Knife World Publications, PO Box 3395, Knoxville, TN 37927 ... · to the blades of knives...
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Knife World Publications, PO Box 3395, Knoxville, TN 37927 Vol. 37 No. 5 June 2011 www.knifeworld.com The Artistry of Aurum Knifemaker Jim Siska by Stephen Garger The process knife afi- cionados follow in discover- ing new makers undoubted- ly varies from individual to individual. For me, admit- tedly somebody who likes nearly anything sharp and with a point (including a good argument), the process begins with browsing my favorite internet purveyors. I look at the pictures, descriptions and prices. Coming across a knife I like then sends me over to an online knife forum to seek out some opinions. A few months ago I came across a consigned 4-1/2” recurve fixed blade with a brown micarta handle by Jim Siska that grabbed my interest. The knife’s price fell within my range, so I bookmarked the site’s page and ran a search on one of the blade forums. Turned out, Jim Siska knives are viewed quite favorably by a number of posters whose judgment I have come to trust. In fact, a forumite owned 117 of Jim’s knives! Descriptions of the maker included “One of the best stock removal guys on the East Coast” or “Best grinder in the knife making industry” and rec- ommendations of that sort generally push me over the edge, so to speak. I pur- chased the knife and when it arrived, even given the by John Hunt and Timothy Dean One of the more interest- ing and yet unheralded periods in the history of knife making occurred from 1975 through 1989. During that time, the Aurum Etchings company produced some of the most spectacu- lar etches ever to be applied to the blades of knives man- ufactured by such compa- nies as Henckels, Schrade, Gerber, Smith and Wesson, R e m i n g t o n , Coleman/Western, Alcas, Puma, and most notably, Buck. Aurum would be one of the first to create a total- ly new category in the world of knives, referred to as “art knife collectibles,” which involved using the steel of a knife blade as a canvas to display a beautiful work of art. Ultimately, these knives would be included in private collections around the world as well as in pres- idential and national histor- ical museums. The founder of Aurum, Samuel (Sam) R. Shortes, was well prepared for his venture into metal etching. After graduating with a BS degree in chemistry in 1959, he joined Texas Instruments in Richardson, Texas working as a techni- cal researcher. Over the next 16 years Sam received many patents requiring knowledge of chemistry, PRSRT-STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LOUISIANA, MISSOURI 63353 PERMIT 11 $3.50 Closeup of Schrade and Buck knives etched by Aurum Etchings in the 1980s. All photos by Timothy Dean unless otherwise noted. SharpByCoop photo. Continued on page 20 Continued on page 14
Transcript of Knife World Publications, PO Box 3395, Knoxville, TN 37927 ... · to the blades of knives...
Knife World Publications, PO Box 3395, Knoxville, TN 37927 Vol. 37 No. 5 June 2011 www.knifeworld.com
The Artistry of Aurum
Knifemaker Jim Siskaby Stephen Garger
The process knife afi-cionados follow in discover-ing new makers undoubted-ly varies from individual toindividual. For me, admit-tedly somebody who likesnearly anything sharp andwith a point (including agood argument), the processbegins with browsing myfavorite internet purveyors.I look at the pictures,descriptions and prices.Coming across a knife I likethen sends me over to anonline knife forum to seekout some opinions. A fewmonths ago I came across aconsigned 4-1/2” recurvefixed blade with a brownmicarta handle by JimSiska that grabbed my
interest. The knife’s pricefell within my range, so Ibookmarked the site’s pageand ran a search on one ofthe blade forums.
Turned out, Jim Siskaknives are viewed quitefavorably by a number ofposters whose judgment Ihave come to trust. In fact,a forumite owned 117 ofJim’s knives! Descriptionsof the maker included “Oneof the best stock removalguys on the East Coast” or“Best grinder in the knifemaking industry” and rec-ommendations of that sortgenerally push me over theedge, so to speak. I pur-chased the knife and whenit arrived, even given the
by John Hunt andTimothy Dean
One of the more interest-ing and yet unheraldedperiods in the history ofknife making occurred from1975 through 1989. Duringthat time, the AurumEtchings company producedsome of the most spectacu-lar etches ever to be appliedto the blades of knives man-ufactured by such compa-nies as Henckels, Schrade,Gerber, Smith and Wesson,R e m i n g t o n ,Coleman/Western, Alcas,Puma, and most notably,Buck. Aurum would be oneof the first to create a total-ly new category in the worldof knives, referred to as “artknife collectibles,” which
involved using the steel of aknife blade as a canvas todisplay a beautiful work ofart. Ultimately, theseknives would be included inprivate collections aroundthe world as well as in pres-idential and national histor-ical museums.
