Welcome Daniel O'Connor

Welcome @Daniel O'Connor

Please join me in welcoming our newest member, Daniel O'Connor. We are happy to have you as part of our community.

 

Welcome!!

 

Welcome!

 

Greetings!

 

welcome to Fora, great to have you join up

 

Thank you everybody. I have been making knives, tools and swords for years but know diddly squat about a good kitchen knife. Mainly trying to stick with the Japanese tradition. Not that I feel Japanese style is any better than a western style blade. It is just a way of working I have chosen to follow.

 

Welcome Daniel
What a tidy and well appointed shop you have there. I'd love to see some detail shots of your gear. especially that tire hammer!

 

Here ya go Mike.
Including the very star to the shop0 build.

 

And some Hammer pics

 

Daniel
That is impressive. Is the hammer design your own? I'll show my ignorance here, but the business end of the hammer, is the cylinder solid and the face replaceable or is it some sort of shock absorber? wondering due to the ring of bolts that hold the face into the cylinder. She's a beauty for sure.

 

Welcome!

 

Mike,
It is a hybrid design of a Japanese spring hammer using a tire for the clutch. See attached photo of a real Japanese spring hammer.
Yes, it is a solid 110lb cylinder with a replaceable face. It can hit at 3 beats a second (180 BPM)
Thanks, I am quite proud and fond of Finn, as in Finn McCool the legendary Irish warrior .

 

Welcome to Fora Daniel!

Your pics looks like they were taken from some museum and not from a real workshop. It's so unbearable clean. Makes me very ashamed of my working corner.

Also that "Sport Trail" hammer looks cool. How long did it take you to build it?

 

Ha Anton!

Those pictures were taken before it was ever used. Not so pretty now.
Working a regular job it took me all of one summer in my spare time. Here is a video of it working.

 

And the finished San Mai Knife. 1018 and W-2. As I said I am learning about kitchen knives. This is my first one.

 

Very nice

 

I am struck with the serene atmosphere in your shop. Looks like one could go there for therapy.
Thanks very much for the video. Really enjoyed it and the resulting knife.

 

Mike,
You pretty much summed up what I was aiming for.
From my FB Page.
"This has never been about making swords-It is about making magic. Making swords is just my way of getting there."

Pertains to all blades really.