Jim Kelso

A photo of Louie and me 1985, with wakizashi we made, on our way to the Higgins Armory.

Thanks for that Tony. Dave has a lot of good material on Louie.

Thanks Alan. I think it's easy these days, with so much information available, to perhaps not appreciate how difficult it was back when to figure stuff out to a point where you can make progress. Louis's accomplishments in that context is really impressive. Here is an o-tanto we made with a really lovely blade by him: (photo credit Francesco Pachi) Thanks to Dan Favano for the photo use

I just heard this morning that Louis Mills passed quietly in his sleep early this morning. Working with Louis was a major milestone in my career, and I am honored to have done so. I greatly admired his dedication to Japanese swordsmithing. When we met he was one of two smiths that I know of in this country taking up that extremely demanding craft. He had studied in workshops with the Yoshihara brothers. As my work expanded to other types of work we fell somewhat out of touch, but had made contact in the last few years. I'm very glad we had the opportunity to do some catching up. My sympathies go to his wife Marge.

Thanks Dave!

Thanks very much guys! Yes Wes, and there's full-screen mode in the slide-shows.

Lovely ensemble Jake...

My apologies for not being active here for a while. After Ashokan a lot came down the chute fast, including feeling the need to update my website. It is now quite nicely responsive to various devices and I invite a look. It will take me a while to update some pages, especially the tutorials, but I'm keeping links open to the old pages until they're replaced. http://www.jimkelso.com I recommend the Recent Work page under Portfolio. Click the thumbnails to go to slideshows. Some pieces are not on my old site. http://www.jimkelso.com/recentwork/ Thanks for looking...

Kevin! Bother! Stop it! There were so many recognizable faces that I couldn't put names to. We'll catch up somewhere. I had a more stressful event than I had hoped for. Saturday was intense making sure everything was ready for my talks. I did see Justin's talk as well as Kevin's and Sam's demo. Justin made so much clear about that particular process and the way toward deducing how stuff is done in general. Kevin was right-on which reinforces the Ashokan "No toadies" standard. Sam in action, on the anvil and otherwise, was peerless. (Jean said he was sweet!) Sunday I got wicked sick, had to leave Tim Wright's talk and was sick into the night. Sadly I missed the open display and the opportunity to visit with everyone. Bummer! The Ashokan folks were awesome as always and let us stay Sunday night and we stumbled home Monday.

A slide from my talk:

Many thanks guys. Much appreciated.

What a sweet gift!

If this has anything to do with knives it's that I stole the design from a Kano Natsuo kozuka! The wood did oblige with landscape coloration. The inlaid shell is a super unusual wee bit of Brazilian Ebony. The Head and leg are inlaid horn. I put up some process shots and video on Instagram.

I'll post a link to the registration asap: Schedule: Friday, September 29 After 2:00 PM! Arrive at Ashokan, registration, unload gear. 4:00-5:00 Set-up forging areas Pavilion and Tent 5:00-6:00 Happy Hour Open Bar Lobby 6:00-7:00 Buffet Dinner 7:00-7:15 Introduction Lecture 7:15 – 8:30 Viking Spears and Construction – Justin Mercier Lecture 8:30– 12:00 Open Forge Pavilion Saturday, September 30 8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 10:00 How to Make a Living as a Knife Maker Without Becoming a Weasel II – Kevin Cashen Lecture 10:00 - 11:00 Blade Forging – Sam Salvati Tent 11:00 - 12:00 Forge Welding – Justin Mercier Tent 12:00 - 1:00 Opening to the Far-Green: Imagination and the Creative Process – Jim Kelso Lecture 1:00 - 2:00 Lunch 2:00 - 3:00 Fundamentals of Mechanical Accuracy – Tim Wright Lecture 3:00 - 4:00 Hands On Class in Comparing Combat Knife Design – Bill McGrath Tent Learn knife katas to see how form follows function. Tent 4:00 - 5:00 How to Grind Forged Blades Like a Stock Remover – Kevin Cashen Tent 5:00 - 6:00 Cold Forming Copper Fittings Using Uchidashi – Jim Kelso Lecture 6:00 - 7:00 Dinner 7:00 - 8:00 Kitchen Knife Theory – Nick Rossi Lecture 8:00 - 9:00 Salt Bath Heat Treatment – Tim Zowada Pavilion 9:00 – 12:00 Open Forge Pavilion Sunday, October 1 Check out of bunk areas before 9:00 AM! 8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast 9:00 - 10:00 Fitting Guards and Handles – Nick Rossi Lecture 10:00 – 12:00 Knife Display and Show Dining Hall 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-2:00 Pack-up and clean-up forging areas 2:00 Departure

I'll check with Tim on registration. Should be available soon. Here is material from last year: http://ashokanknifeseminar.com