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 Zatoichi Stick Sword by Paul Chen | Functional Full Tang Katana w/ Folded Steel, Rosewood Handle & Scabbard
54 sec read
Hanwei Forge produced four different functional versions of the Zatoichi stick sword under the guidance of master smith Paul Chen. This traditional katana of folded steel and rosewood is the best of the four.
Hanwei Forge doesn’t directly compare the quality of its swords to antique combat weapons. In many cases, the swords from Hanwei may actually be better than swords used in ancient battles. According to Hanwei, the quality of today’s steel surpasses what was then available. Since some of Hanwei’s best weapons use both modern steel and traditional hand-forging methods, that’s a convincing argument for true combat quality.
The 39-inch Zatoichi Stick Katana features a full tang blade of folded steel created at Hanwei Forge in China. The high carbon steel blade uses both high carbon and low carbon steel separated from the same stock through a re-forging process. Shaped into bars of different grades, the billets become a blade with a hard outer layer wrapped around three sides of a tough inner core. Forged and ground into the final shape, the blade goes through a clay-pack edge tempering process which strengthens the cutting edge and toughens the blade’s spine.
Although the build of this sword is simple, even the “stick” is high-class. All wooden parts including handle and scabbard are solid rosewood. Hard, heavy, and highly polished, even a plain rosewood stick has combat potential. Combined with the folded steel blade created by the expert smiths of Hanwei Forge, there’s no question that this is one of the best Zatoichi katanas we’ll see.
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 Forge produced four different functional versions of the Zatoichi stick sword under the guidance of master smith Paul Chen. This traditional katana of folded steel and rosewood is the best of the four.
