A rare bird.........by any standards

velosa

velosa

Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
720
Hi all. This is the most excited I've been in a long time!

Story:

Many months ago, I asked the guys at Fiddleback if they had any scandi ground knives laying around the shop that had gone unsold. Ken replied back that they did indeed have a scandi hiking buddy that was lying around that needed a good home. I immediately replied back that I would take it. However, a few days passed and Ken emailed back and told me that no one could find the knife anymore. ??? They didn't know if it was lost, stolen, or if they had just dreamed the whole thing up. Anyway, Ken promptly offered me a raincheck...........you name it, we will try to make it. (Ken and Andy - thank you again for this offer).

Well, at this point I felt like a kid in a candy store. What to do? What to have made? After a lot of thought, I decided to try and remedy my "Biggest Fiddleback Regret". Please see post number one on this thread to refresh your memory, http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1163152-Biggest-Fiddleback-Regret

Anyway, I asked if Andy would consider bringing the woodpecker out of retirement, and making me one more. Ken replied back that many of these old patterns had been lost. :(

So several months passed, and I honestly didn't know what to do with my raincheck. Then, out of the blue, Ken PM'ed me one day and said that they found a few of Andy's old patterns in an old drawer in the shop. The woodpecker was one of them.

HOLY COW! Prayers answered.

So, I wanted the scales on this baby to be something unique. For better or or worse, really unique. I ordered some "clean firehose" from shade tree, a material that Andy has never used.

Well, I just opened the box this afternoon and here she is. After an exhaustive search on the fotki website, I'm pretty sure that Andy has only made 5 woodpeckers total, and only one of those 5 is scandi........

Here is number 6: :D
Fiddleback Woodpecker, 1/8" O1, SFT, scandi, Shadtree firehose over black micarta with a white pinstripe, mosaic pin.





I'm really pleased with the handle choice. I thought it turned out pretty cool/unique looking, plus the material is smooth, but very grippy. Something about the firehose material makes hundreds of those tiny hose fibers stick up just about a nanometer or so. You can see them if you hold the handle to the light just right.

Thanks again Andy and Ken! You guys are awesome.
 
That's tight!!! Nice score man. I really like the Firehose! It looks like it would carve wood like butter.
 
Nice, that is really unique! I am also a fan of the fire hose material... Really cool story how it came to existence as well.
 
Well . . . they say there's nothing new under the sun! I was thinking up something like this for Allen's design, but alas, it already exists! The handle is different, but the style is what I had in mind. Sweet knife! Congrats
 
That's an awesome story, and the piece looks awesome.

what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again - way to quote the living Word Imari :)
 
Funny how one thing led to another and in the process you got yourself a real keeper.

Hat's off to Andy & Ken for making you a new pecker....I mean wood....oh you know what I.m trying to say :p
 
prom52 said:
Hat's off to Andy & Ken for making you a new pecker....I mean wood....oh you know what I.m trying to say :p
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Very funny Peter. "How much wood would Peter's pecker carve if Peter's pecker could carve wood?" You will have to special order yours with the rare Shadetree dirty pantyhose micarta. :eek:

Back to Velosa's knife. That turned out fantastic! I like how the clean firehose turned out. It is really nice to see a story come full circle with a happy ending. Thanks for sharing the story and photos. It was very nice of Andy and Ken to make your wish come true.

Phil
 
That knife is really cool! Congrats, I'm glad it worked out for you. I like the look of that knife and wonder if Andy will consider making some more. . . ?
 
Nice! That turned out great. I saw that on fotki and wondered who the lucky recipient is. Congrats!
 
Got any sheath plans for it yet? A Tan or Natural sheath with black edging would look great with it IMO. Black would also. I could also see that in a kydex sheath.
 
Turned out good! It was a fun to profile and glue up. It even came to my home shop for a hit on my buffer, lol. Enjoy!
 
Wow, that is a nice one! Love that handle. I always wondered why no scandi woodpeckers, it seemed it would be a complimentary edge grind on that style of knife.
 
Thanks for all the comments fellas...........just can't tell you how pleased I am to have a woodpecker again. I had a chance to take it for a test spin on a few feathersticks today. Like Duder said, it's like butter!

Herber - haven't had a chance to think about pants, but I might be contacting you shortly.
 
Ah Velosa, you know I'm super jealous right now. That is awesome!
 
Very cool knife! I would love something like that for whittling! Congrats!!!
 
Velosa that sure is a great looking knife and I love those scales. I feel a few woodpeckers may be in a batch or two. I hope ;)
 
velosa said:
Thanks for all the comments fellas...........just can't tell you how pleased I am to have a woodpecker again. I had a chance to take it for a test spin on a few feathersticks today. Like Duder said, it's like butter!

Herber - haven't had a chance to think about pants, but I might be contacting you shortly.
Click to expand...

Being that I've never heard of or seen this model before, can you share blade length and overall length? That and more pics! In hand, etc. Thanks! And enjoy it!
 
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