The Blade Show is an annual

tradeshow A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...

for the

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

. It is the largest event of its type in the world. The show is owned by Caribou Media Group and is hosted by

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

Magazine. The event has over 1,000 exhibitors and is the host for inductees into the annual Cutlery Hall of Fame. It also hosts the annual Blade HQ Balisong Competition, BladeSports International Cutting World Championships, Blade University, Knife of the Year Awards, and a variety of knifemaking classes and demos. The event takes place every year over the course of several days and brings in knifemakers and knife companies from all parts of world.

History

The first Blade Show was held in 1982 as the American Blade Convention and Show in Cincinnati, Ohio. The magazine who hosted the show was known as 'American Blade' at the time. In 1983 it became known as "The American Blade Collector's Show". In 1984 the name became "The Blade Super Show". In 1986 the show relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1988, the name was changed to the Blade Show & Cutlery Fair and it became loosely referred to as the Blade Show. In 1993 the show moved to Atlanta, Georgia and officially became known as Blade Show hosted by BLADE Magazine. In 2018, the show went under the ownership of Caribou Media Group.

Cutlery Hall of Fame

Every year, the Blade Show admits a new person into the "Cutlery Hall of Fame". The Cutlery Hall of Fame is composed of knifemakers, authors and persons who promote

knife making Knife making is the process of manufacturing a knife by any one or a combination of processes: stock removal, forging to shape, welded lamination or investment cast. Typical metals used come from the carbon steel, tool, or stainless steel fam ...

Bladesmithing Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworki ...

, and

Knife collecting Knife collecting is a hobby which includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining knives. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating an assortment of different knives. Others focus on a specia ...

. Each year, the living members of the Cutlery Hall Of Fame nominate and vote on the latest inductee to join their ranks. *Henry D. Baer - Knifemaker, President of Schrade Knives and namesake of the "Uncle Henry" brand of pocketknives. *Dewey Ferguson - Author *

Bo Randall Bo Randall (September 27, 1909 – December 25, 1989) was an American knifemaker who founded Randall Made Knives in Orlando, Florida. Early life Randall was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 27, 1909. His family moved to Orlando, Florida ...

- Knifemaker * James B. Lile - Knifemaker * M.H. Cole - Knifemaker and Author * Al Buck - Founder of

Buck Knives Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in Mountain Home, Idaho and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day. Buck Knives primarily man ...

* William R. Williamson - Scholar and collector of Bowie knives * Pete Gerber - Founder of

Gerber Legendary Blades Gerber Legendary Blades is an American maker of knives, multitools, and other tools for outdoors and military headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Gerber is owned by the Finnish outdoors products company Fiskars. Gerber was established in 1939 by ...

Bob Loveless Robert Waldorf Loveless (January 2, 1929 – September 2, 2010), a.k.a. Bob Loveless or RW Loveless, was an American knife maker who designed and popularized the hollowground drop point blade and the use of full tapered tangs and screw-type handle s ...

- Knifemaker * William F. Moran - Bladesmith * Jim Parker - Knifemaker * George Herron - Knifemaker 1932-2007 * Frank Buster - Knifemaker * Frank Forsyth *

A.G. Russell A. G. Russell (August 27, 1933 – October 12, 2018) was an American knife maker. He was born in Eudora, Arkansas where his great-grandfather taught him how to make knives when he was nine. Russell went on to make knives as a hobby and profes ...

- Knifemaker * Ken Warner - Author *

Jim Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

- Father of the Bowie knife * Maury Shavin * Hubert Lawell *

William Scagel William Wales Scagel or Bill Scagel (February 12, 1873 – March 26, 1963) was an American knifemaker whose style had a profound impact on the cutlery trade, influencing it for over 100 years. Early life Born near Alpena, Michigan and raised in Ca ...

- Knifemaker *

Gil Hibben Gil Hibben (born September 4, 1935) is an American custom knifemaker from Wyoming who is based in La Grange, Kentucky. Hibben designed the first line of Browning hunting knives in 1968, the American Kenpo Knife for Ed Parker, and the Rambo K ...

