Fiddleback Forge Knives “Woodsman “ Passaround

The knife is on its way to Texas Tony...

The fit and finish of the knife is great, and the wood work on the handle is even better than comes across in the pictures - really superb! The overall design reminds me of a smallish chef's knife - in fact, when I pulled it out, my wife said, "That's a nice kitchen knife!"

With a few tweaks, I'd be glad to own one. Here's the tweaks I'd want:

I found the smaller, thinner back of the handle to be irritating. It felt to me like there wasn't anything there, and it felt like the only control I had was in the first two fingers.

I also felt the edge grind was too oriented to chopping rather than cutting. The edge was quite sharp, but thick, heavy. I prefer a thinner edge (but just as polished, thank you!) that is more oriented to cutting or slicing. This is larger than the average bushcrafter, but it's still on the small side (my opinion) to be called a "chopper."

It worked great in the kitchen slicing meats, etc. I've got several well dried hiking sticks in process, and am stripping bark right now - the heavy edge did not shine there.

Definitely a very good knife, but if I ordered one, I would want the above changes.
 
Thanks for the review Grandpa!

THe one I made myself is thicker (3/16) than the ones in the run (5/32). The ones in the run have a much thinner edge.
 
I suppose a thicker edge is also good for the "who knows what will happen to it" of a passaround! :D
 
The Fiddleback woodsman is a Beautiful knife, upon opening the Box the first impression of the woodsman was Awe man she’s a beaut…the handle fit my hand(medium size) like it was made for me and for those who know me maybe surprised to hear but this is a first in over 15years for me to hold a knife with wood handle,long story of why I left wooden handles is another story. The pass around Woodsman has the looks and feel of a Kitchen knife yet made for doing camp chores/duties w/o flinching !…. The fit and finish is top-notch. The leather sheath is made pretty solid ,I like how the knife rides inside the sheath, easily removed when called upon yet, I do not feel like it will just fall out,Sheath carried well on my belt,But If I do order one from Andy,I feel it will be taken over by my wife,she loved the Woodsman.:D
Specs:
The Fiddleback Woodsman
• Full tang
• 3/16ths inch of 01 Steel
• Blade length 5 ½” inches
• Over all 10 ½”
• Full Convex Grind
• Handle is Goncala Alves and Osage with red liners
I love the Convex edge on the woodsman,although I used the knife straight from the box,it was not as sharp as ealier reviews indicated. the spine throws good amount of sparks from my LMF firesteel,I love that in a utility knife. Balance factor was excellent
I used it more so in the kitchen than outdoors it prepped food with ease, I love the comfort level & ergonomics of the handle and never once did the handle feel slippery to me…
I did run into a minor problem and maybe it was due to being used and abused earlier, I tried splitting 3" in diameter log split in ½ of a log, I used a similar piece of wood to baton and I went about mid way and came to a stop, the wood was not binding nor was there a knot of any kind, we just came to a stand still, so being a pass around I did not press on,I reversed my process and removed the blade from the wood, next I tried to square off my spindle for my bow drill set up and I had some serious trouble in that area, I could not get the woodsman to bite into the wood or shave the bark properly ,now I used the woodsman straight from the box untouched by me in its present condition. I could see myself owning a Fiddleback Woodsman model, I enjoyed the knife and Andy is a Craftsman, his skills of knife making resonate thru out this model and carry on into the sheath…I enjoyed the set up and would like to see a firesteel loop added to the sheath but that is a minor thing and is more of a preference . I would like to say Thank you to Andy for allowing me to participate in the pass around & I kept one of the Business cards as well !
a few Pictures will follow,I forgot my camera card.. My review overall is positive and I would not hesitate to place an order for one , I enjoyed the woodsman and if I owned one It would without a doubt be toted by my wife...She loves this knife.....:thumbup: Great knife Andy
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Man. Maybe the knife needs to be sent home for a sharpening before going further. You guys are welcome to sharpen it along the way. Maybe Ira is willing to do the sharpening. He'll actually have his knife from the run when this one shows up, so that'll be a cool comparison.

Please though, feel free to sharpen her up.
 
Fiddleback said:
Man. Maybe the knife needs to be sent home for a sharpening before going further. .
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That is probably a good idea Andy, or it can be sent back to me and I can have Big Mike do it as well.

Then I can get it to Ira
 
TTD, please send it to:

249 Brookcliff Drive
Sugar Hill, GA 30518

I'll touch it up and send it out again.
 
A few Pics posted and Andy inbound tomorrow to you Brother,Sorry for delaying the pass around guys, I just want the next person to have a fair assessment of the woodsman,The Quality of Andy's work is highly visable and I want the next person to have a fair shake on the knife.
 
Yeah passarounds are tuff with sharpness. I just got to play with a Gossman via passaround. It was quite dull, when I got it, and the edge did not appear to be his typical grind. It was obviously sharpened incorrectly. Since I know Gossman's work, I would never hold that against him, its just the way it is in passarounds. You get a good feel for the knife and how it handles, but the sharpness is something I take with a grain of salt. I do however like to see how easy it is to sharpen..... I have been working on my stropping skills, and I feel I got it pretty sharp. It slices paper easy now.

Andy its cool that you are taking it back for a lil spa treetment!
 
I totallly agree Tony...I dont hold anything against the Woodsman, I want one... It was just the multitude of useage and not resharpened for the next person ,that was the only problem I seen,that is why I brought it up so,someone with a tad more sharping skills could breath more life back into the woodsman before off to the next in line...
 
Andy the woodsman is inbound,via USPS Priority INS'd $201 track number 0308 1400 0001 7365 8604, shipping list is in the very bottom of box.thanks for the chance with the woodsman....
 
Wow, look at the difference in the edge from when HD(4th person)
and now!:eek: You guys are ruff!!

hollowdweller said:
Not sure this pic is good enough to show it, but it has a beautiful convex edge on it. While this knife does not cut as deep with as little force as a scandi, it has a very nice edge and I would compare the edge geometry to something like a Fallkniven F1 or a Bark River Bravo 1. Whittles fine.

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texastonydobbs said:
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The Woodsman took a pounding ....when I opened the box it would not slice paper very good, Basic test....nothing to due with Andy but just the knife was not being touched up or resharpen as she went along...Andy will get it shortly and make it like new....Then Ira can test the Woodsman. Andy should have it anyday pretty soon
 
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