I was happy to hear that GEC was releasing a 3 1/2" stock knife and looked forward to seeing the handle materials chosen for the Northfield version. I had originally planned on jigged bone but ended up choosing Rosewood over the Choffee.
I was uncertain about the choice of handle material but boy am I happy with my choice now that I have the knife! It is beautifully finished to show the natural grain and character of the cocobolo rosewood.
The Calf Roper has a two back spring construction with brass liners and nickel silver trimmings. On the pile side theres an additional layer that isn't present on my other stock knives. It is the same material and shape as the center cut. I haven't noticed it before on other stockman but perhaps I just overlooked it. It appears to have been used to create space between the spey blade and the liner though the very tip of the spey does
slightly rub the liner.
left to right: Old Timer, Northfield, Canal Street
Let's flip the knife around. Notice that the sheepfoot blade does not appear to be crinked (is that the right word?). In contrast, the sheepfoot blades on the Old Timer and Canal Street are crinked waaayyy over toward the clip blade.
In case the difference is hard to see, I added red lines to the following image to emphasize the difference between the straight and crinked blades.
left to right: Northfield, Old Timer, Canal Street
I'm not sure why GEC didn't crink the sheepfoot blade. It would help reduce rub between the spey blade and the sheepfoot blade and there is plenty of space between the sheepfoot blade and the clip blade. Notice how the blades on the Old Timer and Canal Street stock knives (see photo above) are more evenly spaced.
In my experience blade rub isn't exactly uncommon on stock knives and the blade rub on the Calf Roper isn't bad - I'd say that it is comparable to what I've seen on some Case stock knives. The 3 backspacing knives from Case and Buck seem to be less prone to blade rub. Also the Old Timer and Canal Street stock knives from the photos have no noticeable blade rub.
If you bought the knife for display, I'd recommend opening the sheepfoot blade first and then opening the spey. Careful though… the last step in opening all the blades of a multi-blade knife is to wipe off the blood.
I don't remember the origin of that quote but I heard it in BRL's subforum.
Does it cut? The blades were very sharp straight out of the tube without any touch up. The 1095 steel is highly polished but it is not a stainless steel and the blades should earn a nice patina with use. I find the pull to be a little on the light side. I'd rate the spey and sheepfoot a 3 and the clip a 4 out of 10. For reference, I'd rate the pull on the main blade of a Swiss army knife a 5 and the main blade of my GEC dogleg a 6 out of 10.
I had intended to write more but it is a beautiful day outside and I don't want to spend any more time at the computer. I hope to see more stock knives from GEC and would like the Calf Roper 2.0 to have improved blade spacing. I'm going outside to enjoy the weather… guess which stock knife is in my pocket.
:thumbup:
