Joe Rideau – From Braces to Blades
by Stephen Garger
A flashback to forty-five years ago stopped me short on my stroll down an aisle at the recent Portland Blade Show West, when I spotted a table for “Rideau Knives.” The year of grad studies in Ottawa, Canada, along with it memories of the city came rushing in: The Parliament buildings with the ritual changing of the guard; the (then) relatively new National Arts Centre, where I saw the great Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson; and the Rideau Canal that fronts the Centre and runs through the city. The canal freezes during the winter months, allowing citizens free entry via access ramps for ice skating during the day as well as in the evening, when the canal is lit from the lamps lining the walkway above. Once a friend and I encountered a small group there including Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s wife, Margaret easing a stroller along with their son Justin (today’s Canadian Prime Minister) snuggled inside.
The reverie faded in front of the table when the two seated men greeted me and introduced themselves as Joe and Rob Rideau, with Joe being the knifemaker and Rob his younger brother. I had regained enough mental composure to present myself and explained, while they looked at me strangely, why I appeared at their table. I asked permission to handle some of the folders and Joe stood and handed one over. The craftsmanship immediately snapped me into the now and sharpened my focus.
“Those are meteorite bolsters,” Joe said. “Pretty rare and expensive but well worth it.” The bolsters were nicely complimented by the blue giraffe bone scales. The linerlock’s mosaic damascus blade was matched by a damascus backspacer while the anodized liners were augmented by filework best described as “exquisite.” I commented on the filework and Joe explained that intricate detail work was a skill he had to master in the forty years he spent as an orthodontist before recently retiring. Each knife that I examined showed a similar consistency in detail, quality and the smooth artistic melding that makes for an attractive piece. (Joe’s prices range from $650 to $2000, with the described knife $1650.)
This article originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Knife Magazine. Premium Members can read the whole thing by clicking the blue box below: