Question about maker

[JAlexander]

Hi folks.

I've been lurking for a while and have gained a lot of knowledge about smiths and steels that I lacked, but now I have a question about a maker that I haven't seen mentioned before.

I stumbled across a web page for a gentleman named Rick Smith, and I was curious to know if any of you have dealt with him before. I like the look of his work, but... I was thinking of ordering one of his Bowies, but I don't actually own any custom knives, so this is a fairly momentous decision for me. If you'd like to check out his web page, it's http://www.bearbone.com

Thanks a lot for your help.

James

 

[Keith Montgomery]

I don't know this maker, but can someone tell me what the WBA is? This makers site states that he is a WBA Mastersmith and I can't find any information on this association.

 

[JAlexander]

Anybody?

 

[Burchtree]

He's got some great-looking knives on his site, but I typed in "WBA Mastersmith" in Google, and his website was the only one that would pull up.

He may be the president, and only member of the ol' WBA.