All About Pocket Knives

Great knife Lyle and now we are speeding back down the tracks of wharncliffe-ville ... sitting around blowing air as you note is something I enjoy about AAPK - personally while I take all this seriously I would not even be involved if it wasn't all the fun associated with it and the great friendly attitude of all ...

Thanks KJ for the answer to my question ... not off topic really as it relates to where I originally read the definition of wharncliffe and how it can be a blade , a frame style or both in one (and again I was trying to allude to that in my OP but wasn't exactly clear).... I thought BRL would be considered the "go-to" for definitions/terminology etc... even though certain aspects of his book can be his opinion or subjective...

Although brand new, I guess Lyle's GEC Farmer's Jack would be considered a Wharncliffe. Beauty, eh?

Yes indeed Jerry - that is a beauty .... Is that "Lick Creek" as an etch? Does that refer to a real creek somewhere or just an amusing etch that one can define in so many ways .... yes I'm biting my tongue or in this case tying my fingers up from typing further

Lee, that is indeed a real place, right down to the cabin. Ask Lyle (WLF), it's his SFO and his history we're talking about here.

Thanks Jerry! Now for my stupid question and then back to wharncliffes - what does SFO stand for? Related to that and all may get a good laugh - long ago I posted a Robeson knife and during the thread discussion Charlie noted the "OP" knife... I'm thinking - hmnnnn - an OP knife - that is one I don't know.... well after checking BRL for an OP knife and coming up blank I found out by asking here it meant "original post"... didn't find SFO in Levine's book either

Not a dumb question at all.

SFO = Special Factory Order

An individual or a company goes to a knife manufacturer such as GEC or Queen and contracts with them to make a knife for him that has the features he/she wants but can't get in a current production knife. That can be anywhere from a pattern that isn't being made on down to just a special blade etch and everything in between.

Cool - thanks Jerry .. I do believe a SFO was something you noted when I said I would love to have a jack with a tribal spear and a wharncliffe blade (though you didn't use the SFO abbreviation)... That is cool that was a knife that Lyle has made based on his request!!! Nice Lyle (as I am sure you will read this) and something to be proud of in my opinion!!! I love this stuff ...

Lee ,I was honored Bill Howard wanted to do it,I had mentioned it,but he instigated it a year or so after we had met.

I was born in this little house on the front label,taken from these pictures. That was Papaw and Mamaw Fry's home-place up the holler. Me and Daddy down by the creek fish'n, which we did a lot... I only have one memory before Daddy started taking me fish'n,and it's so early you wouldn't believe it.

Daddy and Papaw Fry could crouch like that all day long,a trait I didn't get. I grin

I enjoyed the labeling probably more than the knife itself,but I liked the rendition. Thanks again Bill.

That's Mamaw Fry on the porch of the addition,funny she had a "new" electric wringer washer, but cooked on an old wood cook stove.

I believe that's my cousin Dale in the yard,he was one of my cousins that had been in that apple tree with me. He was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam,never made it home. His Mommy,Daddy's sister, never could accept it because the casket was closed and eventually lost her mind.

One of the reasons that I was a bit slow to jump into this thread is that most if not all wharncliffes also fit into other topics, such as the Whittler threads and the Farmer's Jack thread, and I have posted most of mine in other threads. But what the heck, here are a pair of GECs with ebony handles.

That one on the left is a beauty Mel. I'm grin'n.

Thanks Jerry for posting that one,allowing me to expound my memories.

Now I understand completely and Lyle that knife is not only a gem - it is priceless in terms of all those memories and a great tribute ... Thank you so much for sharing all that my friend!

and Mel thanks for sharing yours... I think it is quite appropriate in many cases that our knives be posted in multiple threads as they fit in many places as you said... and in the future it will be easy for folks to find the knives for archival purposes...

wlf wrote:
I believe that's my cousin Dale in the yard,he was one of my cousins that had been in that apple tree with me. He was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam,never made it home. His Mommy,Daddy's sister, never could accept it because the casket was closed and eventually lost her mind.

My cousin's first husband was a waist gunner on a Huey and was shot down three times and was the only one to survive each time.He returned home but his mind was still over there. If you spoke to him,it would take several seconds for him to turn and look at you and you may or may not receive an answer. If war news came on TV he would walk out of the room. He finally had to be institutionalized.A true example of the,"thousand yard stare".

On a brighter note;thank you for sharing the story of the knife.These are why I love to peruse the forums every day.

Lyle, are any of your Lick Crick knives still available?

Lord, help me, you guys have stirred up an itch that needs to be scratched.

Charlie

I was thinking the same thing Charlie ....

Sorry,I have none to sell, they occasionally come up on the aftermarkets.

wlf wrote:Lee ,I was honored Bill Howard wanted to do it,I had mentioned it,but he instigated it a year or so after we had met.

I was born in this little house on the front label,taken from these pictures. That was Papaw and Mamaw Fry's home-place up the holler. Me and Daddy down by the creek fish'n, which we did a lot... I only have one memory before Daddy started taking me fish'n,and it's so early you wouldn't believe it.

Daddy and Papaw Fry could crouch like that all day long,a trait I didn't get. I grin

I enjoyed the labeling probably more than the knife itself,but I liked the rendition. Thanks again Bill.

Very cool!!!
Great concept knife and wonderful to see the family pictures and history.

Thanks buddy

A Google search turned up several ads, but the knives were no longer available.

Maybe it would be prudent to do another run?

Charlie

Charlie I get the impression it's specifically Lyle's Lick Creek Farmer's Jack you're looking for. I ask because if it's just the pattern you're looking for, there were several others made and some of those are still out there and available. Several, I think, on KSF.

KSF?

I sawseveral listed, two with smooth white bone and one jigged brown bone (my favorite). All were out of stock.

I did not see a listing for anything I recall as fitting that abbrviation.

Give me a link.

And yes,I should have bought one when Lyle made them available.

Charlie

I'm sorry. I assume too often. KSF = Knives Ship Free

I don't know if this even interests you but there are plenty of #38 John Chapmans left. Same knife, they just weren't made for Lyle.
https://www.knivesshipfree.com/great-eastern-cutler-38/

I looked at one of Lyle's Lick Crick knives on Knives Ship Free, they were out of stock.

Charli

Yeah. That's why I mentioned the Chapman's. They are in stock. But of course they may not interest you.

LongBlade wrote:I have to say I called 2 spring whittlers with a wedge a split spring whittler at one time - I wash't aware at that time that a true split spring whittler as discussed above was exactly that - a spring which had been split - I also came to learn that finding a true split spring whittler is a tough thing to do

Back to the issue of what constitutes a true "Split Backspring Whittler" that was brought up earlier...here is a perfect example of why there is confusion on exactly what that nomenclature refers to:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Case-PEARL-Spli ... SwgApW-vaH

Notice that Case calls this knife a "Split Backspring Whittler" on the COA. Even though the seller doesn't include a photo of the backspring in the listing, I have seen other examples of this same knife and it actually has 2 backsprings, not one that is split part of the length and left in one single piece the rest of the length.

The only reason I can imagine why a 2-spring whittler like this Case (as well as most of the 3-blade whittlers available nowadays) is often referred to as a split backspring is because the master blade uses both springs, hence, the springs function together in unison as a single spring, while the secondary blades each use only 1 of the springs, thus, the function of the backspring(s) is "split" between them.

~Q~