54 Big Jack

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jmh58
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54 Big Jack

Post by jmh58 »

See there is a Brazilian Cherry jigged wood with a BeaverTail shield coming!! Hmmmm!!! ::facepalm:: John :D
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Thanks for the heads-up. I might need to check and see if I can upgrade one of my "maybe" reservations. I've only got a sure thing on the bone jack right now.

I didn't know cherry was "jiggable" in the first place! I love the beavertail shield, though, this is sounding pretty promising. ::tu::
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by jerryd6818 »

Tsar Bomba wrote: I didn't know cherry was "jiggable" in the first place!
Oh, heck yeah. I have one of the 2013 #48 Improved Trappers in jigged Brazilian Cherry. Kinda hard to photograph. GEC made several patterns with Brazilian Cherry.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

jerryd6818 wrote:
Tsar Bomba wrote: I didn't know cherry was "jiggable" in the first place!
Oh, heck yeah. I have one of the 2013 #48 Improved Trappers in jigged Brazilian Cherry. Kinda hard to photograph. GEC made several patterns with Brazilian Cherry.
Looks awesome. ::tu:: I'm gonna have to see if I can upgrade my reservation. ::smirk::
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

Tsar Bomba wrote: Looks awesome. ::tu:: I'm gonna have to see if I can upgrade my reservation. ::smirk::
T, did you get the 54 in the jigged cherry? I'd like to know what you think. I can't make up my mind on either the 54 or the 48 in bloodwood? ::hmm:: ::dang:: I've got money in hand but unsure of which one to go with ::shrug::
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

Ok, I could not help it ::facepalm:: I went with the 54 in Desert Ironwood. Just look at the grain on this one :shock:
GEC-T541217-TKCSFO-DI-94.jpg
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by jerryd6818 »

J1890 wrote:Ok, I could not help it ::facepalm:: I went with the 54 in Desert Ironwood. Just look at the grain on this one :shock:
GEC-T541217-TKCSFO-DI-94.jpg
Splendid, just splendid and the propeller shield really suits that frame.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

J1890 wrote:T, did you get the 54 in the jigged cherry? I'd like to know what you think. I can't make up my mind on either the 54 or the 48 in bloodwood? ::hmm:: ::dang:: I've got money in hand but unsure of which one to go with ::shrug::
J1890 wrote:Ok, I could not help it ::facepalm:: I went with the 54 in Desert Ironwood. Just look at the grain on this one :shock:
Good choice! ::tu:: I was tempted by that ironwood 54 one after I saw it but a pet peeve I have (OCD??) is when a symmetrical shield is placed off-center on an equal-end pattern. To me it throws off the lines of the knife. It's why I didn't get the 98 cattle pattern. Probably something wrong with my wiring. ::rotflol:: Same shield in the same place on a swell-end jack would look outstanding to me.

I did get the jigged cherry "Beaver Tail" #54 in addition to the Oily Creeks, I haven't gotten any photos yet but I plan on remedying that and I'll post here for comparison. It is a pretty knife, a throwback with the jigged wood handles - I think one day I'm going to carry it with one of the staminawood Case sunfish.

Here's the Oily Creek bone I bought for EDC. Carried it today with a peanut, a pairing that was like Rocky and Muggsy. ::nod::
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To complicate your knife-buying decisions, Jeremy, the 54 is soon coming out as a moose pattern in antique bone and (I believe) ebony with Maher & Grosh livery. ::paranoid::
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

Nice Tony. I wanted to get the jigged Cherry but decided to go with the Cougar clawed. This one should be here next week. I really like this pattern. Good hold in the hand and great blades.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by kootenay joe »

Regarding shield placement on an Equal End jack, there is an artistic principle of "2/3rds/1/3rd" which says that these proportions look more attractive than a 50:50 balance. I think this is why GEC positions the shield 2/3rds the way along the handle.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Jeremy, that 'cougar claw' bone looks better in that pic than it did in the first photos I saw of the style. It's almost like a "scraped" oily creek bone. Good choice! ::tu::

KJ, I'm not doubting the fact that I am inartful to a fault, or that I would offend any actual asthete. :lol: ::nod:: I just have a more-visceral-than-normal reaction to most equal-enders that have any sort of offset symmetrical shield. Not GECs, but this is the look I want from any sort of symmetrical shield, like a hotdog, bar, or propeller style, on a typical equal-end frame:
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It's a symmetry thing, I think. I came up as a physics geek and went to school for engineering. It might be some form of OCD, perhaps. ::shrug:: It's best exemplified by my internal reaction to the #98 whittler/cattle knife vs. the symmetrical shield on the camp knife. I can't stop looking at it sideways. The same knife with, say, a houndstooth or bomb shield in the same offcenter location looks fantastic to me (like that #98 cattle knife with the bull shield ::tu:: ). Maybe a therapist could help me with this... :roll:
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

