James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Hanwei Wakizashi Functional Cutting Sword | Chinese Practical Katana w/ Black Scabbard
59 sec read
The Practical Wakizashi from CAS Hanwei of China represents the smallest and least expensive true cutting katana of their extensive product line. Although you get a high quality blade made with a traditional tempering process, other parts of the construction are not what you’d expect in an authentic wakizashi.
If you buy with cutting and economy in mind, the Practical series fits. Practical quality hasn’t been lost. You won’t see rayskin or a woven cotton ito in the wakizashi’s grip, but you won’t find a cheap plastic ornamental pommel either. Everything here was selected to work efficiently and hold up to hard use, but at a budget price. Twenty-seven-and-a-half inches long overall, the Practical Wakizashi presents 20 inches of cutting edge with an authentic hamon or clay-tempering mark. Hardened to HRC60 on the edge and HRC 40 on the back, the differentially tempered blade holds a razor-sharp edge and has the resilience to survive a hard hit.
Unless you look for differences between this sword and traditional versions, you probably won’t notice the substitutions of synthetics for natural materials. Everything here looks and works just fine. Weighing 1-1/2 pounds with a balance point four inches forward of the tsuba, the wakazishi has been designed for modern target cutting. The high carbon steel blade will savagely cleave tatami mats, cardboard tubes, plastic water bottles, and pool noodles with ease if handled and maintained properly. To enhance target cutting, blades in this series are lighter and faster than old-style battlefield weapons. CAS Hanwei suggests that the blade is not appropriate for use on trees and other harder targets.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
The Practical Wakizashi from CAS Hanwei of China represents the smallest and least expensive true cutting katana of their extensive product line. Although you get a high quality blade made with a traditional tempering process, other parts of the construction are not what you’d expect in an authentic wakizashi.
