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.
Draw Knife by Lumber Jack Tools | Shaping & Sculpting Blade, 10 Inch DK1000
1 min read
A modern version of a specialized and still useful old tool, the DK1000 10-inch Draw Knife from Lumber Jack Tools is much better suited to shaping tool handles than stripping bark from trees. That’s no criticism of the knife, since this is a tool of excellent quality — just keep some spare knuckles handy if you plan to chip bark with it.
Made from high carbon steel, not stainless steel, the ten-inch blade of this large drawknife is about 1-1/2 inches wide and thick enough to resist flexing as you work. The two rat-tail tangs are deeply set in the molded plastic handles and should be secured nearly permanently. Although molded plastic is inexpensive and durable, it’s rough on the hands. Here, the shape of the traditional handles has been copied well, but the feel just isn’t the same.
The drawknife is a tool from the cooper’s trade, although wheelwrights, farmers, and woodsmen all used this handy blade — in combination with a foot-powered vise called a shaving horse. It’s possible to debark small logs with this knife if the diameter gives room for your hands to clear the wood and there’s a secure way to hold the log down. Safety is always an issue because the cutting edge pulls towards the user and the workpiece tends to slip along with it. Getting cut is unlikely, but bruises and scrapes are common.
Most workshops and woodlots today don’t include the shaving horse and drawknife as standard equipment. If you care to make the horse, you’ll discover the true worth of the drawknife whenever you need to replace an axe handle or trim a sledge hammer handle to fit the eye of the tool. In skilled hands, the drawknife is fast and accurate, and sometimes nothing else will do the job as well.
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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A modern version of a specialized and still useful old tool, the DK1000 10-inch Draw Knife from Lumber Jack Tools is much better suited to shaping tool handles than stripping bark from trees. That’s no criticism of the knife, since this is a tool of excellent quality — just keep some spare knuckles handy if you plan to chip bark with it.
