Salem Straub Visited Me!

[Phil Dwyer]

Hi Friends -- Ever have a friend you only met in cyberspace drop by in the flesh? Well I just did. Salem Straub dropped in for a visit while on a trip to Hawaii visiting family. What a treat! He showed me some mighty hand forging of a hunk of 1" diameter 52100. Notice my wimpy guillotine he's fullering the integral bolsters with? It's no Godzilla. He wanted to try out my Coote grinder, having never ground on one. So he also showed me a few grinding pointers too. At one point he made a classic subdued Salem comment while grinding about how, "lighting is usually considered an asset in a shop." No wonder my grinding sucks. I'm doing it in the dark! That one funky clamp-on spot-light doesn't quite get the job done. We talked various philosophies about the state of the world, compared notes about a book we've both been reading, Shop Craft As Soul Craft and looked at some threads on BF. THANKS for the visit Salem! -- Aloha, Phil

 

[Core Knife Co.]

What a great time. Cool work area!

 

[AVigil]

Thats great

But this picture just does not look right....LOL

 

[Tait]

[For those not logged in, there are several pictures in Phil's post and one in AVigil's reply that only show up when you are logged in].

 

[Salem Straub]

Hey, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! And the spark bucket was right there... Really, that grinder is LOW for me to hollow grind. I liked the Coote though, it's solid.

Thanks Phil, for having me over. It was awesome! I did indeed feel that I was meeting a brother in the art and a like mind. Thanks for the 52100 as well!

Phil, I had that katana looked at. Now, it's coming home with me to the mainland! Wow, it's a 400+ years old Mino Kanenori, a beaut if a bit rusty. I had a very enjoyable and informative conversation with the polisher, Robert Benson. He was also a nice guy and told me to come back, he'd show me around the polishing studio! Wish I could.

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Cool news about the sword. I should have gotten a look at it before you headed out with your lovely wife, Heather. Perhaps you'll post a photo of two of it up in the forums someday. In case some of you folks, like me, aren't familiar with Robert Benson; here's his website: http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/. Apparently he's just a couple of miles from me, so Heather was able to taxi her hubby twice today, hopefully without too much trouble. Thanks Heather! It was a real treat for me. -- All the best, Phil

 

[jonnymac44]

very cool! Glad you guys had a nice visit:thumbup: You've got it made Phil, two of my favorite things in life......knives and Hawaii!

 

[Barry Clodfelter]

Very cool Phil and Salem!! It should be a common practice for folks here to hook up with others on this (or any other knive forum) during our travels about the country.