Rough Rider & Related Slipjoints

I've been enjoying this "half hawk" for the last several weeks. It's a fairly close copy of a Case Loom Fixer, a model discontinued in the 70's. There's a few threads on the Case pattern. Apparently it was fairly popular with mechanics who worked in mills. I can see why. The combination of blade shapes allows one to make cuts in tight places and also make strong straight cuts. Fascinating pattern. Too bad Case discontinued it. The closest thing recently available was the GEC "weaver jack". But it was in 1095, of course. I prefer stainless.
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knarfeng said:
I've been enjoying this "half hawk" for the last several weeks. It's a fairly close copy of a Case Loom Fixer, a model discontinued in the 70's. There's a few threads on the Case pattern. Apparently it was fairly popular with mechanics who worked in mills. I can see why. The combination of blade shapes allows one to make cuts in tight places and also make strong straight cuts. Fascinating pattern. Too bad Case discontinued it. The closest thing recently available was the GEC "weaver jack". But it was in 1095, of course. I prefer stainless.
lPIcoHi.jpg
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I can understand you're enjoying it.
I have the yellow handle version. Great knife. Mine finds its way into my pocket when I expect to be doing a bit of pruning or have some heavy use.
 
knarfeng said:
It's a fairly close copy of a Case Loom Fixer, a model discontinued in the 70's. There's a few threads on the Case pattern. Apparently it was fairly popular with mechanics who worked in mills. I can see why. The combination of blade shapes allows one to make cuts in tight places and also make strong straight cuts. Fascinating pattern. Too bad Case discontinued it.
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I had purchased one of these RR 1284 knives for comparison's sake when I was researching sheepfoot rope knives, and must say I am very impressed! It is indeed unfortunate that Case does not produce the 6217, as the cost of used examples has become rather inflated on the re-sale market.

Both blades on the RR 1284 are very stout, and the springs are very positive in all positions. It certainly has become a handy companion for my summertime household repairs!

Also quite pleased with the fit & finish. The black bone gives the knife a very traditional and purposeful appearance. backed by its overall feeling of solidity. Although I am not fond of the "440 razor sharp steel" blade etch RR uses on nearly all their goods, it is about my only quibble.
 
I have accumulated a few Rough Riders, but my half-hawk is one of the few I actually use. I bought one, I think in black bone, that had too hard a pull on the secondary blade, so I gave it away to someone with stronger nails. I ordered another in smooth tobacco bone, and it's perfect.
Rough Rider Half-Hawk 2.jpg
 
I'll jump on the RR half-hawk bandwagon, too. (In another thread, I think I've mentioned that they remind me of the 2-blade GEC Hay'n Helpers.) I got one almost identical to r8shell r8shell 's (maybe slightly lighter shade) in a trade with @LastRodeo. I liked it very much, but ended up giving it away to someone who was trying to get a complete set of RR smooth tobacco bone offerings, which were kind of hard to find at that particular time. Later, the smooth tobacco bone RRs became available again, so I ordered another half-hawk. It arrived a much darker color, but I like it at least as much as my first one. I happened to be scheduled to carry it last week, and it served admirably in slicing off little knots or branching nodes on a walking stick I've been working on when I take the pups in the back yard to do their business.
Half-hawk 1 (former):
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Half-hawk 2 (current):
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- GT
 
Bartleby said:
I had purchased one of these RR 1284.....

Also quite pleased with the fit & finish. The black bone gives the knife a very traditional and purposeful appearance. backed by its overall feeling of solidity. Although I am not fond of the "440 razor sharp steel" blade etch RR uses on nearly all their goods, it is about my only quibble.
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I bought a couple of Rough Riders and did a review on them. The etch on the blade says "440" but all of the specs from various advertisers says "440A" and the guy I talked to at the place back east where I ordered mine from said the blade steel used on most Rough Rider knives was "440A"

Regardless, I used this RR 479 Sowbelly knife I ordered for cutting zip-ties on the wiring harnesses on a couple of utility trailers and then cut back some small bushes for the wife. After those projects the blade had dulled somewhat so I sharpened it with some Lansky crock sticks and it sharpened up nicely.

Tyin8T0.jpg
 
Bartleby said:
I would be ok if it just read "440" or "440A" identifying the type of steel, but the additional commentary "razor sharp steel" is kinda superfluous.
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I showed a buddy at work my RR817 the other day. He got a kick out of the “razor sharp steel” etch. Mine sharpens up nicely but I imagine having that on the blade has aggravated one or two folks having trouble raising a burr on their Rough Rider.

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KuduCuckoo said:
He got a kick out of the “razor sharp steel” etch.
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I believe the razor comparison goes back to the days when stainless double edge razor blades were first perfected, I recall seeing such claims on some knives made as cutlery stainless was being introduced. If I recall correctly, Wilkinson advertised their stainless steel razor blades as lasting 5x as carbon steel razor blades, and some of the knife companies jumped on the bandwagon with an etch with the words "razor steel" surrounding a tiny safety razor blade ( am thinking it was on some Imperial or Schrade knives long ago, but my memory isn't what it was...).
 
Bartleby said:
I believe the razor comparison goes back to the days when stainless double edge razor blades were first perfected, I recall seeing such claims on some knives made as cutlery stainless was being introduced. If I recall correctly, Wilkinson advertised their stainless steel razor blades as lasting 5x as carbon steel razor blades, and some of the knife companies jumped on the bandwagon with an etch with the words "razor steel" surrounding a tiny safety razor blade ( am thinking it was on some Imperial or Schrade knives long ago, but my memory isn't what it was...).
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That’s very interesting. I’ll have to let him know because we were talking about shaving implements as well. He recently started using a Gillette double edge safety razor. I don’t think my hand is steady enough these days to shave with real razor blades. But I am tempted to try it. If Rough Rider made a cut-throat I’m sure that I would get one.
 
