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.
Ames Michigan Wood Axe, Polished Single Bit Premium | Red Fiberglass Handle, 36 Inch 1189500
1 min read
The Premium Single Bit Michigan Axe is the top-of-the-line axe for Ames with a polished axehead and a high-tech, wavy fiberglass handle. Though it’s guaranteed for life, you’ll still need to take good care of it.
Although the polish might not seem important to an axehead, it actually does improve performance. Cheap axes are usually coated with paint over the high carbon steel axehead and may even be rough cast steel underneath that painted finish. Imagine rubbing a piece of sandpaper over wood, compared to rubbing it with a sheet of glass — the polished surface reduces friction and makes the axe cut deeper.
The 3-1/2-pound weight of the Ames axe is standard fare for light chopping axes, made for chopping branches and small trees as well as splitting kindling and even larger blocks of some easily split hardwoods. Many types of hardwood like oak, hickory, and ash require heavier splitting tools than the Michigan axe.
The strong fiberglass handle probably will last longer than the average kiln-dried wooden handle. Top quality handle wood is becoming increasingly hard to find, but good fiberglass is everywhere, so this may be a “green” approach to axe work. The fiberglass holds the axehead well and absorbs some of the shock of the blow, but fiberglass could also smash and splinter if you miss the target. The best fix for a broken fiberglass handle is still a replacement made of good straight-grained hickory.
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.
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The Premium Single Bit Michigan Axe is the top-of-the-line axe for Ames with a polished axehead and a high-tech, wavy fiberglass handle. Though it’s guaranteed for life, you’ll still need to take good care of it.
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