Around 25 yrs. ago, I was helping my brother-in-law do a sorghum making demo in Wilgus Ohio. It poured rain all that weekend, so no one was really able to demo much of anything.

Near where we were set up, there was a guy doing a smithing demo under a tent. Since none of us were busy, I got to talk to him a little, and discovered he was 83 yrs. old at the time!

As I recall, he was quite capable of using his favorite 2 lb. cross pien, but had his grandson along to move anvils around......to do the heavy stuff.

After I told him that I 'did a little smithing'.....he commenced to explain forging techniques,tempering,calculating bends, forge welding, and much more in a period of about 30 minutes.
I never even knew his name, but every time me or the wife pick up the little parring knife in the pic, I remember him....and how alive he was at 83........he how much he loved the craft of blacksmithing.

And yes, I've wished a thousand times over that I'd had a tape recorder, or better yet, a movie camera to have recorded that meeting.

He had a lot of different demo items there to sell, but the elegant simplicity of the little knife caught my eye. It's a real simple construction....bandsaw blade, piece of maple, and a harness rivet I think.

It's been my wife's favorite for 25 years, and has cut up unknown quantities of vegetables and literally truck loads of apples( we do apple butter making demos.)

I'm always looking for demo items to sell myself.......might try to make a few........probably have to charge more than $3.00 though
That's what he was selling them for back then.

Jayco that is an awesome story and a great little knife

Thanks for sharing that. Well said!

It's the little things that bring the big memories, Jayco, :-)

Great story Jayco. Thanks for sharing it with us. I think we all look forward to meeting people like that.

Awesome story. Nice knife as well.

Great story.

Thanks

Frosty

Thanks for taking the time to type that one, jayco.

Thanks, James. I'd love to run across someone like him. I have no dobt that he was a living history book.

There used to be an old fella named Konrad Hartbauer who made knives like those and sold them at fairs and such around Indiana,Ohio Kentucky. He made a lot of them. I wonder if it was him?