looking for certain name of a shape

[harkamus]

My mom just asked me for a knife and described it as an old pattern. I'm pretty sure she was referencing some kind of slip joint. It looks like a teardrop pattern except the handle is symmetrical front to back. Teardrops get slimmer as you get closer to the pivot and fatter as you get closer to the rear of the knife. I'm pretty sure I've seen these types of slippies before. Are they a common pattern? Any recommendations? She wanted some handle material like mother of pearl. I guess I'll have to go custom for that. But first...I need a name for that pattern if it exists.

Thanks in advance.

 

[zerogee]

Do you mean something like this? This is a teardrop made by Reese Bose (this one is 3 5/8" closed) - and yes, it's an old pattern, quite elegant:

Teardrops can have this slimmer, more pointed profile, or they can be more exaggerated with a wider, fatter profile with more curved sides.

Not sure what you mean by "It looks like a teardrop pattern except the handle is symmetrical front to back." Do you mean that it's an equal ended pattern that looks the same on each end? Do you mean that it's basically oval or elliptical in shape?

 

[harkamus]

The pattern looks like a cigar. You could fold it half from left to right and both halves would be mirrored. Yea, oval shaped, but not quite oval. The sides are flat and the ends are rounded.

 

[zerogee]

The pattern looks like a cigar. You could fold it half from left to right and both halves would be mirrored. Yea, oval shaped, but not quite oval. The sides are flat and the ends are rounded.

The name of this pattern depends of the length, width, and particular blade setup. Technically, it's an equal end pen if it's got blades pivoted at both ends, or an equal end jack if they're pivoted only at one end. But from there it gets complicated -- small ones are often called senators (if equal end pens), large ones cigars -- and depending on blade configuration and size, they can be called cattle knives, moose, bullheads, muskrats, sunfish, etc etc etc. GEC makes a number of variations, but IIRC, all of them are in the 4" long closed range. Case has its Eisenhower pen at 3 1/8" closed (though technically it's an oval pen, it's a fairly slim oval).

 

[harkamus]

Sunfish are the really really wide ones aren't they? I'm looking for a more 'normal' one, and by that I meant not one quite as fat as a sunfish. Also just with one blade. I'll check out that Case Eisenhower. 4 inch closed is perfect.

 

[zerogee]

Yes, sunfish are the wide ones. If 4 inch closed is what you're looking for, GEC can probably hook you up - they've got a lot of variations on this theme with many handle choices -- though the one blade may be an issue. Most of this pattern type will have more than one blade. However, some only have one spring with a blade at each end -- so they're just as thin as a single blade style.

 

[harkamus]

Thanks for the help. I guess if I want to get her a one blade config, I might as well ask Alsdorf or Davidson to make one, or any of the other custom slip joint makers that post around here.

 

[puukkoman]

Sunfish are the really really wide ones aren't they? I'm looking for a more 'normal' one, and by that I meant not one quite as fat as a sunfish. Also just with one blade. I'll check out that Case Eisenhower. 4 inch closed is perfect.

The Eisenhower is lots smaller than 4"...
Check out the Ben Hogan pattern from GEC. It's close to what you're after... There's a little bit of shape to the bolster on one end, but it's almost like an equal-end frame, and it's a single blade knife.

 

[harkamus]

The Eisenhower is lots smaller than 4"...
Check out the Ben Hogan pattern from GEC. It's close to what you're after... There's a little bit of shape to the bolster on one end, but it's almost like an equal-end frame, and it's a single blade knife.

Thanks for the suggestion. Seems to be a great shape, but I could not find one in mother of pearl.