Wow, been awhile again. I get to makin knives and livin life and time whips on by. My grandpa always said that the older you get the faster time goes. Once again, he wasnt foolin! Well if you remember from the last post I was heading to Don Hanson’s to pick up some more W2. well i got it and had a awesome time with Don.  We did a little forging and alot of BS’n. I got the grand tour of his shop and just plain had a heck of a day. I ended up bringing home 200 more pounds of W2 so the grand total is 2700 pounds.

I have yet to get my new forging room floor poured but that is happening in April so it will come soon enough. Then i can get the big 250 pound little giant pounding out the steel. This is going to be fun, that is for sure.

Deer season went pretty good. Chase missed a dandy 8 point. That buck was out there about 200 yards and we sit  up in a stand about 25 foot in a tree and i think nerves and the tree swayin didn’t help. By seasons end we had 4 in the freezer. Not bad. The 257 roberts worked well. It has become my new favorite rifle.

The next show i will be at will be the Wolverine knife show in Novi, Michigan the first weekend of February. This is a real nice show with a lot of excellent knife makers.  If you are around stop in–I would like to visit!!

Well, that’s all for tonight. I have told myself that i will be posting more here so hopefully i can!!

Hello all! Well all has been busy in the shop. I am trying to get ahead so I can deer hunt starting the 15th here in Michigan. I can remember way back when I started and it seems I get more excited every year. Chase will be with me again and this year I told him he is the buck shooter. So he has been practicing like crazy. where my stand is on the farm we hunt it bisects the property and we can watch everything coming and going. So he says he is ready. He is using his grandpa’s .270 and has told me that it is a “mans” gun. I giggle because he is 15 and obviously has been talking to his freinds at school. 

      As for me I am going to be using a new custom .257 roberts that a customer suprised me with today. I met him last year at the AG russell show and the conversation came around to rifles. He chuckled as he soon found out that I love rifles. So he asked what rifle caliber I liked best and I told him I do not have a particular favorite but would like to build a .257 roberts. So thru emails we talked more and more about custom rifles. I have had a few built and have built a few myself. Dad has a machine shop so I had to try. Well Today I came home and the UPS man had left a package. I was expectng some full stag horn so i didnt give it a thought. I picked it up and it was heavier than expected. I opened it up and in the box was a .257 roberts with a kreiger barrel, remington 700 short action, McMillian model 7 stock and a 6x leupold scope. I was taken back and had to call him and ask why. All he said was “because and dont try to send it back, or some lucky SOB will have a rifle” this guy is a good ole boy and says what he means and means what he says.  So I knew it was useless. Well I am shooting it tomorrow and will be happy. All I can say is thanks and he will be getting a special box at his house for Christmas…..There is a long story about the .257 roberts and me and I will type it out someday.

  Other than that I have been taking orders like i never expected. the year of 2011 will be very busy again and I just like to say thanks to all. 2010 was busier than i ever expected and 2011 looks to be just as good.  

    I will be heading to MIssouri in December to pick up 1000 pounds of W2 from Don Hanson. He has invited me to spend some time in his shop for some shop talk and forging time. AWSOME!!!! It isnt often that a guy gets a chance like this so I am all in. This is going to be a fun trip. The thing is that I will have 2500 pounds of W2 after this trip and will be offering it very confidently. So when you guys order I will give you the choice.

I have made up 4 more test knives for deer season.  1 is 1084, one is cru forge v and the 3rd and 4th are W2. I have made 2 knives for myself  both of O-1 and Both have been super knives. It is just time to branch out it seems…..Good luck in all the hunting seasons and keep the emails and phone calls coming. I always have time.    talk soon, Mike

Well again beeen awhile since I blogged here. The world of Scagel inspired handforged blades has been very busy. I would like to thank everyone that has ordered and has orders with me.  I have came started using a few differabt patterns and steels now. I have been sending out Cru Forge V to my buddies out west and they have told me that this stuff cuts forever. Even better than O-1.  I used a test blade at the youth hunt they have here in Michigan and even though I only used it on 1 deer I have to say I was more than happy.

   This past August I went to the AG Russell show in Rogers Arkansas and had a really good show. I sold all 14 knives I took down and took in 26 orders. I was really happy as alot of other guys said it wasnt so good for them. his is a really nice place to have a show and everything is first rate. It sure is a long drive from Michigan but worth it.

