Blood. Sweat. Years.

by Andy Roy May 03, 2019 1 Comment

Ten years ago on May 1 2009, a Friday of course, at about 3 pm I was called into my bosses office at CAB Incorporated. They laid me off. I knew it was coming, but let me tell you that every layoff is a kick in the nuts. There were no jobs to be had for electrical engineers in our area, and Leah you will remember has always had the better career anyway. (She's a better cut of human than I am, and as such is way more employable.) We were not going to move for me to chase a job. So I decided to go full time with my two year old hobby at Fiddleback Forge.

Now I have worked hard, but the real credit for me making ten years as a full time knifemaker goes to y'all. The people I have met through this [career] have been like family to me. Many of you have traveled to come to events with us here, and we literally love you like family. So I wanted to than you all for your success at making Fiddleback Forge an acceptable carreer to my wife. Without her, and y'all there would be no Fiddleback Forge. I am forever indebted to all of you.

Thank you.

Fiddleback Forge circa 2009

10 years and 1 week ago...I finished these knives. One week prior to going full time.

Fiddleback Forge circa 2009

Scroll through today's Fiddleback Friday previews and hopefully you'll notice a few improvements over the years.

https://fiddlebackforge.com/blogs/news/fiddleback-friday-5-3-19

Andy Roy

Author

Andy is the President of Fiddleback Forge, as well as the head knife-maker. He started making knives in 2007, before going full time in 2009. He still provides all the finish grinds and shaping to every handmade Fiddleback Forge knife made.

1 Response

Brian Griffin

July 04, 2019

I can notice a few improvements yes, but I still love the look of those old two-tone wooden handles you used to do in the early years.

Also in Articles

Bamboo, A Gift From Nature

by Brian Griffin August 21, 2019

Most people know what bamboo is, but not everyone these days understands just what a resource it can be. It just so happens, that for a number of reasons, bamboo is most wonderful gifts that nature has to offer. In the world of plants, few if any bring as much to the table as bamboo does.

Anyone who has eaten at their local Asian restaurants very often has learned to use the fee chopsticks by now,. It does take a little more effort to make a set in the wilds than just opening the package and snapping the connection, but really not all that much effort. With a sharp knife a functional set of chopsticks can be whittled in a couple of minutes.

Ultralight Backpack Fishing

by Kevin Estela August 21, 2019 1 Comment

I know there are many readers of this blog who are just as crazy about fishing as they are about collecting knives. I know I’m in good company as a knife nut and angler. Hopefully enough readers of this blog will eventually hit up Andy to make us a Fiddleback Forge filet knife. What do you say Andy? With so many of the Fiddleback Family interested in fishing, writing a blog post about fishing was inevitable. That said, I don’t want to write about your average fishing set of skills but rather one I hope more of you will pick up. If standing shoulder to shoulder with fist fights breaking out over crossed lines is your idea of fun, this isn’t going to be your favorite blog. If hooking a fish that has never seen an artificial lure and fights for its life like no other is more like it, please keep reading. What I’m about to offer up as one of the most incredible fishing experiences combines getting away from the rest of the populace with your backpack and fishing some mountain ponds and creeks rarely visited by others.

Flossing Sockeyes

by Kevin Estela August 14, 2019 3 Comments

“You’re going to catch fish with no bait on your hook. They’re just going to swim up river and you’ll catch them right when they open their mouth.” I’m paraphrasing what our guide, Jeremy “JAHA” Anderson told us as we set up in the early morning along the Kenai River. This instruction was given to us after cruising upriver in the dark in an aluminum-hulled boat setup for drift fishing and hunting salmon along the turquoise blue waters in Alaska. The idea seemed crazy but flossing for salmon is very common when the runs are thick. The technique really does allow you to catch fish, monster fish, with a combination of luck, technique, and timing. As we would find out, this method would prove exhaustive but rewarding and by the end of the day, we would have fresh sockeye salmon from river to grill in a matter of hours.