Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Trip to Rick Menefee's

Got another chance to spend some dedicated time making knives with my good friend Rick Menefee over the last week. Just wanna say that he is one lucky guy. He's got a beautiful family and is gonna have his hands full fightin' off the boys when those 2 girls get a little older.

Got to meet up with Dale A., Antlers (Danny), and J.W. got to catch back up with my buddy Mike Miller and a bunch of the guys. Also got to finally meet up with Larry Parsons. What a great bunch of guys. Amazing that there is so much talent in such a small area. Every one of those guys is a craftsman and a talented knifemaker. If you get the chance and have the means you should try to get at least one blade from each one of them. Their blades all have some unique designs and qualities and are well worth the dough.

I learned a ton of new tricks from Rick. I swear he's forgotten more than most knife makers will ever know. I'm not sure most guys realize just how much knowledge Rick really has when it comes to knife making. He's spent time was some of the best makers in the world and has more diversity than just about any maker I've ever seen. From slip joint folders, to liner locks to bowies to sub hilt fighters to tantos to numerous varieties of fillets and kitchen knives, there's very little that he hasn't done. The best part is that he is willing to share every bit of that knowledge. Hopefully I'll be incorporating some of those in my stuff in the future. Now I just have to order another $5K worth of equipment to be able to do a few of those little tricks. I figure another 20 years and I'll start to get the hang of this chit.

mtnman1, you said a mouthfull. Rick has a machine for every step. the other day he was talking about building a machne for his new 20" wheel. I said why don't you just use this machine, the wheels will interchange. WELL,wrong answer. Rick likes to set up a machine and leave it. He has just about anything a man could want and he built most of it himself. It the truth be told, it would probably be astonishing how many people has has help get started or helped get past some obstacles in knife making. Ive never meet anyone so open to share their knowledge since the great George Englebretson. If you have not had the opportunity to meet Rick it is you loss.

Sent a bunch of pictures to Dale so he can post them here. There are also several over on Facebook under (Michael Miller).

I had fun. I have a sheep horn knife. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Rick, quit being so long winded.

Mtnman1, It was good to meet you at Ricks the other day.
Always nice to meet other knife guys and learn some stuff.

Man, I must say I could totally dig hangin' out with you boys and talkin' knives while sippin' on a cold one.........

You guys could make a whole business around chumps like me paying to attend something like this. Can't wait to see some pictures.

Some days it was hard to tell whether there were more sparks or BS flyin', but we had a hell of a good time, and covered a lot of ground.

A few pictures�

Heat treating blades�

Here's Rick cutting the packet open straight out of the oven.



Here's the Hot Blades as they are coming out of the packets



Rick is straightening blades as they are coming out of the packets



You can see the fan in the background as the blades are plate quenched and air cooled simultaneously. Each blade is also straightened in an aluminum fixture to ensure that they are straight as they cool. They're done in separate packets to do small batches. They drop to room temperature in seconds from over 1900 degrees in this process so you better know what you're doing.



Danny (Antlers) stopped by for a visit as well



Rick and J.W. working on blades

Rick already posted up a bunch of knifes in the classifieds that we worked on over the last week. (All sold in lightning speed). I think he may have one yet to post a picture of if he gets time that we worked up with some phenomenal Ram's horn.

Show your picture Dale,

I'm goin' with BS on that one

Rick I think you need a bigger stool

Laughin' you noticed that one was missin' and I noticed you didn't send one of yourself�

Everything is big on me! 17 Saddle but hard as a Rock the girls tell me.

Dowell started a thread on George Englebretson. He was the guy that helped many makers in Oklahoma and surrounding states get thru problems with knife making. It was important to him for the next generation to give to the next. He was @ Tulsa Ok when Loveless started guild. He was the only one that did not join. Brutally Honest and would help anybody. Gies come down this summer none of us charge.

Mani would love just to be around and watch you guys work. Maybe have a few malted beverages and watch the magic. See where all these come from.

Reno

So here's a picture of one of the really cool knives that we worked on while I was up there. This has a tapered Tang, Black liners, beautifully fitted bolsters and spun domed pins. There's no solder on this knife either. Those bolsters are absolutely perfectly fitted. A real work of art when you know all the steps that go into making a knife of this caliber.

Outstanding!!!!!!

Reno

That's one pretty knife!!