About the GEC lockbacks

4

.41Dude

Joined
Apr 11, 2004
Messages
187
I have the new Wharncliffe GEC Lockback :D

My son has my old red stag GEC lockback :( (but he loves it)

On a scale of 1-10

1 being sloppy, open with just gravity and 10 being almost impossible to open.

The red stag was about a 3 and my Wharncliffe is about a six.

Most of my bigger GEC's are at about an 8. The ones at 9+ get a new home.

I will not fight them.

Have you guys noticed a big difference in opening effort needed on the new

lockbacks? It is in no way a complaint. Just wondering.
 
My very limited and untutored experience with GEC.

My new GEC Ebony Wharncliffe #72 Mini-Lockback is the easiest, silkiest opening traditional I own, or have ever owned.

I only have two other GECs. They are #25s. Smaller and a little tighter.
 
I've only owned one GEC and its the new Wharny #72 Beaver Tail model. Mine opens very easy and can easily be drop opened by grabbing the blade and letting gravity take the body down to a snap with a nice snap movement of the wrist. I wish the lock up was better so it was rock solid instead of the way it is and I don't know how it rates compared to others of the same model for fit and finish but my blade doesn't meet up flush at the blade/lock bar junction when opened. In fact the blade drops off some and there is a 'ledge' where the lock bar and blade meet. I'm not sure if thats unique to mine or if they are all that way but I'm not sure thats right. The knife works okay and is great for a user. As for opening action though its terrific in that dept!
STR
 
STR said:
I wish the lock up was better so it was rock solid instead of the way it is
Click to expand...

The GEC #72s are some of the nicest current-production traditional lockbacks in my experience in many ways, but tight lockup isn't one of 'em. I've handled half a dozen or so, and they all had a small amount of vertical play, and about half of them had a hint of horizontal play as well.

...my blade doesn't meet up flush at the blade/lock bar junction when opened. In fact the blade drops off some and there is a 'ledge' where the lock bar and blade meet. I'm not sure if thats unique to mine or if they are all that way but I'm not sure thats right.
Click to expand...

They're all like that; another GEC foible that shows up more often than not across the majority of their designs, the #56 Dogleg Jack being the worst offender. There was a recent thread here on the Traditional board about this very problem, and GEC is aware of it.
 
All my GEC slippies take a bit of a grunt to open, and that is half the reason I like them

I don't own a lockback - but o do I desire the posession of a clippoint red stag :)

I'd hope for something like a 3-4 on your scale for opening a lockback - just enough to stop it opening in your pocket and accidentally either speying you or severing an artery when groping for small change
 
I can't comment on the newer ones but I have a burnt orange clip and "smooth as silk" is a great description. It doesn't take much to open. Like STR, I could drop open it if I tried (and I tried as it might be an issue carrying where I live:grumpy:) Since it was brought up, there is slight vertical play but no horizontal play.
 
I suspect that all lockbacks are easier to open than a conventional slipjoint-not using the spring as locking mechanism etc. My GEC 72 opens very smoothly but as others have noted, the lock-up is not as tight as many other lockbacks.Slight side to side play on mine.

Their 73 liner locks show interesting variation in spring tension though. The stag Northfield I regularly use has very satisfying walk, easy to open,no play no gaps. The Tidioute stagbone is a tough character, the spring actually pulls at your nail..not for the faint hearted! Bit too tough even for my taste. This knife also has no blade play or gaps. Neither of them have much step-down/underblade either. In terms of locking knives the 73 is better made and more convincing than the 72
 
I was worried about excessively stiff springs when I got my #25, so I had the dealer (Greg at TSA) hand-pick one that was reasonably mild.
 
Old thread, but maybe the right place for this question: I got a 72 today, and the lockup is so tight I almost need pliers to unlock it. I'd bet money most people couldn't move the lock. Does anyone know of a way to solve that? It was very tight when I first played with it, but after working on the edge some, and oiling it, I swear it just keeps getting tighter and tighter. It's as if there's superglue in the lock. I've never seen a lockback this tight, and I've had too many to count.
 
1581zebra said:
Old thread, but maybe the right place for this question: I got a 72 today, and the lockup is so tight I almost need pliers to unlock it. I'd bet money most people couldn't move the lock. Does anyone know of a way to solve that? It was very tight when I first played with it, but after working on the edge some, and oiling it, I swear it just keeps getting tighter and tighter. It's as if there's superglue in the lock. I've never seen a lockback this tight, and I've had too many to count.
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Jamie if standard methods don't provide relief I think you're better served having your dealer swap it out for you. (This way he can examine before shipping.)

Alternatively, you can ship it to GEC but I'd be less inclined to do so personally.

EDIT TO ADD:

Just re-read that you worked the blade already. That leaves option 2 pretty much if you can't get 'er done.
 
I've never seen a lock like this before, so I've never searched for a solution... what would the standard methods be for relieving it? What I've figured out is that if I put pressure on the spine as I unlock, it's a little easier. The difficulty isn't in the spring, but rather in the lockup itself- like there's superglue in it. Is that likely just the incredibly tight tolerances, and will loosen up with use?

...Okay, I've tried pencil lead, and it's not too bad to use like this. Hopefully in time it will be perfect. Sure can't complain about play in this one.
 
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Sometimes Buck 110s are like that, it's usually grit in the recess in the blade where the lock bar goes in, but I have heard of someone who sent a knife back to Buck because they couldn't close it at all.

If your knife is nice and clean and lubed, then it should probably go back to the dealer for a swap.
 
Blues said:
Jamie if standard methods don't provide relief I think you're better served having your dealer swap it out for you. (This way he can examine before shipping.)

Alternatively, you can ship it to GEC but I'd be less inclined to do so personally.

EDIT TO ADD:

Just re-read that you worked the blade already. That leaves option 2 pretty much if you can't get 'er done.
Click to expand...

I agree with Elliott, but I had a GEC I bought directly from them and it had a loose blade. I had no dealer to work with so I had to send it in for repair. They worked quick, and repaired it beautifully.

If you can't get it replaced from your dealer, I suggest a phone call to GEC and ask then how to proceed. Based on my previous experience I would have no problem sending another in. If I had to.
 
I have a Wharncliffe GEC Lockback in Ebony.
I am very impressed by the knife.
Opens easily and smoothly
Locks well with no blade play
Unlocks easily

The Ebony is quite light, a grey brown with grain showing.
Lovey but not a dark ebony I expected
 
I only have one for comparison, and it came to me used by the previous owner.
It is really smooth opening and closing ,has no horizontal or vertical movement, and locks up very crisply (:confused:)

I like this knife so much, I just got done doing a search for another 72, but with different scales. I was disappointed to see that the only ones I could find, are all Wharrnies. That really killed it for me.
Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough
 
Must be something wrong with that mechanism. I assume you've washed it out with soap/water and run WD-40 through it and a light oiling? Something must be jamming in the lock and I suspect it has to be a build-fault.

GEC have been mooting a SPEAR bladed lockback 72 for a long time now, but it never seems to materialize, pity.....
 
Mike, I sent you a PM with 2 of them that I found...

William, those Spear lockbacks are supposed to be coming. Perhaps in a month or 2? They're working on #53s now (muskrat and stockmen), then the #66 Calf Roper (small stockman), then Court house whittler, THEN the #72 Spears. At least, that the currently posted schedule.
 
A lockback shouldn't, because of its design, be as difficult to open as a slipjoint.
 
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