The Blade Show 2022 opened
with its usual whimper. Neither Cobb
Galleria nor the people from Blade are unable to figure out how to handle the
crowds. The Customer Appreciation Passes
were not available until 10 am this morning, and the Show opened to us at 11:00
~ a LONG line to get in the building and then another line (they called out
last name letters alphabetically!) to get the actual badge! It would have been much simpler if the CAP
passes were available Thursday afternoon/evening, then anyone could have picked
them up at their convenience.
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| This was the line in front of us, and we were 1.5 hours early! |
The line standing in the Georgia sun would have been much more manageable. Still, I was able to pick up my pass and make
it to my 10:30 class on Cryo-Quenching.
The class was run by Larrin Thomas, a Ph.D. in metallurgy who
works in the automotive industry.
Perhaps more importantly, he is the inventor of MagnaCut, the new hot
steel everyone is going crazy over.
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| Larrin and carbide grain sizes with SEM |
I
have a lot of notes, but perhaps the most interesting is the rate of converting
austenite into martensite occurs at the speed of sound. It isn’t a chemical diffusion process, so it
also happens at liquid nitrogen temperatures. After an hour of graphs, images, and explanations,
I’m still a little confused. It
reinforced how complex carbide size and location, metal crystal phase, and time
is to temper a steel blade. I’ve said
it before, the heart of a knife may be the blade, but the soul is the heat
treatment.
Many foreign companies were in attendance this year,
Covid restrictions have lessened and countries are allowing overseas travel. One of my favorite overseas visitors is Grace
Horne. She’s been making scissors for
the last couple of years, and she sells out almost instantly. Fortunately, some of the buyers let her
display some of her scissors so you could see them.
Perhaps the most exciting news for me was the release of
Rick Hinderer’s new automatic knife, the XM-18.
I’ve waited since April of 2021 for this hot puppy and it is finally
here. Rick is celebrating his 35 years
as well.
Here are a bunch of photos for your consideration.
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| Hinderer's new auto Just released at Blade Show |
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Santa Fe Stone Works
|
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| CRKT's new SPEC I really liked the handle! |
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| CRKT's Curfew The white portion of the handle has an Ivory feel, but it is not |
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| Engraving |
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| Not every knife is what you call practical |
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| This Chili Pepper is coming home with us - by Kizer |
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| Winkler Knives |
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| Italian knives from MKM designed by Jesper Voxnaes |
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| The last two from Grace Horne Who says scissors are boring? |
