GEC .38 Special Question

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Nov 28, 2002
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I had earned some bonus points from a knife dealer and cashed them in on red micarta GEC 38 special. Im guessing the pattern is a jack of some sort. Does this particular pattern have a name? Simply a matter of curiosity on part. :) Im really warming up to this puppy.

(not my actual knife)
rBFLkA8.png
 
Indian Paint Brush is what they're called(I believe). Someone more knowledgeable will know for sure, though.
 
I believe .38 Special is the name. Indian Paint Brush is the name for the bone on the red jigged bone variant.
 
I believe .38 Special is the name. Indian Paint Brush is the name for the bone on the red jigged bone variant.

I believe you're correct. GEC designated the pattern number as 38 and the name as 38 Special

gy2suUV.jpg


Manufactures take a broad leeway when naming their patterns.
 
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Would I be mocked if I called it Farmer Jack handle pattern with GEC's take on a non-Farmer Jack blade configuration?:D
 
I believe you're correct. GEC designated the pattern number as 18 and the name as 38 Special

gy2suUV.jpg


Manufactures take a broad leeway when naming their patterns.
The pattern number is 38, same frame as the three-blade Grinling whittler, and the two-blade Chapman Pruner. I guess the single blade made it "special"
 
The pattern number is 38, same frame as the three-blade Grinling whittler, and the two-blade Chapman Pruner. I guess the single blade made it "special"

That's as reasonable as anything else I can think of. Like I said they can call it anything they like.

Would I be mocked if I called it Farmer Jack handle pattern with GEC's take on a non-Farmer Jack blade configuration?:D

I don't think anyone would mock you. Like I said in one of the links, I think it looks like a Tickler and that's what I call it.
 
Would I be mocked if I called it Farmer Jack handle pattern with GEC's take on a non-Farmer Jack blade configuration?:D

I think GEC would agree with that.

Here's their take on a Farmer's Jack on the same #38 frame.

383215-cranberry-pick-bone-cc.jpg
 
I always thought it was just a variant of a dogleg (or maybe a reverse dogleg?). Case calls their whittler on a similar frame a "seahorse" (after its appearance when blades are open), GEC called their whittler a "Grinling" (after Grinling Gibbons, I assume). When used in different blade configurations, GEC gives it different names to distinguish it (38 special, Willamette, Farmer Fack, Orchard Gem, etc.). I could be wrong, but I think the general identifier of this frame is a dogleg. How a particular manufacture names a given variant is more an issue of marketing/identifier.

The OP asked about it being a "jack." Again, I could be wrong, but I think that "jack" is any knife whose blades are all located on the same end. Because of I this, I've always thought that single-bladed knives are technically jacks (because "all" blades are, in fact, located at one end), but I usually think of two-bladed knives (with blades pivoting at the same end) as the quintessential "jack."

I'd call the #38 pictured by the OP a single-bladed dogleg (or maybe "reverse" dogleg???). But there are many here with much more knowledge than me.

At any rate, it's a great knife, OP. I love how red linen gets darker over time. You just love the knife more the more you use it. :thumbsup:
 
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Here Derrick calls it a "tapered dogleg," FWIW.

(Man, what I'd give for one of those black camel bone whittlers!:D)
 
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I always think "Serpentine" when I see that sort of fat at the head, skinny at the tail end kind of curved jack.
 
Thanks, I just struck lucky with that one and the Mark side is very nice too.

Regards, Will
 
I'm also not an expert on identifying pocket knife patterns, but the GEC #38 pattern reminds me of the shape of a Wharncliffe knife, as illustrated on the far right in the second illustration in this link:
http://www.knifecollector.net/PocketKnifePatterns.html
(Can't figure out how to "steal" the image to post here, and it may be copyrighted anyway.)

- GT
 
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