The 1

Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
273
A month ago I had the opportunity to acquire a ladyfinger and I took advantage of it. I've been waiting a year or so looking around for the right one and I finally found it. I'm 28 years old and have been buying and selling custom knives for over a decade. I've been lucky enough to own a few adventure sworn knives, an Alan wood, a turley knife, several blind horse knives, bark river, and even a couple fiddlebacks (and many more). All were great knives but I bought and sold and kept looking for "the one". Well this fiddleback forge ladyfinger with a dyed maple burl handle and 5/32 O1 steel is it. It feels awesome to finally find it. I love everything about it....the shape, the size, the materials used, just everything. There isn't one thing I would change about the knife and that's the first time I could ever say that about a knife. I never post much at all really on any forums but being so excited I wanted to share a lot of pics and thank Andy for making this knife. I am not the first owner, but I know I am the last :) Here we go.........

Here she is......
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Here is a pic with my new frost river custom nessmuk pack. Fav piece of gear besides my knife.
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Some natives.....not the 4 pounders I was told that were in there, but still had fun.
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Some pics on my back deck
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My favorite pic up to date. Love the pale white look the blade has
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more pics coming up......
 
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Quick feather stick....
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Help at the grill
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Batoning through yellow birch that has been drying in a cellar for three years. Extremely hard stuff and starting out right at a knot. This should answer some questions like if the ladyfinger can be a primary bushcraft knife....
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Went through the knot and wood like a charm
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Now some cedar
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more coming......
 
Went through that like butter compared to the birch...
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Now some scrapings with the back side of the blade
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Some quick fire prep
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Batoning more cedar
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Success
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still more....
 
Trying to capture the beauty of the handle and doing it poorly....
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I'm not getting sick of this lol
 
This is my bushcraft trio.....ladyfinger, swiss army hiker, council tool velvicut hudson bay
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Gotta love "dirty" looking O1 steel
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Still shaving sharp....
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Another shot of the trio...
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one more round....
 
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Here are some pics with the new sheath I just got today for it in the mail. It is made by leatherworld on ebay. Absolutely awesome sheath that you can carry vertical, horizontal, or baldric. The thickest sheath I have ever seen....really tough stuff. Has a removable pouch for the fallkniven dc4 (I keep a small piece of 600 and 1000 sandpaper in there as well) and a firesteel holder. Knife fits in very tight and with the snap retention it is locked in.

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That's all I have so far.....

Just wanted to thank Andy for making such a beautiful knife and that I am really lucky to have had the opportunity to attain it. The ladyfinger is my primary bushcraft knife from now on and believe me it can handle it. After batoning and working with it for several hours it was still shaving sharp. Thanks for looking guys....
 
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Nice to see she is being loved, the handle is just awesome. It was hard letting her go, but Andy is making something to make up for it :D

Pic of the wood:
 
Very nice choice! It's awesome to see Andy's knives getting some real use.
 
Thats pretty cool. The knife is an older one. Still looking good. I like that. Love seeing you using it!!

A word of caution folks. When you pit steel vs knots, it can always go either way. Baton around knots or just burn knotty pieces whole. I baton my knives all the way down to 3/32" thickness. But I do it through clear straight grained wood.
 
Thats pretty cool. The knife is an older one. Still looking good. I like that. Love seeing you using it!!

A word of caution folks. When you pit steel vs knots, it can always go either way. Baton around knots or just burn knotty pieces whole. I baton my knives all the way down to 3/32" thickness. But I do it through clear straight grained wood.



I agree. I never try for a knot....I wasn't paying attention when I was batoning and tried to take a pic. Plus it went through like it wasn't there. I try to avoid knots and if I hit one and my knife stops, I back out and try a different angle. I definitely don't consider batoning 5/32 inch O1 steel abusive but pounding through knots would fall into that category for me.


Andy any idea what year you think you made that knife? I know you've made so many knives it would be easy to forget. I'm just curious. Thanks.
 
Nice looking knife Hecktor - gorgeous handle. And I like that pack.
 
Nice looking knife Hecktor - gorgeous handle. And I like that pack.



Thanks! Love the pack. Can't say anything wrong about it and I highly recommend it. I had them throw on the leather shoulder straps for a little extra and I'm glad I did.
 
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