Western Canada Knife Association

Western Canada Knife Association Volume 18 Number 6 www.wcka.org December 2018 Executive: President: Larry Strandquist Vice President: Bob Turner Secretary: Linda Nelson Treasurer: Rod Olson Membership: Bev Clow Newsletter Editor: Diane Hatt Best of the Season to all members of the WCKA

President's Report Larry Strandquist 403 742-3852 lsknives@xplornet.com The snow from September disappeared and we were able to get the last of the crop off and are ready for the cold. Was asked by our local museum to go and check out an old blacksmith shop that the owner wanted to donate, was greatly surprised to see what a great find it was. It is complete with the line shaft and all the belts to run the shop. So now the work will be to get it moved and set up and operating again. Will be lots of work, but worth it when it is done. Big game season has just wrapped up and there appears to be some great hunting was enjoyed by those involved. My nephew was successful in getting an impressive mule deer in full velvet with his bow. Hoping it will be back from the taxidermist for my grandsons measuring night coming up shortly. Of course grandpa has to donate something to the prize pool. He had a successful fall; he filled all of his tags including a moose tag that he had been trying for 8 years. Had successful pre Christmas sales and will have to get busy for the new year that is quickly approaching. Hope you all had a good fall sales season also. As this will be Diane s last news letter I wish her (and Roger) many thanks for her contribution to our organization for the many years she has done this. Wishing Jim great success in caring on the great tradition that has been established and I m sure he is up for the task. Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Looking forward to our next get together where ever that may be. Page 2

WCKA Member Profile Ed Kuznetsov 403 831-9965 fasteddieforging@gmail.com Ed was 14 years old and hunting when he first realized the need for a good knife. Growing up in a different part of the world, he did not have an opportunity to build his own knife. About 10 years ago he realized his dream of building his first knife. His initial interest was in leather work. He began doing various projects including gun cases, book covers, and wallets. But he found something was missing, and that something was a knife. He began by purchasing premade knife blanks and making his own handle and sheath, but later began forging his own blades from old leaf springs, files, rasps, drill bits and any other high carbon steel he could find. His favourite is making blades out of ball bearings. He has found it to be very durable, hard to break and best cutting steel for hunting knifes. As an avid outdoorsman, Ed appreciates the beauty of nature that surrounds him. He thought about taking this interest and incorporating it into his knife handles. He started by taking pieces of wood with interesting figure and stabilizing it with resin. From there, he began experimenting with other materials in nature such as cones, leaves, etc. and stabilizing it as well. This has resulted in a massive array of handle material that is on his table along with his custom knives. This handle materials sparks conversations with the public and other knifemakers and encourages him to experiment even more with the wonders of nature. As of today, Ed has built more than a hundred knives and he feels that the advantage of a custom knife is that the character of the maker comes through in the knife itself. Ed feels that his knife is not only for hunting but it is also a tool for camping and surviving in the wilderness. He does not build a signature series of knives but all of them are different. And he is ready to take any of his knifes to his new outdoor adventure. This passion is evident in the knives that are on this maker s table. Ed s motto is Be the best you can be. reach higher and move forward. Ed has learned his craft from the internet, from friends and from many of his fellow knifemakers that are members of the WCKA. He finds them a great group of people who willingly share knowledge and encourage growth in the art of knifemaking. Ed goes to shows in Calgary and Wetaskiwin because they are close to home.

