2020 GEC #62 Easy Pocket Congress and Pocket Carver Thread

Ju
hornetguy said:
:( While I was whittling while ago, I noticed that both of the secondaries on my red/black carver are loose. One is worse than the other, but both of them have side to side wobble. The main blade is still tight.
Has anyone else noticed this, or am I the "lucky one" ?
I wouldn't think this is something that we should expect from these carvers... at least I hope not...
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Just opened my red and black micarta .... both secondaries have a lot of side play. The brass liners have a rough finish. The machining of the backspring inside the blade well is pretty uneven. Returning the knife for store credit.
 
hornetguy said:
To those "Dougies" out there... he did get his carver, a white bone, and he was asked about it. He hesitated, then said he was spoiled by the Helvie knives, because of the thin blades. He said he really liked the Pocket Carver, but the only drawback was the thicker blade. Everything else he said about it amounted to glowing praise. Great knife, beautifully made, top quality, etc....
He did mention he might get someone to slim down the main blade for him...
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Yes, I saw that too. Nothing Doug said was untrue, I too am spoiled by the purpose built carving knives (I'm using Drake Drake knives right now). The reason I got/am excited and bought several of the PCs is from the ease of carry a pocket knife affords over the fixed carving knife.

Yes the blade is thicker however I have been able to accomplish everything I do with my carving knives with my PC. The difference is it takes more time and more cuts. (Doug is a fast carver) My experience has been that because I am almost forced to slow down it improves my finished work because I am taking my time and not rushing.

I never expected the PC to replace my carving knives but rather be another option and for sure be my carving knife on the go. Which reminds me I need to find out where my natural line PC is, excuse me I have to go send an email. ;)
 
:D:D when my muslin arrives (today, I think), then I'll decide whether to add the natural. I still need to contact GEC about my wobbly red/black secondaries. I figured I'd wait a short while to let them get back up and going. It appears they have done that.

and since this thread is worthless without pics.... here is my second little hillbilly, done with the white bone PC... the youngest grand girl helped me paint the first hillbilly, and it now belongs to her. I think she's going to call him "Rudy", for obvious reasons...

j3YPRr.jpg
j3YfpF.jpg
 
My muslin DID arrive today... just a few minutes ago.
My observations.... this is not their best effort. The blades are fine, no rubbing, or obvious flaws there.
The micarta has a lot of polishing compound embedded in it... it's worse than my unicorn ivory was. It is especially bad on the rounded ends of the knife.
The edges of the handles are pretty square... I will have to do my field modification on it before trying to carve with it. I can see it producing hot spots and blisters pretty quickly, the way it is.
It has relatively strong pulls. The main is probably a 6-61/2, and the mark side secondary is likely an 8. This could be due to polishing compound left in it, as it is sluggish in operation. I'll know more about it after I flush it out some.

Like I said... this one is not their best effort. It is still a very nice knife, especially for the price point. The Case seahorse, and other 3 blade whittlers are about the same price ... and the PC is a much better carving knife, IMHO, of course. I'm looking forward to seeing other muslins... to see if mine is the anomaly.

j3o4Z3.jpg
j3oKs0.jpg
 
hornetguy said:
My muslin DID arrive today... just a few minutes ago.
My observations.... this is not their best effort. The blades are fine, no rubbing, or obvious flaws there.
The micarta has a lot of polishing compound embedded in it... it's worse than my unicorn ivory was. It is especially bad on the rounded ends of the knife.
The edges of the handles are pretty square... I will have to do my field modification on it before trying to carve with it. I can see it producing hot spots and blisters pretty quickly, the way it is.
It has relatively strong pulls. The main is probably a 6-61/2, and the mark side secondary is likely an 8. This could be due to polishing compound left in it, as it is sluggish in operation. I'll know more about it after I flush it out some.

Like I said... this one is not their best effort. It is still a very nice knife, especially for the price point. The Case seahorse, and other 3 blade whittlers are about the same price ... and the PC is a much better carving knife, IMHO, of course. I'm looking forward to seeing other muslins... to see if mine is the anomaly.

j3o4Z3.jpg
j3oKs0.jpg
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. I was thinking about getting a natural linen but I may hold off to see some observations first.
 
Wharn said:
Sorry to hear that. I was thinking about getting a natural linen but I may hold off to see some observations first.
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I’ll update you with my thoughts when my natural linen Micarta arrives sometime next week.
 
hornetguy said:
My muslin DID arrive today... just a few minutes ago.
My observations.... this is not their best effort. The blades are fine, no rubbing, or obvious flaws there.
The micarta has a lot of polishing compound embedded in it... it's worse than my unicorn ivory was. It is especially bad on the rounded ends of the knife.
The edges of the handles are pretty square... I will have to do my field modification on it before trying to carve with it. I can see it producing hot spots and blisters pretty quickly, the way it is.
It has relatively strong pulls. The main is probably a 6-61/2, and the mark side secondary is likely an 8. This could be due to polishing compound left in it, as it is sluggish in operation. I'll know more about it after I flush it out some.