The founder of Aurum,Samuel (Sam) R. Shortes,was well prepared for hisventure into metal etching.After graduating with a BSdegree in chemistry in 1959,he joined TexasInstruments in Richardson,Texas working as a techni-cal researcher. Over thenext 16 years Sam receivedmany patents requiringknowledge of chemistry,
PRSRT-STDU.S. POSTAGE
PAIDLOUISIANA,MISSOURI
63353PERMIT 11
$3.50
Closeup of Schrade and Buck knives etched by Aurum Etchings in the 1980s.All photos by Timothy Dean unless otherwise noted.
SharpByCoop photo.
Continued on page 20
Continued on page 14
Page 20 Knife World June 2011
electronics and metallurgy.By 1974 he had started aside business casting goldand silver objects. It was atthis time that Sam beganapplying his knowledge of
semiconductor technology tothe plating and chemicaletching of intricate artworkonto knife blades. Otherswere accomplishing similarart using tiny chisels andhammers to hand engrave
images into the steel. This,of course, was very slow andexpensive. Sam’s methodol-ogy was not only faster andless expensive, but alsoresulted in superior detail.In 1975 Sam left TI to
expand his process into acommercial venture incor-porated as Aurum Etchings(aurum being the Latinword for gold).
Aurum’s first commercialcommission in knives waslaunched when BlackieCollins visited Aurum’sshop in Richardson to dis-cuss Smith and Wesson’sCollectors Series of bowieknives Collins had beenretained to design. A collab-orative effort resulted withAurum etching three of thefour knives in the series.The first of the four had asterling silver guard andpommel with the blade etchdepicting an AmericanEagle and flowing bannercelebrating the AmericanBicentennial. According to
Sam, the etches on theseSmith and Wesson knives“had a very distinctive looksince we combined very finedetail with deep etching. Wepaid a lot of attention to thequality of the art.”The successful start-up withSmith and Wesson was fol-lowed by Aurum etchingseven knives for J.A.Henckels of Solingen,Germany, one of the largestand oldest cutlery compa-nies in the world. Theseknives were included inHenckels’ American TributeSet etched with verydetailed scenes of Americanwildlife from artworkdesigned by Shortes him-self. The year was 1976 andthe stated purpose of theproject was to celebrate
Continued from page 1
Sam Shortes, Founder and President of AurumEtchings, presenting one of the Republic set knives toPresident Ronald Reagan. Photographer unknown.
Aurum’s first commercial commission, the Smith & Wesson Collector Series bowieknife designed by Blackie Collins and produced to commemorate the Americanbicentennial. Both the etching and the cast mounts were done by Aurum.
The very first knife ever etched by Sam Shortes, aGerber folder. The artwork of a fox was drawn onSam’s kitchen table, and the blade was etched atAurum’s first facility in Richardson, Texas beforeAurum Etchings formally existed. Sam relates, “Itwas on the very basis of this single knife that I wentinto business.” One-of-a-kind.
June 2011 Knife World Page 21
America’s 200th birthday.Only 200 sets were pro-duced – one for each year.
Near the end of 1976,Aurum’s early successesand Sam’s aspirations toexpand the business neces-sitated a move to a largerand updated etching facilityin Garland, Texas. To securea competitive advantage inthis specialized technology,Sam continually improvedthe etching process. Also,realizing the tremendous
importance of having out-standing artwork for theetches, he retained somevery talented and skilledartists. One of these artists,Ron Adair, an illustratorrenowned for his art on U.S.postage stamps, created theartwork for one the mosthighly detailed and intri-cate knives etched in theGarland plant.
This knife, one of four ina set Aurum marketed asthe “Republic of Texas”knives, was deeply etched
with an incredibly detailedscene depicting the battle ofthe Alamo. It is an impres-sive looking 14 inch bowiewith stainless steel blade,brass fittings, and a cocobo-lo handle. Sam cherishes apicture of him presentingone of these knives at theWhite House to PresidentReagan. Interestingly,Reagan had been an Aurumcustomer when he wasGovernor of California,acquiring a knife etched forthe NRA Bicentennial.
Today, that Alamo knife isin the Reagan PresidentialLibrary and another is ondisplay at the AlamoMuseum in San Antonio,Texas. The other threebowie knives in the set werealso beautifully etched andhandled with ebony andstag. President Reagan pur-
chased one set, John Wayneand his son, Michael, eachbought a set, and even aSaudi prince acquired onefor his uncle who was aking. John Wayne’s set wasrecently donated to theNational Cowboy andWestern Heritage Museum.
