ClassicBlades’ assistant manager Chris Humphrey, left, and owner Jeff Epperson hold knives for sale in the Fort Oglethorpe store. Humphrey holds a Benchmade Infidel knife and Epperson holds a Ka-Bar tactile knife.With part of Fort Oglethorpe’s ClassicBlades building listed on the National Historic Registry, the owners decided to match the character of yesteryear by updating the interior.
The front of the building used to house the 6th Cavalry’s horses. The building was built between 1904 and 1905.
“It was one of 12 original stables for the 6th Cavalry horses,” said ClassicBlades owner Jeff Epperson. “It housed horses from 1905 to 1944. The renovation included exposing the wood beams above.”
He said a lot of work also went into redoing the flooring in the front of the store. Layers of flooring from the last 60 years were removed, then the crew sanded the concrete on the bottom and added an acid stain.
ClassicBlades offers museum-quality vintage and replica weapons. It began in 2003 as a catalogue-only company, and moved into its storefront on Lafayette Road eight years ago.
The store’s main lines of knife brands are Benchmade, SpyderCo and Zero Tolerance.
“We have access to over 500 brands of cutlery products,” said Epperson. “I have some cool knives. We buy private collections of knives and swords. We carry a variety of swords, from decorative to fully functional. We carry all kinds of armours. We sell non-firing replica guns. It’s for re-enactors and plays mainly. We have a bunch of different things.”