Travis Fry
Well-Known Member
First, apologies. I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures.
I thought it would be worthwhile to post some thoughts and personal reflections about the recent Expo for the sake of the Dogs.
I only attended on Friday, and during the seminars and from talking to folks I had probably a dozen "it would have been worth the drive from Houston just to learn THAT" moments. So, here goes:
I came away with new confidence to:
-Use pins for indexing everything, with thanks to Dave Lisch and Mike Quesenberry, who demonstrated the many benefits of pins during their lectures. Both are nice guys too, and at the top of the game.
-Pursue engraving further once I have the cash flow, thanks to the GRS guys who let me play with their equipment, which is very impressive. I probably won't do this for a few years, but I WILL do it.
-Cut lines on my bolsters. I'd always wondered about how to do it cleanly, Dave Lisch told me in 10 seconds. Turns out the secret is to use a hacksaw blade and thin it out on the grinder until it's thread thin. This was one of many, "I can't believe I didn't think of that myself" moments.
-Dome pins. Mike Q talked about it in his lecture on frame handle construction, but Adam DesRosiers really helped to clarify and convinced me I can do it. A little practice once I got home, a bit of tool modification, and now I'm ready to do it on the next knife. I'm way excited about that, because they just look classy.
-Tackle stag handles. Who knew the secret was kneadable epoxy? (Dave again)
-Do butt caps. I'd always wondered how they are attached and know half a dozen ways that I'm not crazy about. Now I have a better idea what the big guys do, and it wasn't as hard as I thought. Epoxy is my friend.
-Maybe tackle a wire wrapped handle. I got to handle Kevin Cashen's dagger that he posted a while back, the one for the ABS, and got him to tell me about how he did it. I'd always wondered, and now I know. Like so many things related to knife making, the answer is pretty obvious, but not one I would likely have thought of.
I also came away with the following:
-Hard evidence of the value of having your own name as your forum username. There were quite a few times when people I'd heard of, learned from, and looked up to saw my name tag and said something like, "Oh hi, Travis, it's nice to finally meet you." It's much easier to start a conversation with someone when they already know who you are. If your username isn't your own name, it should be.
-A realization that I have a lot to work on (see above). I need to get my edges thinner, my plunges more even, work on guard fit-up and spacers, doming pins, and a lot of other things before I can run with the big dogs in the pack.
-A realization that, for the most part, I actually know what I'm doing and am pretty good at this. Some of the best knife makers in the world were there (Fuegen, Cashen, Culver, even Quesenberry, etc.), and they're in a different league. However, the difference between my knives and those of a lot of the other guys is not as much as I thought it would be. I can't tell you what this trip did for my confidence!
-An observation that there is still a lot of misinformation about steel and heat treating. Most everything I know came from stuff Kevin Cashen has posted on forums, and hearing his lecture convinced me that there was a lot I don't understand still. While that will likely always be true, at the same time I've actually learned pretty well. During Kevin's lecture, some very well known folks asked questions that I knew the answer to! Also, I had one Master Smith try to convince me that the forged blade is inherently superior to a stock removal blade. While this can be true in some specific circumstances, it isn't, without qualification, a true statement. Rather than be disturbed by misinformation at the highest levels of our craft, I choose to be motivated to continue learning.
-A few potential new friends. I had some good conversations with Josh Fisher, a relatively new Journeyman Smith who doesn't live that far from me, and even more with Adam DesRosiers, whom you've all heard of. It turns out we have a few mutual friends, and he and his wife Haley are bright, engaging, and easygoing folks. Many others, including James Rodebaugh, Mike Quesenberry, Dave Lisch, Steve Culver, Doug Noren, Rick Eaton, Kevin Cashen, and Daniel O'Malley freely shared their knowledge and experience, and I learned something from each of them that will make me a better maker. My thanks to all who give freely of their knowledge, and apologies to those I didn't mention.
-The confirmation that there is in fact an ABS uniform, and it requires boots and wide brimmed hats. The hats are optional but preferred. The boots seem to be required. I'm a 7th generation Texan, and am not disturbed by this.