KuduCuckoo said:
He recently started using a Gillette double edge safety razor. I don’t think my hand is steady enough these days to shave with real razor blades. But I am tempted to try it.
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I have been shaving with a Gillette Rocket for about 10 years, haven't looked back. I gifted a DE TTO razor to my mom's steady boyfriend who is 91 (as is she), and he has been using it daily. Of course he is her steady boyfriend....
 
KuduCuckoo said:
Uh-oh... Well, that settles it. I better start pre-rolling plenty of those little toilet paper blood stoppers while I wait for my next shipment from a certain Tennessee based Rough Rider dealer.
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Pictures of the patch knife or knives when they come in?

Back when I was a Mountain Man, I (and 99.997% of the others) used our straight razor to cut pillow ticking patches when loading our rifle.**
I don't think I ever met a Mountain Man who shaved ... not even when he got all gussied up for the Rendezvous.

**(After putting in the powder charge) Place the pillow ticking over the muzzle.
Place ball on top, using the short arm of the short starter, press the ball into the muzzle.
cut pillow ticking flush with muzzle.
Using the long arm of the short starter, push the now patched ball in as far as possible.
Use ramrod to push patched ball onto the powder charge. (You want to slightly compress the powder charge.)

I had three brass or copper rings inletted on my ramrod.
The upper ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle, to show the rifle was not charged/loaded, and that nothing (like a cleaning patch) was stuck in the breech.
The lower ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle when the rifle was loaded correctly for hunting. (110 grains Fg under a patched .440" round ball was my "big game hunting load")
The center ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle using 70 grains FFg under a .440" round ball, which was my target shooting load.
Rifle was a .45 Calibur CVA percussion "Kentucky" rifle, with 33.5" barrel.
Broom sticks at 100 yards were no challenge to hit. :D
 
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afishhunter said:
Pictures of the patch knife or knives when they come in?

Back when I was a Mountain Man, I (and 99.997% of the others) used our straight razor to cut pillow ticking patches when loading our rifle.**
I don't think I ever met a Mountain Man who shaved ... not even when he got all gussied up for the Rendezvous.

**(After putting in the powder charge) Place the pillow ticking over the muzzle.
Place ball on top, using the short arm of the short starter, press the ball into the muzzle.
cut pillow ticking flush with muzzle.
Using the long arm of the short starter, push the now patched ball in as far as possible.
Use ramrod to push patched ball onto the powder charge. (You want to slightly compress the powder charge.)

I had three brass or copper rings inletted on my ramrod.
The upper ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle, to show the rifle was not charged/loaded, and that nothing (like a cleaning patch) was stuck in the breech.
The lower ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle when the rifle was loaded correctly for hunting. (110 grains Fg under a patched .440" round ball was my "big game hunting load")
The center ring's bottom edge was flush with the muzzle using 70 grains FFg under a .440" round ball, which was my target shooting load.
Rifle was a .45 Calibur CVA percussion "Kentucky" rifle, with 33.5" barrel.
Broom sticks at 100 yards were no challenge to hit. :D
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Definitely. Just looking at that certain dealers’ site and the Rough Rider thread here has me feeling that urge you get when you covet new cutlery. I’m going back and forth about whether I also need a peanut or perhaps a moose. So many designs to try out...

**I wish I could say I ever used a knife as part of something like muzzleloading a rifle. It sounds like a satisfying process. The only adventures my Rough Rider sodbust-umm I mean 817 saw today were of the yard and kitchen variety.
 
r8shell said:
I have accumulated a few Rough Riders, but my half-hawk is one of the few I actually use. I bought one, I think in black bone, that had too hard a pull on the secondary blade, so I gave it away to someone with stronger nails. I ordered another in smooth tobacco bone, and it's perfect.
View attachment 953426
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I have a black bone version but dig that tobacco bone...might have to hunt for one of those if they are still available.
 
2A7C69F4-61BC-4DD2-872F-46AFC09C709C.jpeg I saw this one arm jack with pen blade and had to have it.
It is a very nice knife and my only problem with it is the cut out part is rounded over.
Less than a minute on the dremel will fix that though.

The build quality is outstanding on this.
I love Case Knives but this is put together a bit better than my last couple Case purchases.

My last RR was the carbon steel whittler and that was a winner too.
I’m glad RR are doing some interesting well built knives.
 
Went to the local sports store that carries Rough Rider, was dismayed that end of the case was full of modern mtechs:eek::(. With only a very few RR's. But I talked to the guy and he said a week or 2, they'll be back! Said they were a really fast mover, very popular. Apparently they're back ordered and he had to fill out the case with the mtechs so it just looks better full of something. This place sells many top end modern folders and fixed blades, including Benchmade,Zero Tolerance, SOG,crkt,Kershaw, Gerber, modern Bokers, etc. But he said they move allot of the RR's and the Tree Brand Boker traditional's, and Buck traditional's:D:D:thumbsup: Told me RR one of their best sellers, not to worry they're not gone for good.
 
willc said:
View attachment 955494The build quality is outstanding on this.
I love Case Knives but this is put together a bit better than my last couple Case purchases.

My last RR was the carbon steel whittler and that was a winner too.
I’m glad RR are doing some interesting well built knives.
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I have to agree with you. I love Case but the last ~10 I picked up were all recent production and all not that great. One of the last RR's I bought (Half Hawk) is of better build quality than any of the modern Case I have. It really enticed me to go check out more RRs (Black Cherry Bone Congress on the way).
RR_Half_Hawk_02.jpg
 
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