Passing on the passion of knifemaking First Knife submitted by Wayne Hamilton My 15 year old granddaughter and I have worked on a number of projects over the years, so she has become quite comfortable using most of my shop tools. In the past, her projects were included as part of the Ottawa family s annual visit. However, as the projects became more complex, she began coming about five days ahead of her parents in order to finish the project before the actual family visit began. This year she chose to make a knife. Her mother had been gently pushing her to make a kitchen knife, because it was more practical. Like most teenagers, Brigitte has a mind of her own and wasn t convinced that was what she wanted to make. When she arrived, I gave her three of my Knife Annuals to give her a better idea of the possibilities. The next morning she drew a full sized drawing of a hunter she wanted to build. After discussing materials, she picked 5160 spring steel for the blade, a piece of Damascus for the guard and a section of deer antler for the narrow tang handle. All I had in spring steel was ¼ thick so she had to do a lot of heavy duty grinding to get it down to the working thickness. Much of that time was spent using a 2 x 72, 36 grit belt running at a surface speed of more than a-mile-a-minute. That s intimidating. Nevertheless, she hung in there and was quite prudent in balancing her grinding from one side to the other to minimize metal stresses. After profiling the blade and establishing the primary bevels it was ready for heat treating. We fired up the propane forge and I heated a piece of mild steel to critical temperature and showed her that it became non-magnetic. Then I told her to remember that colour because that was the colour she needed for the quench. She slowly and methodically brought her blade up to temperature checking regularly for non-magnetic. While the blade was heating, I explained the procedure to follow using the vertical quench tank and that there would be some flames and black smoke. When she felt the blade was ready, she pulled it out of the forge and I knew it was too hot. I didn t say anything, but she hesitated long enough to have the heat equalize and come down to the correct temperature before she made the plunge. The blade came out of the oil eye-ball straight, and with a really nice glassy feel on the file test. After drawing back some of the hardness in the kitchen oven, the blade tested perfectly flat and hard. It was a classic heat treat. While the blade was tempering, she started on the guard and deer antler. The next morning she cleaned up the blade, refined the bevels and her parents arrived. I demonstrated how to set up the guidelines for accurately and safely freehand drilling the deer antler and felt it prudent to do it for her. Next, I showed her how to accurately chain-drill the series of holes for piercing the guard and had her use a jeweller s saw for the first time to cut the webs out from between the holes. As a side note, we went through a number of blades in this lesson on patience. After removing the webs, I gave her the afternoon off to catch up with her parents and grandma, while I finished the piercing. The next morning she finished the guard, did the final fitting and we epoxied it all together. That evening, we stencilled her name onto the blade. I sharpened the blade for her in the morning to complete the project. She was happy and proud of her first knife. After she has had time to reflect on each project, we get together to review what she liked, what she didn t

like and what she learned. Usually, she comes to realize that she learned a lot more than she originally thought because of the life lessons involved in each project. I m anxious to find out why she hesitated to quench the blade. I would bet that she knew the temperature wasn t right. She s astute and a very fast learner. It s so great working with her. A proud Grandpa ******************************************************************************** A Family Tradition submitted by Jay Kemble I have had some special times teaching Grandsons Thomas & Wyatt how to make a knife. Thomas came & made a Liner lock folder when he was 12 for scouts. He designed the pattern he wanted on the titanium liner & he did the jewelling & the anodizing. When he was 14 he came and made a fixed blade for deer hunting. He got to use it that fall on a nice 3 point whitetail buck... first shot ever at a deer and a clean kill! Wyatt also made his first knife when he was 12 - a small fixed blade neck knife from O1 tool steel. He also made the kydex sheath for it. Very proud Grandpa (one of the seven Dwarfs) (editor note: I've heard rumours that Jay's next student will be his granddaughter) Jay West also has taught his grandson the lessons of knife making. With these great teachers... teaching our young people, our craft will have a positive future! Page 5

Portable Band Saw submitted by Ron Nelson As with many of the knifemakers in our Club, I purchased a large metal band saw early on in my journey to make a custom knife. It takes up a fair amount of room but can cut everything from steel and brass to plastic pipe. Using it in the vertical position, I have often tried removing unwanted sections of material when I am working on a profiled blade. I find this task awkward and I m not totally confident working with my band saw in this position. On a trip to Eugene, Oregon to take in the OKCA show in April, I saw this all steel table sold by Swagg of Bend, Oregon that is designed to accommodate a portable metal band saw that is powered by either battery or 110 household current. The table can be mounted on a bench or stand at a height that allows it to be used comfortably. I chose a Swagg table that works with a Makita portable band saw and ordered it when I was back in BC. It arrived in less than a week and was easily set up with my band saw. For some extra cash I also purchased a foot pedal that can be used to turn my band saw on and off and that allows my hands to be free to move the steel. Within 15 minutes I had profiled a paring knife from a bar of AEBL. For me, it worked like a dream. The portable band saws can be purchased at Home Depot, KMS Tools and several of the better known hardware type stores. If you have a Craigs List in your area that may be another source for finding what you need at a discount. Spare blades can be bought at the same sources. I repurposed an old Workmate to mount my saw and table. Page 6