I thought it would be worthwhile to post some thoughts and personal reflections about the recent Expo for the sake of the Dogs.
I only attended on Friday, and during the seminars and from talking to folks I had probably a dozen "it would have been worth the drive from Houston just to learn THAT" moments. So, here goes:
I came away with new confidence to:
-Use pins for indexing everything, with thanks to Dave Lisch and Mike Quesenberry, who demonstrated the many benefits of pins during their lectures. Both are nice guys too, and at the top of the game.
-Pursue engraving further once I have the cash flow, thanks to the GRS guys who let me play with their equipment, which is very impressive. I probably won't do this for a few years, but I WILL do it.
-Cut lines on my bolsters. I'd always wondered about how to do it cleanly, Dave Lisch told me in 10 seconds. Turns out the secret is to use a hacksaw blade and thin it out on the grinder until it's thread thin. This was one of many, "I can't believe I didn't think of that myself" moments.
-Dome pins. Mike Q talked about it in his lecture on frame handle construction, but Adam DesRosiers really helped to clarify and convinced me I can do it. A little practice once I got home, a bit of tool modification, and now I'm ready to do it on the next knife. I'm way excited about that, because they just look classy.
-Tackle stag handles. Who knew the secret was kneadable epoxy? (Dave again)
-Do butt caps. I'd always wondered how they are attached and know half a dozen ways that I'm not crazy about. Now I have a better idea what the big guys do, and it wasn't as hard as I thought. Epoxy is my friend.
-Maybe tackle a wire wrapped handle. I got to handle Kevin Cashen's dagger that he posted a while back, the one for the ABS, and got him to tell me about how he did it. I'd always wondered, and now I know. Like so many things related to knife making, the answer is pretty obvious, but not one I would likely have thought of.
I also came away with the following:
-Hard evidence of the value of having your own name as your forum username. There were quite a few times when people I'd heard of, learned from, and looked up to saw my name tag and said something like, "Oh hi, Travis, it's nice to finally meet you." It's much easier to start a conversation with someone when they already know who you are. If your username isn't your own name, it should be.
-A realization that I have a lot to work on (see above). I need to get my edges thinner, my plunges more even, work on guard fit-up and spacers, doming pins, and a lot of other things before I can run with the big dogs in the pack.
-A realization that, for the most part, I actually know what I'm doing and am pretty good at this. Some of the best knife makers in the world were there (Fuegen, Cashen, Culver, even Quesenberry, etc.), and they're in a different league. However, the difference between my knives and those of a lot of the other guys is not as much as I thought it would be. I can't tell you what this trip did for my confidence!
-An observation that there is still a lot of misinformation about steel and heat treating. Most everything I know came from stuff Kevin Cashen has posted on forums, and hearing his lecture convinced me that there was a lot I don't understand still. While that will likely always be true, at the same time I've actually learned pretty well. During Kevin's lecture, some very well known folks asked questions that I knew the answer to! Also, I had one Master Smith try to convince me that the forged blade is inherently superior to a stock removal blade. While this can be true in some specific circumstances, it isn't, without qualification, a true statement. Rather than be disturbed by misinformation at the highest levels of our craft, I choose to be motivated to continue learning.
-A few potential new friends. I had some good conversations with Josh Fisher, a relatively new Journeyman Smith who doesn't live that far from me, and even more with Adam DesRosiers, whom you've all heard of. It turns out we have a few mutual friends, and he and his wife Haley are bright, engaging, and easygoing folks. Many others, including James Rodebaugh, Mike Quesenberry, Dave Lisch, Steve Culver, Doug Noren, Rick Eaton, Kevin Cashen, and Daniel O'Malley freely shared their knowledge and experience, and I learned something from each of them that will make me a better maker. My thanks to all who give freely of their knowledge, and apologies to those I didn't mention.
-The confirmation that there is in fact an ABS uniform, and it requires boots and wide brimmed hats. The hats are optional but preferred. The boots seem to be required. I'm a 7th generation Texan, and am not disturbed by this.
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