Hello my name is Fuad Accawi,

         I was born American in Beirut in the early 70's.  My Mother -  Half
    Native American Cherokee raised in Tennessee, and my Father  a
    Christian Lebanese descendant of the French Sacrouge from a village
    named Magdaluna.  We came home to Tennessee during some of the worst
    times Beirut had ever seen.  Both my Grandfathers fought the Axis during
    WWII, on different continents.  One named Clyde Williams in the U.S.
    Army, and the other was Fuad Accawi who was a Translator for the British
    Army.  They both died young and none of us ever had a chance to meet.

         I know I have a funny sounding name, just try growing up in East
    Tennessee with it. I've been making knives for about 20 years now.  
    My first experience with shaping and grinding a blade was when I was
    in junior high school. My dad was cleaning out  junk from a storehouse
     in our back yard &  gave me a coffee can full of dull files, and an old
     homemade bench grinder. I was grinding objects that could be mistaken
     for knives within a few days and was hooked on steel for life.

       Over the years I've held several jobs. I apprenticed in college to a jeweler
    and within a few years I was an accomplished bench jeweler with several
    trainees under me. Next I moved on to machine work. I apprenticed in a well
    stocked manual machine shop with lots of good guidance from talented old
    school machinists. I stayed in machine work for 12 more years and worked for
    some big companies like Panasonic and General Pattern working on my knives
    after hours. I was a strict production style knife guy back then. Every job
    I've ever taken has been one that can help me advance my skills as a
    knifemaker. I got into forging and making my own Damascus Steel about five
    years ago and it took me to a whole new level of obsession. Since then I've
    been concentrating on making my work the very best possible. My in house
    heat treating experience has come into play in earnest, and it's amazing to
    know that I can make that piece of steel I forged out do anything I want all
    the way down to the grain structure. I've been making knives full- time for four
    years. I've been published, I've done many forging & finishing demo's,
    and I just completed filming a pilot for a network television program.

        I am very happy to let everyone know that I have achieved the rank of
    Journeyman Smith in the American Bladesmith Society,  and that one of
    the knives I submitted for examination was awarded the George Peck
    Memorial Award.

    Regards,
    Fuad Accawi-  ABS   Journeyman Smith