc? I will make sure to set some back if so. If not....will still be cool hanging with you guys/gals at the next tour!
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Chris, all of your hands-on stuff will be here in the shop. The individual demonstrations by knifemakers are FYI only. With 30-40 people there we'd never get anything done!

I met a guy at Mikes from Wagoner who had made a knife but didn't have a sheath for it. He told me he wanted to make a kydex sheath but didn't know how.
A few hours later we were in my shop and he wound up doing a really nice job for his first one!

BC
 
Maybe Ray Kirk and Mike Miller will post some photographs of their work for us to enjoy (hint hint) :)

cool 1

BC
 
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