Evolution of the Woodsman

If I hadn't just bought a used Woodsman I would snatch that wenge 1 at the outpost.
 
Man, that one is a time capsule for sure. It was the first board of Waterfall Bubinga I got. (We just got another beautiful one and you'll see them out this week.) It was before I had figured out how to control spalting. It was before I had set a standard measurement process for the pinout. It was when I was still using 6 pins and hadn't started doing beauty mark pins. The signature is the old style. And it was when I still made a pretty decent looking sheath. That inlay is from a copperhead my neighbor killed in her yard with a shovel. Luckily she had gotten it right behind the head. There were a lot of neighbors gathered around when I showed up. They all watched me skin it right there. It was the first time I had properly cured a snakeskin (very easy to do).

All in all quite a piece of history. The re-design of the Woodsman was a quickening in my artistic skill. I had designed the original Woodsman, Hunter, and Ladyfinger all in one evening and on the same sheet of paper IIRC. When I re-designed the Woodsman I also changed the Hunter. The sinuous curve on the spine just looked out of place on both of those models I thought. I left the Ladyfinger alone for the time. Then once we had made a few of the re-designed models I REALLY liked how it worked. I went back and tried to re-design the Ladyfinger. It didn't work. I tweaked the design though, and widened the blade and handle significantly, and voila, the Bushfinger came to being. The Bushfinger sang to me like none of my previous designs to that point. I felt like the Woodsman re-design started my knives looking like real professional knife designs.
 
This old school example just popped up for short time before it was quickly snagged - by someone other than me.

IMG_20160912_135253551_HDR_zpse9p31xug.jpg
 
Fiddleback said:
Man, that one is a time capsule for sure. It was the first board of Waterfall Bubinga I got. (We just got another beautiful one and you'll see them out this week.) It was before I had figured out how to control spalting. It was before I had set a standard measurement process for the pinout. It was when I was still using 6 pins and hadn't started doing beauty mark pins. The signature is the old style. And it was when I still made a pretty decent looking sheath. That inlay is from a copperhead my neighbor killed in her yard with a shovel. Luckily she had gotten it right behind the head. There were a lot of neighbors gathered around when I showed up. They all watched me skin it right there. It was the first time I had properly cured a snakeskin (very easy to do).

All in all quite a piece of history. The re-design of the Woodsman was a quickening in my artistic skill. I had designed the original Woodsman, Hunter, and Ladyfinger all in one evening and on the same sheet of paper IIRC. When I re-designed the Woodsman I also changed the Hunter. The sinuous curve on the spine just looked out of place on both of those models I thought. I left the Ladyfinger alone for the time. Then once we had made a few of the re-designed models I REALLY liked how it worked. I went back and tried to re-design the Ladyfinger. It didn't work. I tweaked the design though, and widened the blade and handle significantly, and voila, the Bushfinger came to being. The Bushfinger sang to me like none of my previous designs to that point. I felt like the Woodsman re-design started my knives looking like real professional knife designs.
Click to expand...
I love the Waterfall Bubinga - that is hands down one of my favorites. Yeah the signature is definitely old style - different font and instead of the "by AR" it has "Andy Roy" on the tang - no tapered tangs back then.

Real interesting story of the design evolution of Hunter, Woodsman, and Ladyfinger - thanks for sharing!

I agree that the Woodsman redesign looks like a really polished, professional knife design. I love the way it works as a big knife, but you can control and manipulate it like a smaller knife. A great design balance.
 
It was the old school Woodsman that drew me in to Fiddleback Forge, but I prefer the feel of the handle of the new version. Man that old one is a beast. Looks like 1/4 stock beside the new one.
 
swonut said:
This old school example just popped up for short time before it was quickly snagged - by someone other than me.

IMG_20160912_135253551_HDR_zpse9p31xug.jpg
Click to expand...

This one is even older. Probably one of the firsts. I hadn't made the Bullseye tube standard yet. I hadn't started spalting and moved the signature to the spine. AND I was still doing two layers of wood. Very early. Probably 2008 or so.
 
Fiddleback said:
Man, that one is a time capsule for sure. It was the first board of Waterfall Bubinga I got. (We just got another beautiful one and you'll see them out this week.) It was before I had figured out how to control spalting. It was before I had set a standard measurement process for the pinout. It was when I was still using 6 pins and hadn't started doing beauty mark pins. The signature is the old style. And it was when I still made a pretty decent looking sheath. That inlay is from a copperhead my neighbor killed in her yard with a shovel. Luckily she had gotten it right behind the head. There were a lot of neighbors gathered around when I showed up. They all watched me skin it right there. It was the first time I had properly cured a snakeskin (very easy to do).

All in all quite a piece of history. The re-design of the Woodsman was a quickening in my artistic skill. I had designed the original Woodsman, Hunter, and Ladyfinger all in one evening and on the same sheet of paper IIRC. When I re-designed the Woodsman I also changed the Hunter. The sinuous curve on the spine just looked out of place on both of those models I thought. I left the Ladyfinger alone for the time. Then once we had made a few of the re-designed models I REALLY liked how it worked. I went back and tried to re-design the Ladyfinger. It didn't work. I tweaked the design though, and widened the blade and handle significantly, and voila, the Bushfinger came to being. The Bushfinger sang to me like none of my previous designs to that point. I felt like the Woodsman re-design started my knives looking like real professional knife designs.
Click to expand...

Andy, this is really cool and interesting background on the models and how they came about. Maybe the IT guys via the Outpost can make an animated family tree video and morph from one model to the next model or 3 that sprang from it? Even if it were a static family tree photo it would be cool to lay out the models / history / dates. Given the number of models you've gotten to though, it would be pretty sizable .. Something for a giant wall mural in the Fiddleback Museum one day. :-)

Loved the sheath/copperhead story too.

Thanks for sharing!
 
The potbelly on that old school Woodsman looks good, though I think I like the changes. It is pretty cool to see how some of these knives evolved over the years.

Some retro Fiddlebacks might make good Friday auction knives
 
The new Hunter and then the original Bushfinger reviews by Mist made things explode and his pics really highlighted the new designs. However, I love the old-school thick liners that made for the deep reveals on the final handle. They were probably more of a challenge to finish properly than the current thin liners but they sure look incredible. I've noticed that Dylan occasionally releases knives with this style.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top