When i got the call from Wally that my sword is ready, i thought it would be a great idea to make the four hour drive down to his shop and pick it up personally. What’s a better reason for a roadtrip right?

On the way down, i stopped off in Hamilton to pick up fellow forumite monkeyplayswithknives and to check out some local landmarks…such as Al Simmons gun shop…

where i had a chance to look at the Kriss

nice moose!

after buying tons of ammo, i headed up the street to Chuck’s Burger Bar for their famous bacon burger made out of, you guessed it, minced bacon!!!! Just to be sure, i ordered a side poutine with upgrade to goat cheese curds!

Then for dessert, i stopped off at Bitten for a cupcake..

a banana cupcake with peanut butter cream and caramelized bacon that is! Us Canadians love our bacon!

Finally a stop to a local art shop where i got this cool circuit board clock.

Fast forward a few hours, and we arrive at Wally’s place! Quite the opposite of my place in downtown Toronto lol

Wally’s shop is out in the back

The magic door

And here we go! First the grinding room

Next the forging room

Here’s a vid of Wally demonstrating the press

Very cool to see knives in various stages of completion, many of which were prototypes or new models not yet released

Wally has made knives for lots of celebs

Now on to my sword!!

Here’s Wally giving a bit of background

And demonstrating the throwing darts! (oops, i forgot to turn on the microphone)

Wally presenting me with my awesome new sword

And some closeup pics…blade

handle…two menukis

guard

scabbard locking mechanism…four posts and rare earth magnets

monkeyplayswithknives checks out my sword

Finally we headed down to Wally’s basement to see some memorobilia from his brush with celebrities

Wally’s fantastic guitar collection

Now that’s dedication!

Thanks so much Wally for your generosity in showing us around your shop and of course for my beautiful new sword!!

Last stop, Billy’s Pub before the long trip home.

Thanks also to monkeyplayswith knives for making the trip more enjoyable.

RL

Although i look forward to the Canadian Knifemaker Guild show every year, there is always something in particular about the show that i am especially excited about. I will let you in on a little secret…weeks before the show i start emailing the makers to see who is coming and what they are bringing. And this year i was thrilled to learn of the return of Wally Hayes after nearly a decade of absence! For the longest time, Wally was the only Canadian recognized as an ABS Mastersmith and is a fantastic knifemaker.

Ironically we arrived at the same time in the parking lot! After checking in, we caught up in the lobby, along with a group of knifemakers including Brian Tighe, Wolgang Loerchner, Murray St. Amour, Mike Mossignton, Ron Post, and newcomers from Quebec, Patrick Leblanc and Guillaume Longval.

Eventually we were joined by Jim Emmons and Nathan Knowles…Beautiful temper line on Jim’s bowie..easy to see why he won two awards at last year’s show.

Friends of the Guild Pre-Show

After many years of my reviews, i am sure you all know the drill…down to the Friends of the Guild pre-show after a quick bite.

Not surprisingly, my first stop was Wally Hayes! Sadly both of these were sold, but that’s ok, because i ordered some of my own..along with a sword! I am so stoked to have THREE Hayes on order!

Can’t decide between forward and reverse grip??

This Brian Tighe will let you do both!

Can’t decide between damascus or not?

Again, do both

More beauties from Brian.

Next i went to have a second look at Jim Emmon’s bowie…although i had to wait for Murray White to finish his examination

It’s hard to believe Les Couteliers du ValBlanc have been making knives for just less than a year….seems like they have been at it for years.

Also from Quebec, some very artistic pieces from Stephanie Lemelin

And some unconventional karambits from Nathan Knowles…love the bolts on the sheaths!

Speaking of unconventional, you may remember that crazy ginormous axe from David MacDonald a few shows ago..this time he brought a Kriss blade

Back to more traditional designs…hunters / utility knives from Murray St.Amour

and Paul Bold

A mix of fixed blades in damascus by Steve Vanderkolff

And folders by Rod Olson

never know what you will see…a fellow collector’s knifeart Sebenza

Last but not least, the collaboration knife.