     This past weekend I was at the Northern Lakes show in Janesville Wisconsin. I took 8 knives as that is all the time I had to make knives for the show. Sold all of the knives in the first hour and saturday morning sold the new mid size hatchet I made. This mid size hatchet is a little more handier than the mini I make and truth be told i should have made a mid size  to start, but the mini is SUPER nice for a use all tool. There will be one availible at R&M Custom knives pretty quick as I have sent a mid size and a mini to Rich.

    New to me but made in 1953 is a 250 pound Little Giant power hammer I picked up a month or so ago. This big bow will make short work of the 2 1/2 round W2 that I purchased from Don Hanson. I am going to get into making some “cowboy” bowie style knives and all my testing with W2 has shown to be excellent. I have mentioned in the past about W2 and soon will have enough on the rack to last me truly 20 years. I have enough O-1 for at least that long, maybe more. So soon I will be offering a couple different steels. 

That pretty much all for now. I will not be at any more shows until February so i will be filling orders and getting ready for the Novi Wolverine show then. Drop me a line if you have a chance.

talk soon, Mike

Well it has been awhile since my last post here so since I just got back from the Blade show I thought this is a good time to get it done!

After a 3 year wait i finally got a table at the Blade show. I made up 17 knives to take so I figured I was good to go. My son and I got there Thursday night and was relaxing waiting for the next day. I had some folks call in the weeks before wondering what I was bringing to the show and I sent them pictures so they could get a look. They all showed up and I sold 8 before i got into the show hall. I thought whew the pressure is off so I can relax now.

We got into the hall and set up and went stag shopping. Man did I pick up some killer stag!! It sure is nice to get it first hand and be able to get such awsome peices. The doors opened up at 12:00 for the VIP guys so we got back to the table and got ready. Well, by 12:30 that day we were sold out!! I was VERY happy to say the least. To be in a room with 750 other makers and do that well was very humbling.

I want to thanks all that bought knives from me at BLade and all of you that have bought knives in the past. I really enjoy making my knives and appreciate you folks that spend your hard earned money on them. Thanks!!

Well now that i am back I have to get my garden in. Then back to the forge. The rest of the year is very busy and i dont want to fall behind.

My next show is the AG Russell show in Rogers, Arkansas. Dates are July 30 to August 1. They are very generous with the VIP passes they give me so if you are thinking of going give me a call or email and i can get some sent out to you.

Talk soon, Mike

Well I made it back from the Janesville Wisconsin show. I had a really good time and luckily sold all that I took. Even picked up a good number of orders. (Corey if your reading this thanks!) I was told that Friday and Saturday we had very high numbers coming thru the door. This really is a great show and the knives i see there are really top notch stuff.

  One of the two most impressive things I seen there was Kevin Cashen’s rapier. I was absolutly awe struck by it. i was hard to believe even in this day and age that human hands could produce something like this. It won best of show and it should have. I heard more than a few people say that if it wouldnt have they were going to storm the walls and protest. Just cool stuff…..Also another maker I met at Janesville about 3 years ago, I call him Pirate Bob, told me last year he had a real deal Scagel and that he would bring it to show me. Well he brought it and I was again awstruck. Now most folks would look at a Scagel and think “yuck, they are rough” well, they are rough. To a guy like me though they are beutiful. Now he brings it out and not only does he let me hold it he lets me trace it out and take notes and pictures. Awsome!! THAT is not the end of the story though. A few of us went to dinner that night and I look up and he is cutting his steak with it! Now let me tell you he had it appraised years ago and it was a really good sum of coin. so to see him cutting his steak was just cool because these knives were built to be used and he was using it! again tha is not the end of the story. The next night I was invited to go to dinner with Pirate Bob and a good size group of folks and so off we went. The food was really good and so was the company. When my steak came and i was taking it in I look up and pirate Bob was handing me the Scagel! i just about fell out of my chair. I was speechless! of course I took it and away I went. It was a very good night. I even called my Dad and woke him up, it was 10 pm and like most old guys he was sleeping, he could tell I was excited about something and when I told him he got a pretty good kick out of it. Of course when I got home he said the first thing he thought when I called that late was if i was in the hoos cow or not.

So I am still waiting to hear from Blade to see if I made it in the big show for sure or not they said I did but I havent been 100% convinced. I will let you all know if I do.

