The exhibition opens at 10:00 AM Saturday October 16^th with each collector / bidder receiving a personalized Master Show Catalogue. There is a section in the catalogue for each maker which contains a description of each knife the maker is exhibiting together with prices for draw knives and opening bids, if set, for bid up knives.

Each maker will have a minimum of five knives for sale, of which no fewer than three will be sold at a set price through a drawing. Two knives may be sold by a bid-up process. This may be either an open bid or a closed bid process, or the maker may elect to use both methods. Makers are not required to use ‘bid up’ and may sell all of their knives at a fixed price through a drawing. Most choose to have at least one bid up on offer.

All the draw knives are sold by blind drawing so that everyone has an equal opportunity to have their name drawn for any knife they choose.

The maker’s section of the catalogue contains perforated tickets printed with both the maker’s name and the bidder’s name for every knife exhibited by that maker. These tickets are used  to enter the collectors name in the draw knives  and the closed bid auctions.

The only knives not sold by drawing are the bid up knives.

Collectors / bidders have three hours from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM to examine and handle the exhibits. During this time they may enter bids in both the open and closed bid auctions and by using the personalized tickets in their catalogue, may enter their names for draw knives.   Collectors are not limited in the number of draws they may wish to enter.

At 1.00pm precisely all bidding is closed and no further tickets may be placed in the draw boxes.  The highest bidders for ‘bid up’ knives are announced. High bids constitute a  committment to purchase.

At this time the makers also draw the first three tickets from the draw knife boxes. Having their name drawn gives the collector the option to purchase - if they decline to purchase the option passes to the next name drawn from the draw box – and so on until the knife is sold.

At two o’clock the show closes and the Collector-Dealer Buy-Sell-Trade Hour begins.