Like I said... this one is not their best effort. It is still a very nice knife, especially for the price point. The Case seahorse, and other 3 blade whittlers are about the same price ... and the PC is a much better carving knife, IMHO, of course. I'm looking forward to seeing other muslins... to see if mine is the anomaly.

j3o4Z3.jpg
j3oKs0.jpg
Click to expand...
That’s pretty normal with the Muslin as far as black specks. I think it looks nice but hey what do I know :)
 
I am hoping that the linen have contouring similar to the black/red models as they appear to show similar layering? I will be a little disappointed if they are slab sided like the muslin.
 
JohnDF said:
I would NOT expect a F&F version to be as well "polished".


I would expect a F&F version to be a bit cheaper... Perhaps you are getting used to inflated prices. ;)
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Yes, I agree. I did not intend for my comments to sound like a complaint...:oops: I don't expect a F&F to be as nicely finished out as even a Tidioute, much less a Northfield... I was looking at the difference in the handle shaping among the F&F's. The black and red micarta is very nicely rounded... almost sleek looking. The orange delrin is not quite as rounded, but the edges are all smooth, no sharpness to them at all. The muslin is just different. The slabs are almost flat, with a very slight taper at the ends, and almost no taper along the edges. It just leaves it feeling sort of "square" in hand.
I plan to "melt" the edges of mine, to make it more comfortable to use.. and it doesn't bother me at all to do that. The F&F's are intended to be a lower priced version of GEC's knives, with a corresponding lower level of "finish".
I did much the same thing with my 71 F&F bullnose, to make it more "usable" for me. :)

I appreciate the fact that GEC DOES make the lower priced versions... fully functional knives without the "sparkly" features. :thumbsup:
 
JohnDF said:
Do they really (any more)???
GEC F&F #62... ~$88.00 and GEC Tidioute #62... ~$89.00
I think people are just getting used to the ever increasing prices of all GEC knives.
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The only pocket carvers in the "higher" grades I saw (and bought) were both just over $100 at the dealers.. and the F&F's were just over $80. Was the Tidioute you quoted a regular 2 blade 62 easy pocket? I think the extra blade on the PC's raises the price a little bit, at both ends of the spectrum.
 
hornetguy said:
The only pocket carvers in the "higher" grades I saw (and bought) were both just over $100 at the dealers.. and the F&F's were just over $80. Was the Tidioute you quoted a regular 2 blade 62 easy pocket? I think the extra blade on the PC's raises the price a little bit, at both ends of the spectrum.
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You are correct... two blade vs 3 blade.
Still, close to $100.00 for a F&F seems like a substantial increase.
I'm going to bet that it won't be long before all their retail prices are well over $100.00.
I'm not saying they aren't worth it, there's certainly not anything else in that price range that compares.
 
JohnDF said:
You are correct... two blade vs 3 blade.
Still, close to $100.00 for a F&F seems like a substantial increase.
I'm going to bet that it won't be long before all their retail prices are well over $100.00.
I'm not saying they aren't worth it, there's certainly not anything else in that price range that compares.
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I've been noticing that as well. I suspect you are spot on with the prediction.
Although, it seems that Case knives are going up slightly, as well.. just not at the same rate as the GEC's appear to be.

As an official curmudgeon (old fart) it adds spice to life, to be able to say... "well, I remember when we used to go to the movies for 50 cents... and I bought gasoline during 'gas wars' for 19.9 cents... it was about 30 cents, regularly..."
 
hornetguy said:
"well, I remember when we used to go to the movies for 50 cents... and I bought gasoline during 'gas wars' for 19.9 cents... it was about 30 cents, regularly..."
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and we used to buy GEC knives for $75.00 ;)
I'll make one more prediction... When Lionsteel starts using pin construction, GEC will be in trouble. :D
 
JohnDF said:
and we used to buy GEC knives for $75.00 ;)
I'll make one more prediction... When Lionsteel starts using pin construction, GEC will be in trouble. :D
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They DO make nice knives.. although, they are not any cheaper than the GEC's... the advantage, if any, they have is that they use stainless steels in many of their knives, and lots of folks prefer stainless. I hope to keep buying and using both brands, along with Case, and the higher end Bucks for quite some time.
 
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