The best resource for knife education is back! BLADE Show offers exciting and intensive learning opportunities taught by industry legends and professional makers. Improve your craftsmanship and deepen your knife knowledge with a BLADE University class. From informal and informative demos, exciting competitions, to small-group sessions with some of the biggest names in the knifemaking world—BLADE Show has it all.
Classes start at $25 each and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page:
2024 Class Schedule
thursday, june 6th
Long time BLADE Show exhibitors, Lucas Burnley and Tom Krein will outline exactly what a knifemaker who is serious about selling knives should do and how he/she should behave behind a knife show exhibitor table. Proper table etiquette, sales and customer relations strategies and more are just some of the subjects Lucas and Tom will cover. The class will be held the day before the BLADE Show begins so attendees can put some of their recommendations into practice during the main event Friday through Sunday.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Friday, June 7th
Location: Courtyard
Instructor: AmeriBrade
AmeriBrade and guest makers will provide a general overview on grinds, technique and different equipment. The class will be interactive and the team will answer questions and demonstrate suggestions for common issues.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 103
Instructor: Bob Kramer
Learn the do’s and don’ts of making the most out of your knife making business. Bob Kramer has 30 years of experience and said he's still learning!
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 104
Instructor: Larrin Thomas
There are many different recommendations for how to heat treat steel after forging, but what is best? Can normalizing and grain refining cycles really improve properties when compared with steel from the factory? Should stock removal makers bother with thermal cycling? How do you thermal cycle stainless steels after forging them? Is it thermocycling or thermal cycling? All of these questions and more will be answered.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 107
Instructor: Neels Van Den Berg
Join American Bladesmith Society Master Smith Neels Van Den Berg form Black Dragon Forge for a discussion and walkthrough of making a Symmetrical Quillon Dagger. He will cover design, proportions, aesthetics, materials, fluting and finally the entire manufacturing process, sharing useful tips and tricks to save you time, money and frustration.
Location: Room 103
Bring your forging questions to our group of expert panelists including Logan Gillihan, Will Stelter, Salem Straub, Charlie Ellis, and Brian House
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 113
Instructor: Henning Wilkinson
An American Bladesmith Society journeyman smith and member of the Knifemakers’ Guild of South Africa, Henning Wilkinson will outline the correct techniques for fitting metal and wood in the construction of the keyhole integral knife handle. Henning will show you how to eliminate the gaps between materials that results in a keyhole handle with the proper fit and finish collectors and those who judge knife competitions look for in an award-winning keyhole-handle knife.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 113
Instructor: Work Sharp
What happens when a knife gets dull? How do you know when to sharpen it? Bring your own knife or borrow a demo model and learn the progression of shaping a bevel, sharpening and edge maintenance from the team at Work Sharp. You will get hands-on practice and experience sharpening your blade using a variety of sharpeners and abrasives, from whetstones to belts.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 107
Instructor: Lucas Cao
Why are some people more creative than others? Can creativity be learned? Lucas Cao, founder of Squid Industries, explores tools and techniques that anyone can apply to become more original.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Saturday, June 8th
Location: Room 113
Instructor: Kyle Daily
Enhance the appearance of your knife with distinctive features that go far beyond standard production models! Knifemaker Kyle Daily from KHDaily Knives guides you through the intricate art of filework on the spine, while also sharing insights into handle design and the pin placement on your handle. Discover Kyle's preferred files and specialized equipment for crafting his five most popular filework patterns, ensuring your knife not only looks exceptional but also feels comfortable and functional. From laying out your pattern to a step-by-step tutorial, this class provides the essential knowledge to achieve a professional and eye-catching finish. A Q&A session at the end will ensure you leave with the skills and knowledge to take your knifemaking to the next level. Your customers will undoubtedly be impressed, asking, "WOW! How did you do that?"
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 104
Instructor: Bob Kramer
Understand how to forge weld inserts with high precision and control to create realistic depicitions of animals and patterns. This will be an exclusive opportunity to experience this technique that Bob Kramer has created with Tom Ferry and shared with the masses.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 107
Instructor: Tim Robertson
An award-winning maker of slip joints and a charter member of the South Texas Slipjoint Cartel, Tim Robertson will address perhaps the most difficult pocketknife to build: the lockback whittler. He will outline what makes the classic slip-joint/lockback folder so demanding to make, with a major focus on backspring design and function, the two areas of the knife that work against each other. He also will cover the correct sequence of parts preparation and the proper order of construction steps that reduces mistakes and helps ensure a successfully completed knife.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 113
Instructor: TJ Schwarz
TJ Schwarz is the founder of Schwarz Knives, an Idaho-based manufacturer of premium outdoor fixed blades. He also has over a decade of freelance knife design experience with many models in circulation, a patent, and two BLADE Show awards to show for it. Schwarz will share his insights on how to create a successful knife business. One key to creating a successful business is to first understand what you are actually selling.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 104
Have a panel of award-winning knifemakers share their decades of knowledge and experience in critiquing your custom knife. An expert panel to include: David Carver, Bob Kramer, Enrique Pena, Jim Rodebaugh and Luke Swenson, will go over every square inch of your knife and tell you what is good about it, what is not and how you can make it better. Bring one knife only. Questions from attendees will be entertained throughout.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 113
Instructor: Work Sharp
What happens when a knife gets dull? How do you know when to sharpen it? Bring your own knife or borrow a demo model and learn the progression of shaping a bevel, sharpening and edge maintenance from the team at Work Sharp. You will get hands-on practice and experience sharpening your blade using a variety of sharpeners and abrasives, from whetstones to belts.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 107
Instructor: Grace Horne
Have you ever thought about making scissors but don’t know where to start? If you’re curious about scissors or just want to expand your knowledge, this session is for you! Whether you want to have a go at restoring old scissors or forging your own from scratch, the basic information is the same—and it's notoriously poorly documented. In this session, Dr. Grace Horne will give a whirlwind tour through the early history of scissors, describe methods of producing the blanks, give inside information on the twist and the curve, and highlight critical areas to consider. Most importantly, she will describe her method of scissormaking that doesn’t require any specialist tools or equipment.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
Location: Room 104
Salem Straub, Mareko Maumasi, Charlie Ellis, Josh Prince and Will Stelter will go over how they created their collaborative “Consortium” billet, each of the steps that went into creating this wild mosaic billet, and then open up to general questions about Damascus making and pattern development.
Classes start at $25 and can be purchased on the ticket checkout page by clicking here.
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