- Knifemaker * Harry McEvoy - Author *

Buster Warenski Buster Warenski (June 5, 1942 – July 31, 2005) was an American custom knifemaker from Kimberly, Nevada who made "Art Knives" utilizing gold and other precious metals. Warenski is best known for making a reproduction of King Tut's dagger with a f ...

- Knifemaker * Albert M. Baer - Founder of Schrade Knives * Col. Rex Applegate - Knife designer, author * B.R. Hughes - Author * Bruce Voyles - Author * Bernard Levine - Author * Houston Price - Author * Bill Adams - Author * Jim Weyer - Author and photographer * Chuck Buck - Knifemaker - Buck Knives *

Blackie Collins Walter Wells "Blackie" Collins (1939 – July 20, 2011) was an American knife maker who designed and popularized the assisted opening mechanism and various automatic knife designs within the art of knifemaking. He is cited by other knifemakers a ...

- Knifemaker *

Frank Centofante Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

- Knifemaker * Ron Lake - Knifemaker * Sal Glesser - Designer, Founder of

Spyderco Spyderco is an American cutlery company based in Golden, Colorado, producing knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco pioneered many features that are now common in folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the opening hole. Spyder ...

* Joe Drouin - Knife Collector * Bob Schrimsher - Knifemaking Supply * Rudy Ruana - Knifemaker * D¹Alton Holder - Knifemaker * Michael Walker - Knifemaker, Inventor of the

Walker linerlock The Linerlock is a locking mechanism for folding pocket knives. A Linerlock is a folding knife with a side-spring lock that can be opened and closed with one hand without repositioning the knife in the hand. The lock is self-adjusting for wear. ...

* George "Butch" Winter - Author * Tim Leatherman - Inventor of the multi-tool knife and founder of

Leatherman Leatherman is an American brand of multitools and knives made by Leatherman Tool Group of Portland, Oregon. The company was founded in July 1983 by Timothy S. Leatherman and Steve Berliner in order to market his idea of a capable, eas ...

Tools * Dan Dennehy - Knifemaker, Founding Member of the

Knifemakers' Guild The Knifemakers' Guild is an American organization, based in Richfield, Utah, made up of knifemakers to promote custom knives, encourage ethical business practices, assist with technical aspects of knife making, and to sponsor knife shows. The Guild ...

Ken Onion Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American custom knifemaker based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States who invented the "SpeedSafe" assisted opening mechanism for Kershaw Knives. Ken Onion was the Premier Knife Designer for Kershaw Knives. ...

- Knifemaker and inventor of the SpeedSafe Mechanism * Al Mar - Knifemaker, founder of Al Mar Knives *

Paul Bos Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

- Master heat treater - Buck Knives *Carl Elsener III (2011) - Knifemaker - Victorinox *Kit Carson (2012) - Knifemaker *Wayne Goddard (2013) - Knifemaker and Author *Goldie Russell (2014) - Knifemaker *Chris Reeve (2015) - Knifemaker and inventor of the Integral Lock *CJ Buck (2016) - Knifemaker - Buck Knives *Jim Batson (2017) - Knifemaker - Benchmade Knive *Les de Asis (2017) - CEO - Benchmade Knife *Phil Lobred (2018) - Knife Collector *Dan Delavan (2018) - Knife Retailer - Founder California Custom Knife Show *Tony Bose (2019) - Knifemaker *Mel Pardue (2019) - Knifemaker *Steve Shackleford (2019) - Editor-in-Chief - Blade Magazine *Joe Keeslar (2020) - Knifemaker *Jim Sornberger (2020) - Knifemaker *Jay Hendrickson (2021) - Knifemaker *Beverly and Billy-Mace Imel (2021) - Knifemakers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blade Show Trade shows in the United States

History

Cutlery Hall of Fame

See also

References