Happy Anniversary - Going Full Time

prom52

prom52

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
2,294
Hey Andy:

It no doubt took guts & a bit of courage but look where the decision to go "full time" has taken you. Wishing you the very best in the years ahead. Keep on grinding & shaping those sweet handles !

Peter
 
Thank you Peter. I'm proud that it worked out. I guess it took courage, but mainly it wasn't my choice. May 1 2009 I was laid off and went with the hobby. Certainly when I look at the knives back then it seems very brave. LOL. Really, there weren't any engineering jobs nearby and my wife had the better career, so moving wasn't an option. My choice was to sit around taking unemployment, or get in the mud and scrap it out as a knifemaker. I chose knives as you know. My wife wasn't as confident that knives could be a real career. She is the one with the courage.
 
Happy anniversary Andy!

2008-2009 was a rough period for a lot of us. I'm glad to see some of us were able to turn adversity into opportunities to turn our passions into careers we enjoy.
 
Happy Anniversary Andy! With hard work and dedication, life always has a way of working itself out of a knot. Were would we be if it wasn't for Fiddleback Forge?
 
Happy Anniversary Andy. Glad you & your wife were brave so we could have Fiddleback Forge :thumbup:
 
Happy Anniversary Andy! Congratulations. Your hard work and dedication has paid off nicely.

Wow how time flies... I remember when you made the announcement. 6 years went quick.
 
thanks for sticking with it and providing jobs for the misfits you call employees and making knives i cant stop buying


dont tell Kylie the last part
 
Congrats Mr Roy! It indeed takes courage. I have always believed; when one door closes, another opens(you may have to lean on it abit!).
 
VANCE said:
thanks for sticking with it and providing jobs for the misfits you call employees and making knives i cant stop buying


dont tell Kylie the last part
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This is my biggest source of pride in my professional career Phillip. Thank you for putting up with me.
 
Happy Anniversary Andy. I'm glad you went with making knives as a profession. 15 knives later, I still can't get enough Fiddleback goodness and the caliber of the product you and the extended Fiddleback family puts out on a regular basis is just amazing!
 
Yeah Quite something!
I got to look at Andy's early work.....real head shakers.......tried to talk him out of it, but.....no one listens to me (apparently a good thing).
Congrats Andy, you done good.
 
crex said:
Yeah Quite something!
I got to look at Andy's early work.....real head shakers.......tried to talk him out of it, but.....no one listens to me (apparently a good thing).
Congrats Andy, you done good.
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Might have been one of the biggest sub conscious motovators I've had. I've always been that way. Something inside me resists being told I can't do something. I remember as a kid overhearing my scoutmaster telling my mom I'd never make Eagle. Several times in my life when folks were trying to talk me down from some rediculous dream I doubled down.


FYI, I am an Eagle Scout.
 
Congratulations on reaching this milestone Andy. Anniversaries are good reminders to reflect back on all you have accomplished. I admire the way you have rolled with the punches over the years, adapted and grown the business, and built a respected brand. Your knives are great, but your most important legacy to the knife community will always be all the people you have mentored into talented knife makers of their own. This country is sorely lacking in mentors for skilled trades who are willing to share their knowledge to help provide life long careers for the next generation. I respect you for your willingness to share what you know with others.

Fiddleback said:
Might have been one of the biggest sub conscious motovators I've had. I've always been that way. Something inside me resists being told I can't do something. I remember as a kid overhearing my scoutmaster telling my mom I'd never make Eagle. Several times in my life when folks were trying to talk me down from some rediculous dream I doubled down.


FYI, I am an Eagle Scout.
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I hate to break the news to you Mr. Eagle Scout, but you are incapable of producing a larger Chef knife with good finger clearance. You cannot make it. You definitely cannot grind it right, especicially if it was Fiddletextured stainless. Don't even try.

Since you are a good friend, I would be willing to perform a long term test on such a blade just to prove you can't make a full size Chef knife. YOU CAN'T DO IT!! :)

Phil
 
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Comprehensivist said:
Congratulations on reaching this milestone Andy. Anniversaries are good reminders to reflect back on all you have accomplished. I admire the way you have rolled with the punches over the years, adapted and grown the business, and built a respected brand. Your knives are great, but your most important legacy to the knife community will always be all the people you have mentored into talented knife makers of their own. This country is sorely lacking in mentors for skilled trades who are willing to share their knowledge to help provide life long careers for the next generation. I respect you for your willingness to share what you know with others.



I hate to break the news to you Mr. Eagle Scout, but you are incapable of producing a larger Chef knife with good finger clearance. You cannot make it. You definitely cannot grind it right, especicially if it was Fiddletextured stainless. Don't even try.

Since you are a good friend, I would be willing to perform a long term test on such a blade just to prove you can't make a full size Chef knife. YOU CAN'T DO IT!! :)

Phil
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As manipulative as any mother Phil. Well met.
 
Congrats Andy & FF Team!!

I lost my job in late 2009 as well, & I'm a commercial construction manager/estimator, so it took a long while to get another job...& I was just reaching the top of my game @33-34yo, hard working, well liked, talented....it meant nothing, my BA meant nothing. That major recession/depression in my industry, was so unlike anything folks of our age group had ever encountered. It still makes me shutter, thinking about those couple years of clawing at any sense of hope, just trying to make sure my young family survived. I'm fortunate now to be making even more $ than I did before the collapse, but I still do alot of those money saving things that I had to back then; being very frugal with our utilities, not eating out, & a lot more somewhat embarrassing $ saving stuff, even though we don't have to anymore....then again, I do buy beautiful custom fixed blades - that's the one personal treat that allow myself!

Keep up the stellar work Andy...I know you're doing everything in your power to assure that the younger men who work for/with you don't have to go threw what a lot of us did. I don't know how courageous that makes you, but it certainly makes you a great man in my book...I don't actually have a book, it's just...never mind.
 
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