Pretty good turnout for the pre-show.

ok one last drink with Wally and Christophe before heading out. ..can’t wait till the show tomorrow

The 19th Annual Canadian Knifemaker Guild Show

For those of you who have seen my recent reviews of car and bicycle shows, you would know that i think “gold is the new black”…so i thought it would be fun to hunt down a gold knife. It did not take long! In the first few minutes of the show i found this beautiful fillet knife on Mike Mossington’s table! Given the match to my shoes and the fact that i don’t have any custom fillet knives, i just had to buy it (I am sure you all accessorize your shoes and knives as well, right?).

Thanks Mike! More fillet knives, along with hunters / utility knives by Mike Mossington.

Ok with my first purchase down, i wanted to check in with Wally Hayes to re-create the photo we took at his last show in 2002…

Yup, i haven’t changed a bit lol

Wally was also kind enough to autograph the latest issue of Blade featuring the steampunk tanto he made for Guns ‘N Roses lead singer Axl Rose.

Thanks to William Nease for supplying the swords for my retro pic. The shorter one I am holding, with titanium blade and carbide edge was my favourite of your selection this year. Here’s a video of William telling us about this blade.

And more table shots…that red and white handled pocket axe was hella cool! It is shocking to believe i bought two knives from you at your first show NINE years ago!!! It is insane how time flies!

Next Brian Tighe. I know that you were at the East Coast Custom Knife Show in New York last week but purposely held back some knives for the CKG…thanks, we appreciate it!

I’m still loving that dual blade!

Wolfgang Loerchner also at ECCKS last week, did the same by bringing a knife to sell at the CKG..but it did not last long and sold at the pre-show.

Rod Olsen was set-up next to Brian Tighe…i admit that i was not too familiar with his knives but i liked what i saw! Very “clean” work on these button lock folders and i like the use of lots of different materials. I liked the jigged bone flipper and carbon fiber with green G10 insert the best, i think.

Here’s a vid of Rod telling us about his most popular model.

By this time Guardian Gear arrived and i was anxious to check out the RMJ Forge Jenny Wren that i reserved..given their focus on fulfilling military orders, RMJs are very hard to come by, especially with unique camo patterns.

It was just as great as past RMJ products i have seen so buying it was a no-brainer. Besides, after buying a gold knife, i needed to get something more tactical so you all don’t think i have completely lost my mind.

More great selection at Guardian Gear including Emerson, Strider, Zero Tolerance, Spyderco and more.

I was also looking forward to seeing Peter Rassenti’s integral folders, especially the one with damascus blade…nice work

Here is another look at David MacDonald’s kriss from the pre-show

Now how about this cleaves made from a car leaf spring!

More from David

Some nice forged blades by Christoph Derringer, who is an ABS Mastersmith…and very generous with his knowledge to other makers

Last year i liked Nathan Knowles karambit the best, this year he brought several of them

along with the sword that he explains in this video

I liked the dual knife set the best on Steve Vanderkolpf’s table

My favourites from Murray St. Amour were the fillet knife with red / white handle (middle, second from bottom)

and this miniature.

For fans of miniatures, Jim Downie had a few

more from Jim Downie

Folders from Steve Linklater

Forged bowies from Jim Emmons

Paul Bold just finished building his shop so expect to see more from him including folders

Les Couteliers du ValBlanc

Guillaume Cote

Last but least, dealers and collectors

Murray White, who will also be posting pics

Russ Coultrub, i especially liked the Scream movie knives

Larry Danielkiewicz

Tom Novac

Steve Stuart

And finally some show pics

After the show we headed to Lonestar for a USN get-together…thanks to A.T.R. for organizing! We had a great turnout

Including a guest of honour!

And big thanks to wildfire for bringing your JLC..yes, you should have brought the depth gauge as well lol

Also cool to see the newest Lum-Tec

And other goodies like these unique sheaths

See you next year!

RL