April 02 Show.Cdr
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
KNIFEOKCA 27th Annual SHOW • April 20-21 Lane County Fairgrounds & Convention Center • Eugene, Oregon April 2002 Ourinternational membership is happily involved with “Anything that goes ‘cut’!” You Could Win... a new Brand Name knife or other valuable prize, just for filling out a door prize coupon. Do it now so you don't forget! You can also... buy tickets in our Saturday (only) RAFFLE for chances to WIN even more fabulous knife prizes. Stop at the OKCA table before 4:30 p.m Saturday. Tickets are only $1 each, or 6 for $5. Free Identification & Appraisal Ask for Bernard Levine, author of Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values, at table N-01. ELCOME to the Oregon Knife At the Show, don't miss the special live prize showcases (if you miss the posting, we Collectors Association Special Show demonstrations Saturday and Sunday. This will MAIL your prize). WKnewslettter. On Saturday, April 20 year we have Blade Forging, Martial Arts, and Sunday, April 21, we hope to welcome you Scrimshaw, Engraving, Knife Sharpening, Along the side walls, we will have more than a and your friends and family to the famous and Blade Grinding Competition, Rope Cutting, score of MUSEUM QUALITY KNIFE AND spectacular OREGON KNIFE SHOW & SALE. and Flint Knapping. And don't miss the SWORD COLLECTIONS ON DISPLAY for Now the Largest Knife Show in the World! FREE knife identification and appraisal by your enjoyment, in addition to our hundreds of renowned knife author, BERNARD LEVINE tables of hand-made, factory, and antique The OREGON KNIFE SHOW happens just (Table N-01). knives for sale. Now 470 tables! Look inside once a year, at the Lane County Fairgrounds this Knewslettter for a description of the & Convention Center EXHIBIT HALL, 796 PLUS, every hour we will be GIVING displays, plus lots more information about the West 13th Avenue in Eugene, Oregon. AWAY FREE knife and knife-related door Knife Show and about the Oregon Knife April 20-21. Saturday 9 am -6 pm. prizes. Fill out a coupon when you enter, and Collectors Association (OKCA). Sunday 9 am -3 pm. watch for your name to be posted near the Come have fun at our show and wish a happy 27th anniversary to us!!! Rope Knives By Glen Davis Recently I bought a CASE #6250 (Elephant Toenail) knife to add to my collection. The person from whom I bought it told me it was designed for people who worked frequently with rope; in fact, he called it a “rope knife.” He said the wide blade would last through many sharpenings. That was an interesting story, and who knows, maybe that was the purpose for which the knife was designed. However, I don’t believe it was ever actually used for that purpose. In 1969 through 1971, I worked for a rope factory in Easton, Pennsylvania. That is all we made, rope, and a lot of it! It was mostly fine manila rope that we called Reinek Reliable Rope. We made it in all different sizes, and it was used throughout the world. Rope starts out as bails of hemp that are soaked with an oil preservative. The hemp is then spun into “yarn” and wound on spools. The spools of yarn are twisted and combined into larger “strands” of rope. Depending on the size of the rope, a strand can have from as few as seven lines of yarn up to hundreds. Finally the strands, either three or four, but usually three, are forcefully combined and twisted into the rope itself. The process is simple, but very dangerous. It was rare to see a long term employee with all ten fingers. The spools of yarn run out at different times as they are being twisted into the strands; but the machines don’t stop running. The operator had to change the spool of yarn very quickly by pulling off the remaining yarn then tying the end of the old spool to the beginning of a new spool. It’s a messy process and occasionally a finger would get tangled in the yarn; and if a knife wasn’t nearby, then pretty soon your finger wouldn’t be nearby either. Knives are important tools in a rope factory and every employee has one. When I started working there, I first used an inexpensive (low carbon, high chromium) sheath knife. Everyone there had a sheath knife. Knives are used continuously to cut yarn, thin out strands, cut strands, cut rope, etc. Some operations require you to use your knife every couple of minutes and sometimes even more often than that. It’s “out-cut-in”, “out-cut-in”, it happens very fast, pulling a knife from the sheath is similar to a gun fighter drawing a gun. A pocket knife takes far too long to pull out and open. A rope worker using a pocket knife would be as