“Men are drawn to cutting instruments. We have been forever. It is almost primal, the need to cut something.” Curtis Klingle, CM Forge

"A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances which have no apparent causal connection with each other".

Coincidence,


A little more than a month ago VinceM mentioned to me that he had some knives consigned to him by Ray Kirk. I recently had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of two ABS master smiths, Jerry Fisk and Mike Williams, on another forum.

In a conversation Mr. Fisk had told me of the requirement/test for obtaining the ABS master smith designation. Consequently, when VinceM sent me the pictures of Ray Kirks' small knife and I saw the MS stamp, I perked up. I like wood, and carbon steel, this one was 52100 forged from a piece of round bar and a "smoked, Bois d' Arc handle.
As an aside, back in the early 80's when I had my own steel fabrication shop, I washed out an anvil from 100 lb. a yard rail, and made myself a small forge. Back then one could buy Blacksmith coal at Sunset Fuel Co. in Houston. I took a few metallurgy courses and heated and beat, pound and ground a few different items. If I ever decided to make blades, I would be a heater and beater.

Anywho, prior to this I had no integrals in my possession. This small Ray Kirk was a knife that was not all that impressive at first glance, but the more I examined it, the more it grew on me. As I've mentioned before, elegant in its simplicity and flawless in the makers' execution.

Then when Vince uploaded a picture of a forged Damascus Integral knife by Argentine knifemaker Ariel Salaverria, I could not help but notice the similarity. The shape was oddly kin to the small Ray Kirk integral. I asked him to send it my way. I went to both the website of the maker of the AES blade and Ray Kirks’. It seems Mr. Kirk was inspired by the Brazilian gaucho blades.

To top it off, Vince e-mails me and tells me I have won the Large Ray Kirk stag/forged integral knife.

Now that's gotta be coincidence.



Whatever, I’m jazzed. My first integrals.





Most likely not my last.


Best,

GWB

PS: and a shout out to VinceM and Ray Kirk. Thanks much guys!!!

Nice Trio GW & you're most welcome,Thank You for the kind words & all your great posts with the pictures

I appreciate the pics too! Thanks for posting

Ray makes some nice Damascus also. I remember watching him win the Mesquite, Texas cutting competition several years ago. He is the only one I know that has won using Damascus. He makes it using the 52100 and 4352 track steel!
You might want to keep an eye out for a damascus integral soon.

Beautiful, especially like the looks of that AES

Sorry for the off topic but what does a cutting competition entail?

I've never bought a Damascus knife, I've always figured they were 'eye' candy but offer no advantages. Am I wrong?

That time they chopped through a two by four timed. They rolled ping pong balls down a ramp and had to chop in two. They had a ribbed straw that they had to cut the short side without bending it.
I think Ray was the only one to cut a business card in two while it was held in a spring clothes pin without pulling the card out of the pin.
I know there were other things but that would give you an idea of what happened.

That time they chopped through a two by four timed. They rolled ping pong balls down a ramp and had to chop in two. They had a ribbed straw that they had to cut the short side without bending it. I know they had to chop a short section off of an one inch rope free hanging.
I think Ray was the only one to cut a business card in two while it was held in a spring clothes pin without pulling the card out of the pin.
I know there were other things but that would give you an idea of what happened.

google and youtube are yo' friend........




Enjoy!


GWB

A while back I happened to have the pleasure of speaking with Jerry Fisk, an ABS (American Bladesmith Society) master smith.
It is my understanding that in order to acquire the designation and use the MS stamp one must create a knife that will pass certain tests.


http://www.americanbladesmith.com/index.php?section=pages&id=178



For example.



I stand to be corrected by those here more knowledgeable than I.

Best,

GWB