Serpentine Jacks == Big Peanut?

S

SurfingSalmon

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Jan 11, 2011
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Hey y'all, was browsin through the "What 'Traditional Knife' are ya totin" thread, and I came across this post,

Humppa said:
...

I had a GEC #66 Serpentine Jack and a Case Peanut with me...

IMG_1562.jpg


Kind regards
Andi
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and the thought came to my head: "Are Serpentine Jacks big Peanuts?".
 
Which begs the question: "Are serpentine jacks two-bladed stockmen?".:p:D;)
 
Technically, a Peanut is a small dogleg jack. Case used to make a dogleg jack (pattern 6226-1/2) in the pre-1940 era that looked essentially identical to the Peanut in handle shape, only slightly larger at 3" closed.

Here's a pic found on the web of a 6226-1/2 from that era (1920-1940):
-318411405643515591.jpg
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Technically, a Peanut is a small dogleg jack.
Click to expand...

What's the difference between a dogleg jack and a serpentine jack (or more simply, a dogleg vs. a serpentine frame)?

Does a dogleg have a noticeably wider non-pivot end, while a serpentine is more balanced?

~ P.
 
pertinux said:
What's the difference between a dogleg jack and a serpentine jack (or more simply, a dogleg vs. a serpentine frame)?

Does a dogleg have a noticeably wider non-pivot end, while a serpentine is more balanced?

~ P.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the distinction between them, based on the pics I've seen. The dogleg is a 'serpentine' shape, but the butt end of the handle is noticeably 'fatter' than the pivot end. And, so far as I know, all of the dogleg jacks I've seen pics of have round bolsters at both ends. Some, but not all, serpentine jack patterns have squared bolsters at the pivot end.

One of BF's members (Steve Pfeiffer, a.k.a. knifeaholic) has published a book on collecting Case knives, and he has described the Peanut specifically as a small dogleg jack. The imaged text below is excerpted from his book, as found in a Google Books search ( http://books.google.com/books?id=f4...XC2d2qDQ&ved=0CJwBEOgBMAA#v=onepage&q&f=false ):
 
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black mamba said:
The dogleg jack bends the opposite direction (upside down) from the peanut.
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That would be GEC's interpretation of it, anyway. Case's dogleg doesn't bend that way, as seen in the pic I posted earlier (and also according to the guide I'm looking at). It's the same as the peanut.
 
Here are a couple of vendor pics of two similarly-embellished Case knives, and obvious similarity in handle shape. The first is a 6240 pattern, known as Case's 'Dogleg Trapper', and the 2nd pic is the Peanut (6220 pattern):
CAML9740L007.JPG

CAML9720L007.JPG
 
Hi guys!

I didn´t realize, that my pic a "What traditional knife did you totin' today..."-thread made such questions. To me, I realized, that a 'nut is some kind of jackknife, for sure.

I never thought about, but thank you for giving the answers about the dogleg jack and the serpentine jack, depending on the Peanut.

It seems, the differences result just on the "swungs" at the handle (I hope, you know what I mean).

After reading the whole thread - I learned something more today! Thank you guys!

Kind regards
Andi
 
Andi,

I could see the 'dogleg' as being sort of a sub-set of a larger 'serpentine' array of patterns (some versions of the stockman, trapper, jacks and even the toothpick seem to fit the 'serpentine' description, fundamentally). The 'dogleg' description seems a little more specific to shape, it seems to me. The doglegs all seem to be a bit broader or rounder at one end of the serpentine frame, as compared to the other end. I was hunting around the web yesterday, looking for the general definition of the term 'dogleg', and the most obvious description compares the shape to that of the hind leg of a dog (duh!), starting at the broader hip and tapering down to the lower leg, while following sort of a serpentine flow from one end to the other.
 
Queen Cutlery's No.2 Jack is a kind of enlarged Peanut (only better, there said it!) Serp Frame, square bolsters, nail nicks on the same side and only 3.25" Just wish I could sharpen up that small Pen blade decently, it's so tough&awkward.
 
That's the one! The Master Clip blade is really good (knife is excellently made too) but the Pen blade doesn't have a good tip and I can't clamp it into my DMT Aligner very well; too small:mad:
 
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