Fiddleback Forge Hunter

tonym

tonym

Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
9,491
When you here Fiddleback knives, you probably think about some pretty handles with some sexy contours to them. Atleast thats what I think. I love how he laminates tWo materials together and creates this masterpiece of a knife. What you don't pay attention to is his grind. Andy puts a helluva convex grind on a knife. Not a flat grind with a convex edge, but a nice even convex grind. Kind of like BRKT or Gossman. Occassionaly you here that his knife wasn't quite sharp, but that wasn't the case when I got this Hunter.
The knife was sharp, not hair popping sharp, but sharp. I tried to find something wrong with the fit and finsh, but I just can't. His knives aren't cheap so I feel the need to be picky with them; however this one, as well as the last few I got from him are flawless.

My only gripe is that the edge is a lil thick. Thats not something I can bitch about. Its easy enough to thin an edge out a lil, but what a PIA if its too thin and rolls or chips. Besides this knife is meant to be a Hunting knife not a Bushcrafter. I will thin it and use it as a woods knife though.

Oh well, I hope the pics do it justice.





The handle on the Hunter is thicker and wider than other knives by Andy in this size. It really fills my hand quite nicely.



You can almost see the curve of the convex grind from spine to edge. The other side is just as pretty, nice and even.



Like I said the edge was sharp and fuzzies and notches were no problem.





The spine came nice and sharp as well. It threw great sparks.



Thats all for now. I have owned enough FiddleBacks to know the edge holding is good, and that I can baton with it if I need to.

Thanks for looking.
 
S rad man, I really would like one of his hunters. Two questions: 1) could yoh possibly snap a pic sometime of an above and side by side view of the hunter and bga bushy? And 2) where'd you get that rad firesteel?

Thanks for the nice shots thus far too!
 
Fiddleback wins the cool handle contest hands down.

I think his convex ones are sort of like Fallkniven as far as the angle.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
S rad man, I really would like one of his hunters. Two questions: 1) could yoh possibly snap a pic sometime of an above and side by side view of the hunter and bga bushy? And 2) where'd you get that rad firesteel?

Thanks for the nice shots thus far too!
Click to expand...

I will get you a pick soon bro. I am at work right now....

The firesteel is sold by Old Man Marty at the WLC.
 
Andy's interest, and developed skill and dedication to perfection is a gift to those of us who collect and use edged tools.

Been a treat watching him evolve.


Kis
enjoy every sandwich
 
I like the handle on it. It looks like it would fill out the hand really well. Cool blade, thanks for posting the pics :thumbup:
 
that's a great looking knife Tony...:thumbup: i really love the nice wide blades on those Fiddleback hunters...:)
 
I'm glad you like it Tony. You picked a pretty handle combo too. Can you get a pic of how pretty the taper toward the tip is? Its not an easy pic to get how thin those knives get ground out toward that end.

I dunno what the story with the thick edge thing is. I took that edge down below .020" before doing the finishing and sharpening. I don't know any other makers that do that. .040 is pretty standard, and what I was doing before hearing of this thick edge idea last time. Now, I will say that the Woodsman that went out in the passaround came back and seemed impossibly thick. I took it down into the shop and did a lot of grinding on the blade. But that I attributed to the new skills since being full time. Its really been neato to watch myself 'get' things at this new full time rate. I'm really loving the blades I'm turning out now!!!
 
Fiddleback said:
I'm glad you like it Tony. You picked a pretty handle combo too. Can you get a pic of how pretty the taper toward the tip is? Its not an easy pic to get how thin those knives get ground out toward that end.

I dunno what the story with the thick edge thing is. I took that edge down below .020" before doing the finishing and sharpening. I don't know any other makers that do that. .040 is pretty standard, and what I was doing before hearing of this thick edge idea last time. Now, I will say that the Woodsman that went out in the passaround came back and seemed impossibly thick. I took it down into the shop and did a lot of grinding on the blade. But that I attributed to the new skills since being full time. Its really been neato to watch myself 'get' things at this new full time rate. I'm really loving the blades I'm turning out now!!!
Click to expand...

I answered the edge question in your forum, so I will post it here as well.

tonym said:
I will try to explain to the best of my abilities. This knife doesn't have a thick edge compared to many other Convex ground knives. The edge is sharp, but it has some shoulders to it. There is nothing wrong with that, they are not overly thick shoulders. However it impedes in biting as deep in wood as some other knives. I can make wicked paper thin fuzzies with it that can take a spark from a firesteel which is great:thumbup: But if I were to say snap cut a 3/4" diameter branch, it takes more effort than some higher shouldered knives that I own.

IMO, I don't think you should take your edge any thinner. Some people use their knives for things like cutting wire or other hard use tasks. If you take a it too thin, you run the risk of the edge rolling. It is better to let the new owner thin it to their prefference. This way there is no chance that they will roll or chip the edge. I like this knife alot, it has the size and shape of the type of knife I enjoy using and carrying. So it is a knife that will have a steady spot in the rotation of knives I take out.

Thanks buddy:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I will try to get that pic. Your skills at the grinder are excellent. The tapering is sweet and perfectly even. The job you did on the Lady Finger you made me was what really caught my eye.

I haven't beem around here that long, but I do see improvement with just about every knife you make. Its easy to see that you really love doing this, and as long as that doesn't change; your knives will keep getting better and better.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Thats an Awesome blade Tony... Red and Black, is a sweet combo.

I love the profile on the Hunter, It looks like it is just... right.

Im loving my new FB. I cant wait to get over this damn flu so I can get out with mine.
 
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