74 BLADE SEPTEMBER 2019
PAST MASTERS^ |^
A COLLABORATION BEGINS
Along the way, collector Rick Royster
can be credited with helping stoke
Buster’s creative energy and challenging
his abilities.
“In 1974, I ran across an up-and-
coming knifemaker named Buster
Warenski,” Royster said. “Aft er I
gathered what little information that
was available to me, I contacted him. I
ordered an Arkansas Toothpick, which
was available through his catalog.
When I received it four months later I
was totally impressed. I then began to
send him designs, drawings and ideas.
He was very receptive of my designs,
even saying they ‘taxed’ his ability, so
we started our collaborations.”
For the next 28 years Royster was
a regular, and Warenski rose to the
challenge each time he received a
request. First came a matched set—a
dagger and push dagger with ivory
Micarta® handles—and then a small
set of matched daggers called the Tiger
Claws. In 1978, a third set of matched
daggers followed. In 1980, Buster
created Little Samurai, “a streamlined,
classy piece. It has sterling silver trim,
black-lip mother-of-pearl, a gold-inlaid
yin-yang symbol, and is capped off
with a 1.5-carat diamond in a platinum
setting,” Royster noted.
In 1982, Buster made the Ruby Dagger
for Royster. It featured engraving,
gold inlay and stone settings. Royster
described it as Buster’s most involved
piece prior to the Tut Dagger. Th e gift ed
artisan then created the Nunchaku and
Matching Dagger, committing himself
to that project from 1999 to 2003.
“According to Buster, it was the most
challenging project I ever presented
him with,” Royster observed. “Th e set
also incorporated the [engraving] skills
of Buster’s wife, Julie, and includes
sapphires and approximately 10 ounces
of gold. I never designed the perfect
knife for my intended purpose. From a
functional standpoint, there was always
something I wish I had done diff erently.
However, I always received the perfect
knife from the standpoint of fl awless
execution from the maker—Buster.”TUT
From 1982-87, Buster was busy with
the seminal work of his career: the
King Tut Dagger reproduction. Cutlery
Hall-Of-Famer Phil Lobred approached
Buster with the idea and a commission
to produce an exquisite replica of the
dagger found buried with the boy king.
“Phil thought Buster was the only
one who could do it,” remembered Julie
Warenski, “and nobody told Buster
that he couldn’t do something. It was
horrible at times. It took years of trial
and error and meltdowns, but it was very
rewarding for Buster. He was so versatileat everything, and he proved to some
people who were kind of [cynical] about
how long it would take to [get it] done.”
It has been said that the Tut Dagger
captivated Lobred, and, at the same
time, consumed Buster. Heart and soul,
sweat, tears and maybe a little blood
were spilled while making the iconic
piece, which contains 33 ounces of
gold and exhibits the jeweler’s craft s of
granulation and cloisonné. (By the way,
Buster taught himself these techniques,
techniques that regularly baffl e
accomplished jewelers and goldsmiths.)
At least fi ve years in the making, the
Tut Dagger ignited a wave of art knife
appreciation, crossing the spectrum of
the art world. Th rough the tribulation
and triumph of the Tut Dagger
experience, Buster’s longtime friend,
Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer D’ Holder,
visited him regularly, and Lobred called
Holder for updates on the progress.
“Buster fi nished the Tut Dagger, and
with it he stood head and shoulders
above anything else that had ever been
done,” Holder ex pla i ned. “I t hi n k he d id
a better job than the original guys—the
Egyptians—did!”LEGACY SERIES
Holder, Draper, Hibben, Johnson and
Warenski formed a team known as
the Utah School of Knifemaking for a
time. Th ey popularized knifemaking in
central Utah and spent rousing times
together. When Buster took a breakBuster works on a knife in his shop.
The year: 1980. (image courtesy of
Julie Warenski)
BLADEBLADEMagazineMagazineCutleryCutlery
Hall-Of-FameHall-Of-Fame®® member D’ HoldermemberD’HolderBLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame®^
member Phil Lobred