Cougar clawed. Very nice ::tu:: I may be a little out of control on this pattern. Was think of a third in the Cherry or oily creek bone ::shrug:: . Maybe not?
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Stop tempting me. I've already got two oily creeks and a jigged cherry, and now the Maher & Grosh moose built on the 54 is en route. ::paranoid::

Any more of these 54s and I'm going to have to get in line at the soup kitchen... ::facepalm::
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

Tsar Bomba wrote:Stop tempting me. I've already got two oily creeks and a jigged cherry, and now the Maher & Grosh moose built on the 54 is en route. ::paranoid::

Any more of these 54s and I'm going to have to get in line at the soup kitchen... ::facepalm::

Well ::hmm:: I do volunteer at a soup kitchen.
Which one do you like better? The oily creek or cherry?
Would you be willing to take a side by side picture for me?
Thank you my friend.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Enabler! Enabler! ::rotflol::

I've been planning to take a snap for the pairs thread of my safe-queen oily creek with the jigged cherry/beaver shield. Unfortunately an annoying storm cloud has been sticking around since I got home today and the light is washed out and muted outside, plus 1095 doesn't react well to random but persistent small showers that are overwatering my lawn today... But I will endeavor to get a pic today or tomorrow, depending on the weather for the rest of the day. It's too bad I didn't order the M&G earlier, I could have gotten a family photo.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by J1890 »

54 working hard cutting the cheese :mrgreen:
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m0nk
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by m0nk »

Late to the thread here, but I recently got a 54 Big Jack in KSF's muslin micarta. My wife helped me pick out the color, and since I got it I like it a lot more than I thought I would. It looks much better in person than in the pictures and I'm really happy with it. No complaints whatsoever! It's in my EDC rotation and I carry it in a belt sheath, but I do that for almost all my knives (including my little #14 Boy's Knife!) because I don't like much in my pockets. There were a bunch of Big Jacks in red river acrylic still available, but I just wasn't feeling the acrylic. There were even some of the cougar claw bones still out there, and now you're making me second guess the micarta. But I like it for EDC.

I got the Big Jack instead of the new #81 bull moose because I wasn't feeling the upended serpentine thing. The 81 reminds me too much of my Buck 301 stockman, whose skinny dogleg looking handle just bugs me. But I wanted a stockman with thick non-crinked blades and the 301 fit the bill. Anyway, back to the 54, I can see why they call it a Big Jack. It's very generous and confident in the hand, and I love both blade shapes. I can't decide how I want to divide up cutting tasks between them. I randomly open one or the other to do different things. Turns out being more fun that way!

Lee
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by kootenay joe »

This is a #53, Equal End, Double End Jack. 531213, same frame as #54, so a good opportunity to show it off.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by robbobus »

That is an outstanding knife kj.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by kootenay joe »

Yes thank you. I was lucky to get it. I really like slender knives, so 2 blades, one spring is the set up i like best.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by jmh58 »

WOW!!! Very NICE KJ... SWEETT!!! ::tu:: John :D
Not all who wander are lost!!

Of all the paths you take in life,
Make sure some of them are Dirt!!!
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks John. This 54 and a few other GEC & Queen with ivory handles are all knives that were posted on dealer websites for days and often weeks before i bought them. They were acquired between 12-24 months ago. Now with the ban on ivory there seems to be an increase in demand. Any GEC with mammoth now gets snapped up in minutes and i think this elephant ivory one would too. I am lucky to have bought them when i did because now i would have to be in the right place at the right time and still have to compete with other want to be buyers.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Darksev »

That 53 is sweet! I bet it's a fair bit thinner than the 2 blade 54's

A couple weeks ago I scratched an itch and picked up one of the muslin micarta big jacks from KSF.
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Only gripe is the blades were a bit lazy on the close (getting better with use) and that the secondary blade is awkward to open with the nick on the back side. opening it feels "reversed". I find I like the #35 I picked up more as a result, despite it being smaller.

I might have to dig around for one of those 53's
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by kootenay joe »

Adam, is your #54 a 2 spring or 1 spring knife ?
My #53 above has secondary nail nick on back side and i find it just as 'handy' as having both nicks on front side.
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Re: 54 Big Jack

Post by Darksev »

two spring. The difference in usage is which end the blade pivots on - the 54 I have has both blades pivoting from the same end of the knife. I'm right handed, so usually when opening a knife I hold in my left hand, then pull the blade up and out with my right. When the 2nd blade is on the opposite end like your 53, the secondary blade opens with the exact same motion, even though the pull is on the back side (because the blade/pivot is in the same orientation when you open it as the main blade is)

With both pivots at the same end, the opening action of the secondary blade is weird. I either have to open it left handed, or open it "down and out"

If that makes any sense :D
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