ineffective as a butcher using a pocket knife. My first sheath knife lasted only a couple of months until it was sharpened down to nothing. Then I got my first good rope knife. The maintenance man in the shop would make knives for those rope workers who stayed more than a couple of months. These knives were made from old industrial hack saw blades, at least an inch wide and much thicker than the “home use” blades one normally sees. He would grind off the teeth and shape the blade. Then he would rivet on some wooden handle; and with a little sanding and sharpening, the knife was complete. These knives were tough and seemed to last forever. I used that same knife for the next two years, and it still wasn’t badly worn when I left.. Our sheaths were also home-made by cutting and stapling together very thick leather from old machine drive belts. Normal sheaths wouldn’t last very long as the knives were pulled in and out repeatedly. That was a long time ago, and I don’t know whatever happened to that knife. I did ride by the company a few years ago, and they are no longer in business. In any event, I did work at a place where we cut a lot of rope … and no one used an “Elephant Toenail” knife. Page 2 Show Schedule The Oregon Knife Collectors 27th Annual Knife Show held at the Lane County Fairgrounds & Convention Center, Exhibit Hall, 796 West 13th Avenue in Eugene Oregon. This is the same location as the 2001 show. Now 470 tables, the Largest Knife Show in the World!!! Friday, April 19, 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM: Exhibitor set up and members only day. No exceptions. New mem- bers may sign up at the door ($20 individ., $23 family) after 2:00 PM. Membership renewals after 2:00 PM . Saturday April 20, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM: Open to the public. $5.00 admission. WVACA, Ikes, and other recognized organizations must show their member- ship for free admission. Demonstrations throughout the day. 6:00 PM Saturday Night Social - tickets $12/person. Banquet - Guest Speaker: J. D. Smith The Displays from Boston, Massachusetts, multi-award winning The tables around the perimeter of the room hold collectors' displays for your damascus bladesmith.AwardsPresentations. enjoyment and education. The best six of these displays will be awarded customized Sunday April 21, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM: Open to the 'Schrade Loveless' hunting knives (blades donated by Schrade Cutlery Co.), with public. Demonstrations throughout the day. custom handles, scrimshaw, and engraving by Oregon Knife Collector member artists. Most of the rest of the show tables hold knives for sale or trade. Our City and County Regulations require that there be: knifemakers, collectors, and dealers have come to Eugene from all over the United ü No smoking within the Exhibit Hall at any time. States and around the world. ü No alcoholic beverages consumed within the Exhibit Hall during the public hours of the Show. CONTRIBUTIONS Many companies and individuals contribute merchandise and items to the Oregon Knife Collectors. These items are used for door prizes, display awards or go in to our raffle. These contributions add About the OKCA to the success of the Oregon Knife Show. The Oregon Knife The following is a list of these people and companies that have donated to the Year 2002 Show: Collectors Association Alpha Knife Supply • Benchmade Knive • W .R. Case & Sons (organized in 1976) Geor ge Cumming • Camillus Cutlery • Carbide Pr ocessors is a non-profit Coast Cutlery organization, happily Columbia River Knife & T ool • T erry Davis involved with Delta Z Knives - Bar naby Zelman "Anything that goes Cut!" The OKCA Gallery Har dwoods - Larry Davis • Michael & Junko Fong Oregon Knife Show, with Gerber® Legendary Blades 470 eight-foot exhibitor K & G Finishing Supplies • Knife W orld Publications • Koval Knives tables, is now the Leather man • Bob Patrick - Cr escent Knife W orks • Mike Silvey largest all-knife show in the world. Simonich Knives • Mother of Pearl • Bill Ruple Spyder co Knives • For d Swauger • T aylor Cutlery OKCA members receive admission to the Texas Knifemaker 's Supply • W oody W oodcock • John Y ashinski Friday "set-up" day at the Knife Show, nine Knewslettters per year, free admission to local knife and gun shows, invitations to our popular no-host dinner meetings, free tables at Knife Show Etiquette Knife shows are a lot of fun. They are best, our Winter Show in December, and a chance however, when visitors follow a few basic rules of courtesy. These are: to buy our annual limited-edition club knives.