Mini Finds New Home As most people in our association know, we have knife makers as well as knife collectors in our membership. One particular collection that always attracts lots of interest is the mini collection of Linda Nelson's. She has been collecting for many years and has a vast variety of knives. Because other members are aware of her interest in minis she often gets 'gifts'. At this year's Wetaskiwin Metal Art Show and Sale, Wayne Hamilton presented Linda with this letter and mini to add to her collection. From her wide smile, it looks like she was tickled pink! Page 7

Club Merchandise Available Thanks to some proactive members, we have some great things for sale that sport our WCKA logo. Rod Olson has produced beautiful high quality club pins at a very reasonable price of $60 each. We also have hats and t-shirts for sale. Finally, we have a wide selection of DVDs available for to club members. For a complete list of titles and procedures for the loan library, please go to our website www.wcka.org. If you would like more information, please contact Jim Clow j.clow@live.ca 403 362-1015 Some final thoughts from the editor: As I finish off this December 2018 newsletter, I sit and reflect on all the pleasure I have had being the newsletter editor. Getting to know members on a more personal basis and trying to explore different ways to showcase their products and, in some ways, their lives, has been very rewarding. I am so happy to let everyone know that the newsletter is being passed on to a very capable person... someone who I have always admired and enjoyed personally and also as a writer. Jim Takenaka has generously offered to take this position in 2019. I had the comfort of being retired when I did this and Jim is still working overtime on his job at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin where I think we all appreciate his expertise. He anticipates the continued support of members who write articles and share photos as he begins this adventure. I have offered my service whenever needed. I know one way that he would like help is for people who attend shows and activities to send along a story telling of the event. For this month, I thank Ron and Linda Nelson, the two Jays, Wayne Hamilton and Ed Kuznetsov for their submissions. I would like to pass on some news about a couple of our members who are facing some challenging health issues. First off, our thoughts and prayers go out to Charlie Barnett who is undergoing treatment at this time. Also continuing with treatment is Clare Broeksma. For those of you who had a chance to chat with Clare at Wetaskiwin, you know that he had been having health problems for most of the year. I recently had a chance to connect with Clare, and he was pleased to let me know that the current treatment is working for him and his 'new normal' will be the same treatment in the foreseeable future. With normal 'Clare optimism', he assured me that he will continue to face this with thoughts that before long he will be back in the shop grinding knives. Also Ron Nelson just had his second knee replaced and is back on the mend. For any one else 'under the weather', please know that we are with you all the way, in spirit if not physically. And so another year passes and we look forward to brand new 2019. On behalf of Roger and myself, we wish you the very best of the season and hope that the new year provides you with many fun adventures and sharp knives! To the left is a photo of Roger with a friend on Vancouver Island. The friend was successful in getting a draw for an elk near Woss. Roger was pleased to go along and help with the packing... and with filling the freezer with beautiful meat. If you are in the area, stop in for a burger and a chat! Page 8

WCKA Membership Application For 2019 New member Year 2019 Renewal member Membership Fee Structure January 1 to December 31 Knifemaker/Associate Single...$20.00 Knifemaker/Associate & Family...$25.00 *Family members must all reside at the same residence to qualify for Family Membership. Associate members include: Collectors, Dealers, Mfr./Distributors (WCKA Membership includes Newsletters) Name(s): (Please include all names for family membership) Address: City: Prov./State Postal Code/Zip Code: Phone: Fax: E-mail address: Payment enclosed: $ Date: Membership list, complete with member information, will be sent to all members. Do you want your name to appear on this list? Yes No Return to: WCKA, Box 126, Tilley, AB T0J 3K0 403-362-1015 bev.clow.bc@gmail.com