This year's Antique Arms Show round-up

 It takes a lot to drag me to the Las Vegas strip, but this year's Antique Arms show at the Westgate Hotel did it. It's a once a year exhibition/sale of weapons – knives, swords, guns, rifles -all with a slant toward historical interest.

The Westgate Hotel was where Elvis Presley used to perform, so when you walk in – you are greeted by this.

Head down the hallway to the right and you'll pass the giant cup of Boba,

 and then you'll see the ticket office for purchasing day passes for the show. When you enter – you're only in the first room. 

It has a variety of exhibitions, with a ton of emphasis to Native American art. 

The crowds were sparse, but there were a lot of people checking out the Native American artwork.

But the second room seemed like the one where most of the action was happening. 

Sure, there are tons of weapons – rifles and guns, and especially knives. That's what I went there to see. The Las Vegas Knife Maker group had a huge section of tables – more about that later. But someone directed me to these engraved knives, and I was happy to be pointed in that direction. 

These knives aren't just special, they are simply works of art. The engraving on these knives is beyond phenomenal, and the presenter at this booth pulled one of the knives out and showed me the details. I believe that Knife second from the left was priced at around 80 K. 

I'm sure there's a word for it, but there is a little secret compartment in that handle, that displays more engraving. I didn't get a picture of it, but the fellow said the purpose of it was to give them more surface area to engrave!

I was interested in the handles that people use on knives – these are called scales. 

You can see from these pictures that this is a very specialized market – considering most of this material this material is pricey and incredible. 

These petrified wood pieces – book matched and dyed run around $500 a set.

Travel through the rows of tables, the exhibitors share huge amounts of information about their weapons. From the detail of the inscriptions on these knives to the historical aspect of them- these are not only works of art, but have amazing historical value. 

This booth featured Civil War weapons. This five shot revolver was like nothing. I've never seen – circa 1840. It included everything you need, but I forget if this was actually a working pistol or not.

If you're a history buff, these displays will captivate you. 

This pistol holds 10 rounds, and was made around 1840.

This weapon blew my mind – it was not only a pistol,

but a huge sword. Two weapons in one!

This German military rifle, circa 1650, had engraved details that are hard to fathom, considering the time period. 

And this bayonet/rifle was at once awesome and scary. 

That bayonet folds backwards to allow the rifle to be shot, but snaps forward for hand to hand combat. 

It's not that the rifles and weapons don't interest me, but I really enjoy the display cases that some of these weapons have. 

This booth displayed several rifles on some slabs of hardwood that had gone through a fire. 

You can see the interior surfaces of this wood is blackened with soot and char, but the outsides are polished. It was pretty incredible.

As I made my way toward the Las Vegas Knife Maker group – I ran into my buddy Len. 

He's been working with Damascus steel, and making knives with acrylic handles. His Company – Black Dog Forge – makes a variety of weapons, jewelry, and he's even started making his own leather cases, 

which are outstanding!

The close-up of his Damascus knife blades are amazing. 

Some of the other knife makers are shown here. This is Vince who seems to specialize in Tomahawk/Peace pipes, and swords. 

He has a ton of smaller knives as well. Vince and his wife have jumped into the knife making field with both feet.

I particularly liked this young man’s knives – in fact, I bought one for my kitchen! 

Connor has passion for this, and his skill belies his age. I expect amazing work from him in the future. (And I love the kitchen knife that I purchased from him!)

But here's the headmaster – my buddy Tony Immordino. (I totally spaced out and forgot to get a photo of Tony, so this is from last year's show!  Duh!)

He has a forge on his property, and I believe is the founder of the Las Vegas Knife Maker group. He has hosted the Hammer-in event at his shop, featuring guest speakers who are well-respected in this field. This two day event will teach you more about Knife making than one would imagine.

You can take a class, making a knife in a day or two. Or - or just visit Tony's forge and check out the work that's going on. Obviously knives with more detail take longer, but if you are interested in learning this amazing skill – I urge you to contact him. 

Here are some of the other local knife makers - each with special styles and skills.

Honestly, this is a very talented group!  

I can't wait to find some time and make a knife with Tony. If you're looking to learn a new skill, and leave with a quality knife that you'll have forever - this is your place.  If you're interested in taking a class with Tony, or just finding out more about the Las Vegas Knife Makers, here's a link to read more or join their Facebook group.

Every year that I attend this antique arm show I learned something new. This year was no different, and my main takeaway was that engraving is a specialty field of which I can't describe. These custom engravers are simply at the top of their game, and everyone within their community has their little niche in the market. 

I can't wait for next year's show!

A cool video featuring a friend of mine!

 My buddy Ken, co-owner of Legacy Woodworking, hosted ShopSabre at his shop a few weeks ago, where they filmed him at work. 

Ken works with a physical therapy company, manufacturing a couple of products that they sell. It takes about two weeks to cut all the parts, assemble them, package them, and then get them sent off to the warehouse from which they will ship as orders come in.  

Check this out! 

Need some CNC parts cut, or a product designed and manufactured?  Feel free to contact Ken and start the business of your dreams!

Happy New Year (a little late!)

Happy New Year to you! It's been a while since I've written anything here. But - don't think that I've been sitting around watching football! 

Well, OK, I have been doing that, but I've also been working on a ton of small projects.  Here's one that will be memorable, for a variety of reasons.

Someone approached me about making an urn for their father's ashes. And their father was a part-time woodworker, so they wanted me to incorporate one of his old pieces, a small table, into his urn.

This table top is right out of the 80s, possibly the 70s.  It's plywood, with a golden oak stain and a very darkened patina to its glossy varnish.  

The bottom didn't have any varnish on it, and over the years - the kids wrote on it with pen and crayons.  If you zoom in here, you'll see a signature and date. 

They'd asked if I could possibly incorporate the handwriting into the urn. 

This plastic box is pretty standard; I've made quite a few urns and all of them have used a plastic liner box like this. Inside is a plastic bag with the actual cremains, so there is some flexibility there, in case you don't want to be bound by the size of this box.

That said - working with plywood like this was a challenge. The main case was easy enough to construct - and mitering the corners was an easy solution to hiding the plywood.  The plastic liner fit inside this plywood case perfectly. Notice the pocket holes for screwing the top on this. Normally - I NEVER use pocket screws for attaching anything. But in this case - there wasn't a better way to attach the top. 

So I trimmed down another piece of the top - cutting it to size and routing in a similar profile on the edge. Luckily I had router bit in my arsenal! But once I routed the edge, cutting the matching profile, the wood that was exposed was a massively different color. 

Again - my bag of tricks gave me some options! These Mohawk spray stains allowed me to match the newly exposed wood to the older stain/patina. It took a few test pieces to find the right combination - golden oak with medium walnut stain layered on top of it. 

The top is attached from the pocket screws, so that no joinery is exposed. And the bottom is screwed on from below, should anyone need to access the contents. Since it's being flown across the country, there's always the possibility that TSA will want to inspect it, although there is proper paperwork verifying the contents. So hopefully that won't be a problem. 

And yes - I did incorporate all of the writing that was on the table top. Here's the bottom of this urn, with the handwriting on it. There is more handwriting inside the urn, as well.  

I tested a small piece of this plywood, to see if I could laser some artwork onto the wood. But the 45 year old varnish on the surface created some wicked fumes. So lasering this was out of the question. Instead - the family will order a brass plaque to finish off this piece, commemorating the vital info for their dad. 

As time goes on, I find myself building more and more of these urns. And I've always considered it an honor to build these pieces. I know, that might sound corny, but I love personalizing these pieces with things that are important to the families. 

God Speed, Charlie!