So what’s been new in the shop? Well I made my first cleaver for the Janesville show and it sold right away, took some orders for a copy of it so it was well recieved. Made my first W2 knife also. Scagel style of course. It had a faint hamon in it but i didnt bring it out. I am going to start working with more of W2 in the future. i was very impressed with this steel and have quite a bit of it sitting in the rack so you will see more of it coming out. O-1 is still the steel of choice at the shop but this W2 is spooky sharp and tough, plus i want to do some hamon knives in the future….If any of you would like a W2 knife let me know, this steel gets wicked sharp, and cuts like a light saber!!

Also I am making up some knives for Rich @ R&M custom knives. He already carries some of my stuff and if you are looking for a trout and bird knife, fighter or camp knife he has some nice ones over on his site. Give him a call he is a top notch guy and I am proud to be working with him.

Well I will let you all go now. Take care!

Talk soon, Mike

2-18-10

Well I hope everything is going well with all of you. I got thru the first show of the year in Novi (the Wolverine knife show) and I had an excellant show! I sold all the knives I brought, found some awsome stag for future handles and had some real good conversations. I want to thank all the folks that stopped by and purchased knives, you guys are the ones that keep me going! Thanks again!!

You may have noticed a new picture on the front page of the web site. the top picture is a 4″ hunter stag handle with a brass butt cap. This knife I took some time and worked on the butt cap to match the stag contours and it came out really well. My heart was pounding like a drum for fear of the carbide bit slipping and gouging half way thru the stag but I got lucky and all went pretty well. The man that this knife went to was extremely happy so that is all that matters!

 The bottom knife is the first dagger I have ever attempted. A gentalman had emailed me and asked if I could make him one. Well it took longer than I had planned but once it was done I was very happy and proud of it. It balanced nicely and was sharp as a razor. I then took it to Jack’s for one of his top notch sheaths and he did not dissapoint. Jack has become a good freind and confidont and he told me it was a real nice knife, that is when I knew i was on to something. The knife made its way out to it new owner and he took the time to email and say how much he liked it. That always makes me feel good to hear back from folks that they like my work. In this day and age when life is flying by for a customer to take the time to let me know how much they like my work means alot! Thanks for the support!

Well my next show is in Janesville Wisconsin March 26th thru the 27th. I am making up some new stuff for me so it should be interesting. Once I get them done I will try to get a picture of of the group so you all can see them. I really enjoy this show as I get to see old friends, and eat at the BBQ joint down the street. If you can make it to the show stop by and say hello!

Talk soon, Mike

26-1-10

So I have finally got up the nerve to start using the blog. Been a little scary for fear of messing up the web designers work. He did a over the top job and I cant tthank him enough…..

Ok on to knife type stuff. I am attending 4 shows for sure this year. The first being the Wolverine show February 6th and 7th. It is both the Michigan antique arms and the knife show. This is a hard show to stay at the table at because besides knives, I really enjoy a nice rifle, more to the point ”old iron”. You folks that are reading this (hopefully somebody is) if you get a chance to go really should. The next show I will be at is the Janesville show in Janesville Wisconsin. March 26, 27,28. This show is loaded with a lot of top shelf makers. I have met alot of new folks at this show and will never miss it, people come from all over the midwest and I found out that Janesville is alot bigger than I thought it was. I spent 2 weeks there for my day job and was taken “on tour” everynight. Really nice location at the Holiday in express. if you like top shelf knives and cannot get to many shows mark this one down. At the end of July (31st thru the 1st of august) I will be at the AG Russell knife event. This to me is like a mini Blade show. ALL the top teir guys are there and man is it a beautiful facility. I was really impressed. If they do the ame as last year they will send me a pile of free passes. When it gets closer i will let you folks know and if you need a free pass to get in i will drop some in the mail. My VERY good freind Kelly the big man (he stands probably 6′3 maybe 4″ and weighs in big) will be coming over to help me hold the table down. He is a man worth meeting. On from there I will be doing the Northern Lakes show agin in Janesville October 1st and 2nd. Smaller show but worht the trip. Now i save the biggest for last. I am in the top 3 on the waitng list for the Blade show this year but wont know for a couple of weeks yet. if i get a table i will blog on it. I have been to Blade 3 times in the last 6 years and have been blown away everytime. This is my favorite place to buy knives from my favorite maker Jim Behring. You all probably know him and if you dont you should. Jim and James are a pair of the coolest people I hang out with.  Keep checking the site out as i am going start changing the pictures and will be offering knives in the for sale section. I decidede that the knives i offer here will be one off one of a kind knives coming from me. Well if your still awake, I will let you go. Thanks for the interest in my knives, Talk soon, Mike

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