All four bowies in the Republic of Texas set, with their ebony handles and bladesetched on both sides. It’s estimated that just 25 to 50 complete sets exist today.Ronald Reagan and John Wayne were both proud owners of them.
Continued from page 20
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Only about a dozen com-plete sets were sold as cus-tomers preferred to buy theknives individually, show-ing a preference for onedesign over another.Finding one of these sets israre and it would commanda premium price. The proofset included one knife han-dled with elk crown stagand another in ebony withan ivory insert.
Aurum continued to pro-duce and direct marketother beautifully etchedknives including a sevenknife “Frontier Collection”of Schrade knives and aseries of small fixed andfolding knives by Alcas, oneof which had a Harley-Davidson theme. However,the breakthrough event for
Aurum came in late 1976when they teamed up withBuck Knives. The ensuingcollaboration would prove tobe very beneficial for bothcompanies. During the nextfourteen years, Aurumwould etch more Buckknives than any otherbrand. It opened up a wholenew and successful productline for Buck.
Buck was impressed withAurum’s artistry and spe-cial process for etching andplating. In a 1982 AmericanBlade magazine article,writer Jim Williamsonexplained that the processbegan with pencil sketchesof the scene to be etchedwith a final, magnifiedsketch in ink. Once the inkart was finished, often at acost of “about $2000-$3000,”
Continued from page 21
The first Buck knife etched by Aurum Etchings, the “Spirit of ‘76” (the bicenten-nial inspired a number of commemorative knives.) 7600 of these were producedcomplete with the sheath, medallion, and a very nice case. Photo by John Hunt.
Another Schrade bowie etched by Aurum. The artwork for this scene was done byRon Adair, an acclaimed artist whose extensive resume includes work for the U.S.Postal Service.
June 2011 Knife World Page 23
the production processcould begin. The blades “arecleaned and given a protec-tive coating. This coating isthen removed in those areasthat will be plated oretched. The image of thescene is then photographi-cally printed on the blade…[which] is then put into asolution to develop the printon the steel, then put intoan acid bath to etch theunprotected areas.” “Sceneswith considerable detailmay go through severaletchings. A deer may beetched the first time, then abackground etching ofmountains may follow, andthen clouds could be added.The deer will be etched1/2000th inch deep, themountains will be five milsdeeper, and the scene may
go down into the steel 12mils for the clouds.” Shortesadded that “an enormousamount of the work is doneby hand, often under amicroscope.” One look at anAurum etched knife con-firms their attention toquality, detail, and fineworkmanship.
Although most of theetches for Buck were doneon their famous model 110,Aurum also did scenes onBuck models 103, 112, 119,124, 300, 401, 402, 500, 501,503, 505, 700/800, 826, 903,and 975. With a few excep-tions, all etched knives hadmirror polished blades. Thefirst Aurum design for Buckappeared on a specialbowie, “The Spirit of ‘76”,that Buck created to com-
Continued on page 24
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This lineup of Buck 110 and 112 models stand as a testament to their popularityas canvasses for Aurum’s blade artwork. Note especially the rare two-blademodel at top.
The relationship between Buck and Aurum was a long and fruitful one, and manydifferent Buck models came into play. Here is a model 401 Buck Kalinga with ablade etch of a bugling elk.
Page 24 Knife World June 2011
memorate America’sBicentennial. It was a majorproject with a run of 7600knives, each one packagedwith a sheath and brassmedallion in walnut displaycase. This was followed in1978 with the WildlifeCollection of five Buckknives (models 110, 112,501, 401, and 402), with 25different wildlife scenesdeeply etched in black.Buck advertising brochuresannounced, “these knivesreflect a style reminiscent ofa tenth century art form.Through a combination ofthe centuries old process ofchemical engraving andmodern technology, Aurumachieves a level of technicalexcellence never before pos-sible.” A distinctive featurein these deep etches is anelegant, flowing scrolldesign.
Two more major Aurumdeep black etch projectswere Buck’s 1979 Collector’sEdition and the Grand Slamset in 1982. The former wasa collection of four of Buck’s700 series knives eachetched with a horse scene.The Grand Slam set consist-ed of four model 501’s witheach featuring a mountainscene and one of the fourgrand slam sheep. Theseknives are particularly spe-cial in that Aurum etched
both sides of the blades.Also, with these early deepetched Buck knives, (as wellas for the pre-Buck knives),Aurum often included in theetch the words AURUMETCHINGS, and/or theperiodic symbol for gold, AUover the year in a sunriselogo. This was discontinuedaround 1981 when Aurumchanged to shallower etchesand added 22K gold platingto the etch. The gold againsta shallow black etch con-trasted well, adding to theeye appeal of the image onthe blade.
