Allen Eldridge
Allen was born and raised in Southern Illinois. His father was a carpenter and taught him how to sharpen his tools when he was a young boy. He got hooked on sharp stuff then. Allen made his first knives out of old saw blades and files at his uncle's concrete plant where he had a grinder. Allen joined the Air Force when he graduated from High School in 1961.nbsp; In Vietnam in 1965 he made two bowies. He sold one for $50. First knife he had ever sold. He still has the other one. After Vietnam he settled in Tennessee. where he lived and worked for many years until moving to Fort Worth, Texas in 1990..
Over the years Allen worked on muzzle loaders and knives. He has forged blades, do wire inlay, engraving and scrimshaw and has worked with a lot of makers over the years. He taught wire inlay at Jim Batson's Bladesmith Symposium for 7 years. He's been a member of the Miniature Knife Society since 1989 and have won numerous awards for his miniatures and makes many originals as scale models of full size collector's pieces. Allen moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1990. He met Gene Osborn and soon we combined our talents and Allen is now a part of Center Cross Metal Works as a full-time knifemaker since 2000. See some of his minitures and silver wire inlays at www.centercross.com