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.
Case Old Red Bone Baby Butterbean Pocketknife | Spear Point & Pen Blade 00724
55 sec read
The Case Old Red Bone Baby Butterbean knife has been around since the days when pocket knives were essential tools of everyday tradesmen. Still popular with today’s professionals, this 2-3/4-inch folding knife has no frills beyond quality materials and high standards.
According to Case, the high carbon stainless steel blade styles included in the Baby Butterbean were originally designed for farm use. A spear point blade, the larger of the two, was the heavy duty utility knife. The smaller pen knife blade, good for all sorts of light whittling, first came into use for trimming the ends of turkey quills — the primary writing instrument of the day. Although some of those exact applications may be less important to today’s users, the Butterbean style is still extremely useful, providing a reliable and sharp cutting edge powered by a wide strong handle.
Bone slabs used in this modern Butterbean come from the shinbones of Brazilian Zebu cattle — chosen for this fine knife because of that range-fed breed’s denser bone structure. The color results from an antiquing process designed to mimic the look of a knife with many years of use behind it.
Though some believe the Case XX mark signifies a mysterious process still used by that company, Case says it actually only served as a reminder — that a knife had been hardened (one X) and then tempered (the second X). Today, it’s simply a sign the Case company’s standards haven’t changed.
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 Case Old Red Bone Baby Butterbean knife has been around since the days when pocket knives were essential tools of everyday tradesmen. Still popular with today’s professionals, this 2-3/4-inch folding knife has no frills beyond quality materials and high standards.
