An Australian East Coast Get Together, Who's interested

What's the procedure of choosing best knife/smith/etc? For example how would they choose best kitchen knife? Are there number of tests or just a bunch of judges who selects the winner just by their personal preference?

 

Hey guys I am keen for this get together

Ash for the judging there are a number of judges that inspect the blades for flaws and overall level of difficulty in making the blade and other factors. Bill bourke was one of the judges I believe.

They do not use the knives however.

 

Now you makers have freed up a little more time (after today) lets see if we can make this happen.

 

It was great to see Chanop , James and finally meet Huw in person . Managed to catch up with Bill Burke too . The kitchen knives weren't used by the judges but I am more than happy that Chadd won , he had an awesome knife . As for the show I have only sold couple , there were many requests for Petties and paring knives unlike the big carbon gyutos I had, bit of a different crowd than forums .
Here is a view from my table

 

So we better start saving our pennies @chefcomesback?

 

And Kev, sorry almost forgot

 

Huge props to Mert & Chadd!!! I have a couple of Mert's pieces in my rotation & I can assure all, they are second to none. Super cool seeing a couple fellow forum members doing so well at such a prestigious show. :like op :cool1

 

It was great to meet Bill, Mert and catch up with James. I was on a pretty tight schedule and ended up only visiting their 3 tables.
Merts table looked great, all of the knives on it were stunning and I got to do a little test cutting. I was very impressed overall.
James' table was very popular and I think he probably sold out of a few lines.
Meeting Bill was a huge thrill for me, he is a maker I have admired for a long time, and have been in contact with him for nearly 3 years about the knives I was picking up. We had a great chat, and I met his daughter Jessica who is also an accomplished knife maker. It was hard to resist a musk Ox handled pairing knife she had for sale.
I completely forgot to take any pics, but here are a couple of the knives I picked up from Bill.
230mm Dragons Breath Damascus Gyuto with forged integral bolster and lacewood hidden tang handle.
240mm San Mai 416 stainless & 52100 Gyuto, stainless bolster, Honduran rosewood full tang western handle.

 

Huw, I bet the 2 knives were worth the wait! Did Bill bring the 2 on plane by himself? If yes, the free shipping was nice, too.

 

Yea. Couldn't go this year, too many commitments and not enough will power to resist temptation.

 

Damn, Huw, some kinda sexy right there, sir!!! ave

 

I can't think of anyone who could better appreciate these knives Huw. Congratulations to brother Mert. You knive definitely cut as well as they look.