Sights and "sounds"

[mrsjoan]

The meeting of the Georgia Custom Knifemakers' Guild in Statesboro yesterday at the shop of TwinBlades (Harry & Charlie Mathews) was a real good time. The demos were geared to be of interest to all there no matter if you have been making knives for years or were just beginning.

As folks gathered during the morning


The table of knives caught the attention of several folks


And there were plenty of knives there to catch the attention


Several of the "newbies" looked in to get some tips on grinding from John


Charlie Mathews gave everyone a look at the sharpening gig he and brother, Harry, use



Seeing it like this probably makes no sense but by attaching it to the grinder and hanging a knife from it, he was able to put a "hair popping" edge on a knife.

For lunch, Charlie's wife, Susan, and his mom put out a spread of food that had all of us going back for seconds.

After lunch, Carl took us through the steps of building a forge. Don Adams leans in for a closer look. Carl let Don get bit by the "heat it and beat it" bug after our last meeting. Don's wife joined him for the meeting to see what "he will be spending all the money on".


And when he "lit her up" she produced a hugh amount of heat for bringing the steel up to temperature


To finish out the day, Charlie showed us how he and brother Harry do their handle carvings. This one can be seen at the GCKG website


One of the purposes of the GCKG is to teach knifemaking. We had established makers from all over the state with us and several guys who are just beginning to take up the craft. One of the things that makes it all worth it, is to see a father bring his teenage son to the meeting to introduce him to a craft they can be involved in together. What an astounding gift you guys have to pass on.

Make your plans now to join us May 21st at the TrackRock Campgrounds close to Blairsville Georgia for our next meeting.

[Carey Quinn]

Thank for the pictures Jaon. The meeting was great and I'm already looking forward to May.

[Crex]

Great job Joan! It's always nice to be able to reflect on a good day. Thank you and John for your hospitality (although I'll be haunted by Harvey for several more moons!).

Not much I can say about Charlie and Harry Matthews that would truly reflect what a great job they did in hosting the meeting, (except that maybe we ought to let them host them all). Beautiful place out in the peaceful backwoods. And what a shop! Never been in one that I could eat off the floor in before. If that don't beat all, they are both very talented and complete knifemakers! Thank you both.

Carey, was good to meet and talk with you and look forward to seeing you pound a little steel at Trackrock in May. Come a day or two early and we'll get into some mischief before anyone can stop us! (I'm talking fire and steel now mind you)

Ok everyone else, start letting me know what you want in the way of demos. And as always we need volunteers to step up.

All you regulars.....as always, it was great to see you again!

[Harry Mathews]

I want to thank everyone for coming to the Twin Blades shop on Saturday. It was a great day for Charlie and I. We really enjoyed meeting everyone and getting to talk knives, learn about different ways of doing things and without everyone's participation it would have been just another day at the shop. There was a lot of talent walking around on Saturday and a lot of questions being answered besides those involving the demos.
The knife display table was just about full of makers knives. The knives were just as diverse in their styles as their makers and just as interesting too. That was great! My favorite part and a sure way to get conversations started.
I will try to get the surveys, that were completed on Saturday, summarized this week and make a posting if it isn't to long.
Thanks for John's leadership, Joans roving camera, Carl's demos and everyone who came to Twin Blades(especially those who brought knives). My Mother summed it up by saying "That was the nicest group of people." We were glad to have everyone here.
We would be glad to host another meeting. Everyone seemed disapointed that we cleaned up the shop(it needed it bad) so next time bring your shop aprons, respirators and wear your old clothes and we will show you what it really looks like. I got to go see if I can find that blade I was working on.........

Harry Mathews
Second Twin
Twin Blades
www.twinxblades.com

[Jamey Saunders]

Once again, I had a great time at the GCKG meeting. Thanks to Harry and Charlie for hosting it. The hosiptality was just what I've come to expect from "home" folks! I really enjoyed the fellowship and the demos. I hope I'll make it to the next one on May 21, but with a baby due on June 6, I don't know if I'll be able to get away!

Thanks again to all who made the meeting such a success.