New Shop

That is awesome news Andy!

:thumbup:


Moving sucks, but settling in will be sweet. . .
 
It would be great if you had one of each model on hand so a visitor could make comparisons.
Will you encourage visits from fans, I mean customers?
 
Congratulations, and best of luck on what inevitably will be a huge disruption in your work flow. I am certain that you will be able to recover quickly and get back into the grind (pun intended) soon enough though. It is with mixed emotions that I view all of the news of your successes. Your production knives, although I hope they are immensely successful, do not have the same appeal to me as do your hand made creations. I am happy to hear that you are contemplating adding a forge. As your continued successes in the production knife market allow, I hope that you are also able to provide some hand forged and are able to continue offering hand ground offerings as well. I know that this represents your beginning into this business, I just hope that it can continue to be an important part of your business into the future. There is absolutely nothing wrong with quality made production blades. I own my fair share of them. But, I fell in love with your hand made creations. Including the subtle variations between individual examples of each one. Of the multiple blades that I own of a lot of your models, I find that I have a favorite in each one. The really neat thing is that my favorite might be someone else's least favorite. I have handled quite a number of Sneaky Petes, but my favorite one is the first Fiddleback Forge knife I ever purchased in 1/8" CPM 154 (closer to 5/32). It is noticeably the most hand filling and comfortable one I have ever handled.

I guess what I am trying to say Andy is that change scares me. I know your business has gone through a lot of changes in the short time I have been coming around, and I know there are people who fondly remember the good old days when you could pick up a nice knife on the Sunday after the Friday offering. I also know that in those good old days, you and your family were probably pretty stressed out wondering if you could really make a viable business out of this venture, buy groceries and pay the bills. I want very much for Fiddleback Forge to grow and to become a very successful business, and I want everyone who is involved in the business to reap the benefits of this success. But, there are things that I don't want to see change. Hand made offerings in the shark tank on Friday is one of them. The evolution of Fiddleback Forge might be such that you are no longer able to market and sell your products in this manner, production knives might take over everyone's attention and focus, and the feeding frenzy of the Friday offerings may become just a fond memory for those of us lucky enough to experience it. If that happens, I know that it will only happen because that is what is best for the business, and that is how it should be. But I do want to say that when and if that day comes, I will miss it. Good luck, and my prayers and thoughts are with you during this exciting time.
 
McVeyMac said:
Congratulations, and best of luck on what inevitably will be a huge disruption in your work flow. I am certain that you will be able to recover quickly and get back into the grind (pun intended) soon enough though. It is with mixed emotions that I view all of the news of your successes. Your production knives, although I hope they are immensely successful, do not have the same appeal to me as do your hand made creations. I am happy to hear that you are contemplating adding a forge. As your continued successes in the production knife market allow, I hope that you are also able to provide some hand forged and are able to continue offering hand ground offerings as well. I know that this represents your beginning into this business, I just hope that it can continue to be an important part of your business into the future. There is absolutely nothing wrong with quality made production blades. I own my fair share of them. But, I fell in love with your hand made creations. Including the subtle variations between individual examples of each one. Of the multiple blades that I own of a lot of your models, I find that I have a favorite in each one. The really neat thing is that my favorite might be someone else's least favorite. I have handled quite a number of Sneaky Petes, but my favorite one is the first Fiddleback Forge knife I ever purchased in 1/8" CPM 154 (closer to 5/32). It is noticeably the most hand filling and comfortable one I have ever handled.

I guess what I am trying to say Andy is that change scares me. I know your business has gone through a lot of changes in the short time I have been coming around, and I know there are people who fondly remember the good old days when you could pick up a nice knife on the Sunday after the Friday offering. I also know that in those good old days, you and your family were probably pretty stressed out wondering if you could really make a viable business out of this venture, buy groceries and pay the bills. I want very much for Fiddleback Forge to grow and to become a very successful business, and I want everyone who is involved in the business to reap the benefits of this success. But, there are things that I don't want to see change. Hand made offerings in the shark tank on Friday is one of them. The evolution of Fiddleback Forge might be such that you are no longer able to market and sell your products in this manner, production knives might take over everyone's attention and focus, and the feeding frenzy of the Friday offerings may become just a fond memory for those of us lucky enough to experience it. If that happens, I know that it will only happen because that is what is best for the business, and that is how it should be. But I do want to say that when and if that day comes, I will miss it. Good luck, and my prayers and thoughts are with you during this exciting time.
Click to expand...

I can't picture Andy stopping the hand made knives until he is physically no longer able to make them.
 
LavaWood said:
It would be great if you had one of each model on hand so a visitor could make comparisons.
Will you encourage visits from fans, I mean customers?
Click to expand...

We will be much more able to handle visitors at the new shop than here. I don't think we will have fifty knives hanging around for folks to handle though. I continue to hope we are basically sold out.

McVeyMac said:
Congratulations, and best of luck on what inevitably will be a huge disruption in your work flow. I am certain that you will be able to recover quickly and get back into the grind (pun intended) soon enough though. It is with mixed emotions that I view all of the news of your successes. Your production knives, although I hope they are immensely successful, do not have the same appeal to me as do your hand made creations. I am happy to hear that you are contemplating adding a forge. As your continued successes in the production knife market allow, I hope that you are also able to provide some hand forged and are able to continue offering hand ground offerings as well. I know that this represents your beginning into this business, I just hope that it can continue to be an important part of your business into the future. There is absolutely nothing wrong with quality made production blades. I own my fair share of them. But, I fell in love with your hand made creations. Including the subtle variations between individual examples of each one. Of the multiple blades that I own of a lot of your models, I find that I have a favorite in each one. The really neat thing is that my favorite might be someone else's least favorite. I have handled quite a number of Sneaky Petes, but my favorite one is the first Fiddleback Forge knife I ever purchased in 1/8" CPM 154 (closer to 5/32). It is noticeably the most hand filling and comfortable one I have ever handled.

I guess what I am trying to say Andy is that change scares me. I know your business has gone through a lot of changes in the short time I have been coming around, and I know there are people who fondly remember the good old days when you could pick up a nice knife on the Sunday after the Friday offering. I also know that in those good old days, you and your family were probably pretty stressed out wondering if you could really make a viable business out of this venture, buy groceries and pay the bills. I want very much for Fiddleback Forge to grow and to become a very successful business, and I want everyone who is involved in the business to reap the benefits of this success. But, there are things that I don't want to see change. Hand made offerings in the shark tank on Friday is one of them. The evolution of Fiddleback Forge might be such that you are no longer able to market and sell your products in this manner, production knives might take over everyone's attention and focus, and the feeding frenzy of the Friday offerings may become just a fond memory for those of us lucky enough to experience it. If that happens, I know that it will only happen because that is what is best for the business, and that is how it should be. But I do want to say that when and if that day comes, I will miss it. Good luck, and my prayers and thoughts are with you during this exciting time.
Click to expand...

My hope is that we don't have much interruption at all. A lot of extra work and extra hours though, but no interruption in Friday offerings.

As to the business plan wrt the production line, we do not plan to make any changes to the handmade side of the business. I'm running the production knives as a new department. David is managing it. Right now I am working weekends to do the touchup and spine cleaning. I envision training someone (Allen and Adam likely) to clean the spines as I become confident that the process is managable and I have set qc standards to teach them. The Fiddleback Fridays and handmade side is going to proceed unchanged. I am also aware that the folks in the forum here are not really going to be interested in the production line as much as our handmade knives. This is OK with me, I love y'all and I celebrate this. I make handmade knives for y'all, and it is the most fulfilling job I've ever had. In addition, it is only the tested and true and sucessful designs from the handmade side that will be chosen for the production lineup. That means that in reality it is y'all that will be choosing which models we produce. I hope this helps with any anxiety these changes will cause.

What else do I need from y'all? Yes, I need to ask y'all for your help. I need y'all to spread your Fiddleback love, the way you always have. Spread the word for us. Post threads using the knives. Tell folks why you like them. Tell them why 01 is GREAT! Show them how pretty the knives are and how comfortable the handle is. You folks have marketed this company more sucessfully than I ever have and and yet again I am relying on you for this! And also, please know how grateful we all are here at Fiddleback Forge, and especially how gracious I am to you for your enthusiasm and love.
 
Congrats about the ever expanding business and new space. I hope it treats you well.
 
When you have an exact moving date I will try to hit the road and help with the moving process! Might be able to bring a few other heavy lifters with me if need be! Just let me know!
 
Wow, Congrats You guys! How Awesome is this Country that someone can take their two hands and build such a business, so happy for you guys! Thanks Andy and crew for all that you do and for the amount of, hate to use a political word but, transparency you show in the business. Some business owners don't show anything and hold on to what they do to become successfull but you guys teach others. I hope one day I would have my own business in something as well.

Thanks again, Congrats and God is Good!

Cory
 
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