Fiddleback Forge has been producing American-made knives since 2007, when Andy Roy began his work in his garage. What began as a passion project quickly became a full-time business in May 2009, after Andy was laid off from his job as an antenna engineer. With his new basement shop, he began producing six knives per week, which allowed him to make ends meet without returning to the corporate grind. Now, it was a whole other type of grind he was after.
More than a decade after Andy made his first knife from a file and leftover hickory wood for the handle, Fiddleback Forge was booming. The shop had expanded into a large professional facility with several full-time employees and apprentices, producing tens of thousands of handcrafted knives. In addition to their beloved handmade models, the shop has produced countless Mid-Tech Production Field Knives.
In 2019, Andy met with long time friends James and Kay Poplin. James and Kay were the owners of Pop's Knife Supply and after 40 years in the knife business, they were looking to retire and sell the accomplished knife supply business. Andy then partnered with three other knife makers. The team bought Pop's Knife Supply.
By 2021, Andy found himself pulled in two directions between Fiddleback Forge and Pop’s Knife Supply. Long hours in both ventures became unsustainable. To maintain the quality of his knives, Andy had to reduce production, ultimately returning to a one-man shop. With the pressure off, creativity flowed, and knife-making became fun again, as reflected in the quality of the knives.
In 2023, Andy accepted a payout from the other partners at Pop’s Knife Supply and stepped down from daily operations. After helping secure the Poplins’ legacy, he returned to full-time knife-making. Now well into his second decade at the grinder, Fiddleback Forge’s knives are better than ever.
Fiddleback Forge continues to focus on what matters; making great knives. This is what Andy had to say about the focus of Fiddleback Forge's products:
Handles and grinds are the focus of my knives. I am a tool-maker at heart, and I strive to make a real cutting tool that is comfortable to use.
The grind I like to put on knives (I still do all the bevel grinding) is the convex grind. I fell in love with convexed knives from the Himalayan Imports Khukuri. I like the strength of the convex grind on a knife, and I find it the easiest to maintain. This is especially true in the field, certainly sandpaper is easier to carry, and less likely to break than stones.
The other aspect of my knives that makes them special is the handle. I shape each handle with grinders and files, making each handle comfortable to use and naturally indexed in the hand. I always liked carving walking sticks, back in the Boy Scouts, and I think the shaping still appeals to me on that level. For a long time, the comfort of the handles was the highlight of the knives, while I worked out exactly how to make the convex grind look good.
Every day, I strive to make the handles more comfortable and the grinds cleaner with every batch. Hopefully, every knife we finish this week is the best knife we've ever made.
We have been lucky enough to surround ourselves with some of the best knife-makers in the country. Whether it is the great guys that are fellow members of the Georgia Knifemakers' Guild, or the national group The Knifemakers' Guild...we've been fortunate to be a part of this fantastic community of knife-makers. Andy was accepted into The Knifemakers' Guild in 2015. Andy is also a voting member of the Georgia Knifemakers' Guild and regularly hosts meetings for the group at the shop.
