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A great way to spend the day with knives

Well by now you all know that a husband and wife knife collecting team can work. Fair warning here guys, once your wife gets interested there is no turning her back. I have been wanting to share with you one of the best knifing days Donnie and I have had recently.

While planning the last trip Donnie had decided he wanted to forge a knife. Now you may think, this is going to take all day or be expensive. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In just an hour or so and for about the same price as a knife inside the store, Donnie came home with a knife he had helped forge himself.

We have become the proud owners of many fantastic knives on our journeys but no knife ever came home from a trip with quiet the same feeling before. We took a day meandering through the mountains afterwards and through out the day he would mention something about how it felt to have a knife he helped create. The joy was evident

A little about the TN Knifemakers Group., the house itself and Robbie and Cody.

The house itself was rescued from destruction. It is from an age when the two rooms and porch were all there would have been within that building. Everything else would have been out buildings. Kevin Pipes heard about the building and had it moved to the parking lot at SMKW with this exact purpose in mind, a small old fashioned forging shop.

Throughout the years there have been other folks manning it. Last year the TN Knifemakers Group became the proud occupants. Through donations and their own private monies Robbie Benton and Cody have created an experience like no other. While both are knife makers in their own right, Robbie comes from a blacksmithing family and grew up at his grandfathers knees AT A FORGE.

The stories he tells about the days of old in a shop are just amazing and I learned more about the history of smithing than I ever could have by any other mean. For instance, did you know the forge was never outside the shop, contrary to the TV versions? It was always inside the building with blacked out windows and a sawdust floor. Heat treating a knife back then meant you needed to understand what color the metal needed to be for different objects. Whether building a nail or a knife, what color you took it to and how you quenched it made it workable or not.

For a knife wielding history junkie this was a day in paradise. Plan on going for your next trip out that way. Spend an hour or so creating a masterpiece you will be proud of and a memory that will last a lifetime!!!!

NO RESERVATIONS are necessary unless you really want to go all out

Tags: Forging, Group, Knife, Makers, SMKW, TN, a, knife, vacations

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 17, 2013 at 8:19

The knives Donnie built

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on August 17, 2013 at 8:43

Wow great stuff and a fascinating history. I agree more folks with ideas on forging should plan a trip and get into this area of knives and knife making. Sounds like a lot of fun and a great experience.

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on August 17, 2013 at 9:01

Donnie done good.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 17, 2013 at 9:34

As soon as Dakota and Savannah are old enough to appreciate it they will going with us to make a pony knife with Grandpa. I want them all to have that experience

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 17, 2013 at 9:36

I forgot to tell you all that Robbies 14 year old son does a travelling show in the area. Dad drops him off with the portable forge and another smith. I think it was last week he did it at a air of some sort. His son actually does the pony knives
Steve Hanner said:

Wow great stuff and a fascinating history. I agree more folks with ideas on forging should plan a trip and get into this area of knives and knife making. Sounds like a lot of fun and a great experience.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on August 17, 2013 at 9:48

Great story. I love hammer forged knives.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on August 17, 2013 at 16:06

Wow that's cool!

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Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on August 17, 2013 at 16:09

Sounds like a great time together.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 17, 2013 at 19:56

Ken,

It was a wonderful day. Memories are all any of us will take with us. Grampas knives will be enjoyed by us for now and someday by the grandkids, thats why I want them to experience it by his side too

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Permalink Reply by stephen tungate on August 18, 2013 at 13:58

that was a great story jan i would love to do that some day i bet donnie loved doing that.do you have a picture of the knife on your site ? i;ll look for it...