2007 in retrospective from the Anso shop...in words and pics :)

2007 was a great year....alot of good things happend...I will try and tell alittle about it here.

The best part had to be the official launch of the Outbreak project...I had been thinking about that for a long time prior to revealing it (officially) in January 2007. During the past year I managed to design and make 9 new Outbreak models. That in it self I am pretty damn proud of Thank you all for making this the succes it has become. Litterary the 5 spots on the list for each Outbreak are gone in minuttes on almost all of the models I have presented. This makes it alot of fun for me to work on.

so lets have a look on what I got done (I had some problems with the pics but will fix it asap! january 27th)

the v.X was the first and is dear to me because of that. It was kinda cute too


the Outbreak v. 67-432 is one of my favorites of the nice I made. I really think it sumbolizes the whole concept very well. This has become a regular model also called "67" and will soon be on the site...!


Outbreak V. 93-456 was a test to see if I could make a small folder seem big



v. 444-020 is very special to me as I designed it to my good friend Jesper (Vox). I think it turned out very good and has become the regular model named "Haddock"....will also be on the site soon!


Outbreak V.34-206 has also become a favotire of mine...I really like how this turned out. The fact that I got to present it at the Bladeshow in Atlanta just made the whole idea much better. The feedback I got there was priceless! This has become a regular model named "Rasta"! and it IS on the site allready


the Outbreak V.47-373 has got to be one of the cutest...these small folders are "growing" on me



V.93-312 was a freak of nature...or of the Anso shop...one of the "have to get it out of the system" knives...huge and mean....I actually had that at blade also but forgot to post it so it was alittle late


Outbreak V.29-587 was one I finished just before I went to New York to check out the show.....Liked the show, liked the people, liked the knife


to top everything of I finished the last knife and the last outbreak on the last day of the year with the Outbreak V.57-411. I really like this one and finally managed to make something in the 3" size again...harder than you think


So that was the Outbreaks.....as you might have realized these have been a big part of 2007 for me...!

Bladeshow was a blast as allways and the security people has started to loosen up on the full body cavity searches they have been so fond of

seriously the Bladeshow has to be THE best place on earth if your into knives... meeting up with friends and getting to show of the past months hard work....doesnt get any better than that....oh ya...sleep when ya get old right?

the show in 2007 was the most succesfull show for me ever.....thank you all for making it what it was!! Sunday morning I was sold out so I was able to actually walk the show for a while shopping and browsing...meeting fellow knifemakers.

2007 was also the year where I finished the last fixedblade orders (ok minus one but who is counting.......Sean....yours will be done sooooon)...it wa snice to get those out of the way for several reasons...first and foremost so I could start focussing on folders...secondly so I could rearrange my workshop to optimize the layout for folders and third to focus on folders....wait I said that....lets say it again...focus on folders ..I love building folders...did anyone notice?

got to a few more shows during the year...Stockholm for the scandinavian guild show...had a BLAST of a ride in my car with my buddy Vox....this is NOT the last road trip we are going on....had a blast...!! here is Vox and I behind the table


also visited the Paris show for the 4th time....still a great city....I would go there just for the food alone


2007 was the year where I finally got to rebuild my shop....I really like the result and enjoy every morning when I come down there. Just the fact that I am not freezing my butt of is worth it alone but also getting to rearrange all the tools so everything is optimized for folders just makes sence and makes it so much more fun to work in. Heck I even begin to find some of my tools again







in that last pic you will see my heattreat oven that I got in the summer 2007. I now heattreat everything I make and it has really changed the process of making radically...finally I don´t have to plan months in advance and try and figure out what I wanted to make 4-5 months ahead. I can really get much more creative in the shop and don´t have to wait months before I can realize the new ideas...a REAL plus for the Outbreak concept also....getting this oven was a real highlight in the past year!!

I got to spend a busy weekend in New York checking out the knifeshow in November...I really liked the show and hope that I will get a table for next years show...that would really make 2008 a greater year


Finally I got to launch a new area on my website just for the Outbreaks....in fact it works as a website all on its own... http://www.testlab-outbreak.com/ if you have not seen it yet a BIG thanks to Joachim for mking it possible!!!

all in all a damn fine year...!!!

probably left out more than a few things but I will fill out the blanks as I remember

Happy New year!!