Queen English Jack Knife

[treefarmer]

That is a nice one . That old winterbottom bone is great in my book!
Treefarmer

[Open Range-19]

That stag is mighty fine and so are the jigged bones. I'm drawn to Queen English Jacks as well-sleek and capable. Kinda like a greyhound or borzoi in my mind. Lots to my liking; long clip and pen in carbon steel with pretty good fit, finish and mechanics. Here's a couple that called my name:

[Modern Slip Joints]

I'm confused again. I bought the same 1 of 100 new QCCC English Jacks previously pictured believing they were 420HC stainless steel. At least a half dozen sellers' ads wrote they were stainless. None wrote they were not. I have yet to see one or a picture of one with a spec of patina. What do I know? I guess I better continue keeping my collectors oiled.

28 v. 29? All of my Queen made English Jacks are fairly new. All have two blades. The ones with clip masters are 29s as is the the one with a lamb's foot master. By lamb's foot I mean an elongated sheep's foot. Its back does not gradually slope down to a fine point like most Wharncliffs. My two blade S&M with a spear master is a 28. Apparently Queen changed their mind on which is which.

This is not the only case of Queen being unable to make up their mind. There are two shapes of square ended 4 1/4" Stockmans, the Reverse Gunstock and one shaped more like competing Camillus and Case 4 1/4" Stockmans. Since 1990 Queen has stamped both shapes both 49 and 50. Unlike the English Jacks they did not switch the numbers then stick with the reversal. They numbered both patterns inconsistently for over 25 years.

[Open Range-19]

Info on QCCC English Jacks. Found this on bladeforums.com;

Cutlery Classics (QCCC) Three of the knives have the same serial number and the other two have different numbers. 100 pieces of each knife was produced. The English Jack is 4 1/2” closed with all nickel silver liners. The swedge, long nail pull, and threaded bolsters add to the beauty of these knives. These knives have 1095 high carbon steel.

[Open Range-19]

On AAPK forum;
Re: 1095 Carbon Steel
Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:31 am

1095 is still alive and kicking, sadly not nearly enough makers use it. I know that Great Eastern uses it almost exclusively in the Northfield and Tidioute lines, as was said above. Queen uses it on a few knives (the QCCC series for example), Moore Maker (which are made by queen, and Bear and Sons) uses it, older Schrade USA knives you'd pickup on ebay or whatnot have the potential to be 1095.

A close analog is Case's CV steel, which is a high carbon steel alloyed with a bit of vanadium and chromium for wear/stain resistance (not enough to qualify as stainless). D2 is also a nice cutting steel, it's a semi-stainless tool steel. Canal Street, Queen both use that here and there.

[Open Range-19]

More info I found on a search;

Yup. I concur

From Cumberland Knifeworks
"A new line of knives will debut in the Fall of 2007 bearing the name Queen City Cutlery Classics and have the old QCCC trademark shield. The significant item here will be the use of more exotic handle materials , mainly , Rams horn , Ebony Wood, Camel , Burl, and others not commonly used today. Plus, all knives will be constructed of 1095 High Carbon steel.

These issues will be all serial numbered with certificates of authenticity so collectors will be able to secure thier favorite numbers with each succeeding knife issue.

The QCCC shield was only used between 1928 and 1932 . It is sure to be a big with collectors. The first knives will be coming soon."

[Modern Slip Joints]

Not all QCCC knives are 1095 carbon steel. There are 400 large Congress QCCC knives that have two sheep's foot blades both with tangs stamped PH-D2. Like the 400 English Jacks they have nickel silver liners and serial numbers. Also like the English Jacks 100 have stag sides, 100 jigged Antique Green and 100 dark red Winterbottom bone. However, rather than ebony the 4th hundred have dark red bone jigged similar to bone stag. Queen and Schatt & Morgan Congresses with the same two D2 sheep's foot and two pen blades are among the most common Queen made Congresses. It is logical that they used existing stock of D2 blades in the QCCC Congresses.

The QCCC Congresses might have been made after the information on QCCC English Jacks posted above was printed. However, despite their being over 10 years old I've not seen a QCCC English Jack with any tarnish so I have my doubts. The next time I get in to town I'll buy some cold blue to test a QCCC English Jack. If one of you volunteer to test yours first it would save me $6. If a drop in an inconspicuous spot turns it blue that can be polished off with Mother Mag or similar metal polish.

[Modern Slip Joints]

I finally got around to doing the cold bluing test on one of my QCCC English Jacks. I used Birchwood Casey's cold blue. During the time period when these QCCC English Jacks were made Queen's standard steels were 420HC stainless and 1095 carbon. Since Camillus made my Remington 9501 Stockman out of 1095 and Buck made my 305 Stockman out of 420HC I used them for comparison. As expected my Buck 305 was not discolored by the cold blue and my Remington acquired a blue spot. My QCCC English Jack took the bluing the same as my Remington. The QCCC English Jacks are carbon steel. I am sorry for any confusion I created.

[Open Range-19]

No worries, that.

[stumpstalker]

He has not posted on here in years, but "keystone" did raise my consciousness that Queen had called "Farmer's jacks"(#28 and #29) what most of us identify as 'English jacks".

I went to my oldest Queen source material, and it was Lavona Ferguson's "...ROMANCE OF COLLECTING....KNIVES", 1978, in which #28 and #29 were indeed called by Queen, "Farmer's Jack[s]".

Levine, most knife students know, calls a "Farmer's jack" something very different from what he describes as an "English jack".

What is the oldest reference anyone knows of in which the term, "English jack", consistent with Levine, is used?