Buck often enhanced thepresentation of their Aurumetched knives by packagingthem in velvet-lined, laserengraved walnut and oakdisplay cases. They alsocame in special BuckCustom boxes with displayplaques as well as in hardand soft jewelry cases. Somemodels featured scales ofmastodon ivory, sambarstag, or ivory micarta. A fewwere also decorated by thetalented scrimshander,Dale Fisk. Included withmost knives was aCertificate of Authenticityproviding a brief descriptionof the etched scene with thenotation, “Blade Etch byAurum Etchings ofGarland, Texas.” These“extras” reflect the pride
Continued from page 23
Continued on page 30
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Two significant Buck 103s. Upper knife (c.1989) with the portrait and signatureof Chuck Buck is the last Buck knife etched by Aurum; lower knife with theFrederick Remington-like scene (c.1991) was the first knife etched by Buck usingAurum’s etching and plating technology.
photo by John Hunt
The world famous Buck 110 & Schrade Bear Paw were often sold in direct com-petion to each other. Aurum etched both of these.
Page 30 Knife World June 2011
Buck and Aurum had withthis run of knives.
The Buck/Aurum collabo-ration resulted in Aurumetching on the blades ofBuck knife models nearlytwo hundred different andspectacular commemorativeand wildlife designs.Customers for many of thecommemorative knivesincluded such organizationsas fire and police depart-ments, states celebratingstatehood anniversaries,Ducks Unlimited, Harley-Davidson, Colt, the NorthAmerican Hunt Club, theShenandoah Apple BlossomFestival, and Sports Afield.One particularly strikingBuck bowie commemoratedH.H. Buck’s first shop andanother recognized the fourgenerations of the Buckfamily. Most of the knivesetched with wildlife sceneswere offered directly to indi-vidual customers throughBuck’s dealers and catalogs.
History is replete withgreat things coming to anend and the same is truehere with the closing ofAurum’s operation at theend of 1989. The last knifeetched by Aurum was prob-ably Buck’s Model 103 witha beautiful gold plated etchof a portrait of Chuck Buck.However, Shortes thenteamed-up with Billy Bates,manager of Buck’s CustomShop, to engineer the suc-cessful transfer of Aurum’setching and plating technol-ogy into Buck’s El Cajon,California facility. The firstknife produced from this
line was a Model 103 with astunning etched and goldplated design reminiscent ofa Frederick Remingtonpainting. Today, Buck con-tinues the Aurum legacy ofsuperior artistry and crafts-manship in their plant inPost Falls, Idaho.
To those interested in col-lecting these knives, the fol-lowing is a checklist to helpidentify an Aurum etchedknife:• Etch includes the words“Aurum Etchings” and/or anAU symbol over the year ina sunrise logo, usually posi-tioned in very small letter-ing along the bottom of theblade and close to the tang.Not on knives after 1979.• Comes with Certificate ofAuthenticity (COA) notingetch by Aurum Etchings.• Etched between 1975 and1989.• Chemically etched, notlaser etched or handengraved.• Plated with 22K gold, not24K.• Deep, black etch withdetailed, intricate design.• Distinctive, flowing scrolldesign.• Knife comes in specialpackaging.
Although over 90% ofAurum’s knife etching workwas on Buck knives, theyalso had direct accountswith the following other cut-lery companies:• Alcas• Gerber• Henckels• Ka-Bar (Cole National)• Puma• Schrade
• Smith and Wesson• Western• Coleman-Western
Though the focus of thisarticle is on the knives thatAurum etched, it should benoted that the major activi-ty at Aurum was engravingfirearms for the followingcompanies:• Colt Firearms (once amajor stockholder in AurumEtchings)• Ithaca• Remington• Smith and Wesson
Firearms• Weatherby• Winchester (U.S.
Repeating Arms)One final note: As of this
writing, Sam Shortes is inthe development stage ofcreating an engravingprocess incorporating newtechnology engineered forhigh precision and costeffectiveness. It will utilizedeep relief and preciousmetal inlays rather thanplating. Watch your KnifeWorld for more informationas tthis project develops.
The authors would like toextend their thanks to Mr.Shortes for all the time andvaluable contributions pro-vided to them in the courseof putting this article togeth-er.
Ed. note: coauthor JohnHunt will be displayingmany different Buck knivesetched by Aurum in theBuck Collectors Club sectionat the upcoming BladeShow in Atlanta, andinvites Knife World readersto stop by and say hello.
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These seven bowies comprise the “Frontier Collection,” a collaboration betweenAurum and Schrade. The knives were delivered to Aurum unassembled, andassembled after etching.
