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.
10 years and 1 week ago...I finished these knives. One week prior to going full time.
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
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.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
“Flesh runs from steel”. That’s an old Filipino expression. You can probably recall the last time you accidentally cut yourself. We’ve all had it happen to us. When that blade touches your skin, you retract your hand or pull away. Getting cut hurts and we all have a visceral reaction to the idea of it. Compound this idea with thoughts of your kids or kids entrusted to you and your blood pressure and stress levels will skyrocket. You never want to see a child in pain and yet there will come a time when you must teach a child how to use a knife because one day, they’ll need to. This task can be daunting but there are some very easy rules a kid can follow that you are probably already familiar with. When emotions overpower how we think, we can default to a proven method of breaking down safety by looking to another tool kids should know how to use. If you’re familiar with the 4 Rules of Firearms Safety popularized by Jeff Cooper, you’ll appreciate this methodology.
...
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 makes every handmade Fiddleback Forge by hand.