...And a large Coke. GEC 97 Thread!

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@Augie The old Ulster in this picture saw lots of use in it's day, the blade is worn and wobbles when open. The pull is light but I suspect it's partly due to how hard it was used. In large coke bottles and hunters I have 6 old ones of different brands. They all have different pulls and range from one nail breaker to the light pull Ulster. I prefer the ones that aren't quite nail breakers but close.

 

I gather it's hard to take a nail nick off, Jack!?!
Besides, judging from a good percentage of the old Coke Bottles I have seen, that second nick is very traditional!
Mind you, it was designed to give you leverage to overcome the resistance of strong springs!!
Hmmmmmmmm. . . . . . . . .

 

or not cut a nail nick, these things are pinchable! bah tradition!

 

Now that would be a Knife To Have !!!!

Harry

 

My Ebony 97 arrived today...… I flushed & lubed it and although not a wrist breaker, it goes through all the stops fine...….. F&F is excellent..... Absolutely nothing upsetting to cause my brow to furrow or neck veins to pop...….. Apologies for the nasty photography...… I should have shot an 18% grey card with my bat phone before snapping these...... I'll shoot some better glossies tomorrow in the soft Rochester sky...…...

 

I received mine. The knife is flawless in fit and finish. It is everything I had hoped it would be except for the pull. From closed to half-stop is maybe a light 3. From half-stop to open it is a 0.5. I would buy it again in a heartbeat and will buy other variations, but I'd be dishonest if I didn't admit that the W/T is a little disappointing.

 

Got my NF Ebony 97 today. First off, what a beautiful knife. The fit and finish is near perfect, the covers beautiful, the lined bolsters, and that blade.... I too have to knock it a little on the pull. I did soak it in mineral oil and work the action for a while and it improved, alot of grime came out. The action is now very smooth, all the stops now thwack, but, the pull is a little less than this knife deserves. Mine is better than my 43s. Overall really liking this pattern.

 

You're testing my knife buying hiatus will power Charlie! I've got a wedding and honeymoon to pay for and all my leftover knife money is getting saved for the Rendezvous... But man does that shield (is it called the federal?) and blackwood really kick the #97 up into stratosphere levels of classy and classic.

But it's so historically accurate! How do you like the saber grind?

What a pair!

 

Got my Tidioute in bone today. As others have said, it is a nicely constructed knife but I am not sure I can get past the weak pulls and less than crisp action. On a knife of this size it is a joke. The #81 Moose was bad enough and this one is even more disappointing. I have been looking forward to this release for 10 years now and to see it turn out like this is very sad. It sure the heck isn’t a #23 or a #73 and not even equal in action to a #14. On the plus side, the action certainly is smooth and this is perhaps the sharpest GEC I have ever received. Flushed and washed it up and it helped with kitchen duties tonite and performed quite well. Shame to have to relegate a large coke bottle hunter to kitchen duty.....

 

I was waiting to see the reports about the pulls before purchasing and it looks like I’ll be putting this $100 towards something else. I didn’t like the light pulls on the 43 and this release doesn’t sound any better. Seems GEC can’t find the happy medium with some knives.

 

Lots of reports on the pull strength, but can anyone report on the presence of blade rap?

 

I let mine snap closed several times while flushing the joint and did not notice any.

 

Those knives look great! I'm waiting for my Yellow Rose. Does anybody know if the blade will be etched with the Yellow Rose logo? I'd be pretty disappointed if it's not...Being relatively new to traditionals, what is meant by "flushing and lubing" and "soaking" in mineral oil?

 

The pivots on factory knives always seems to have some leftover crud in them. It helps to flush the pivot out and lube it as it can cure a lazy or gritty feeling action. A popular lube is mineral oil because it’s cheap and food safe.

 

I got my Ebony 97 in yesterday and the weather has finally cleared enough for me to take a couple of pictures and get to know the knife a little better.

First off, like others have mentioned, this is truly a very fine knife. I wasn't sure what to expect with this knife, thinking that it was going to be a little big for my tastes and that I might find the light pull to be a bit off-putting. Originally planning on getting two (one Tidioute and one Northfield), I decided to only go with one and depending on how my relationship with this knife grows, I might consider scooping another up in the near future.

Some initial thoughts after playing with it for a day.

• Fit and Finish: Overall rather remarkable, even for GEC. Everything is seamless and smooth, not a single flaw to be found. Even with GEC's propensity towards sunken pins on smooth covers, the ones on this knife, though still domed, are still pretty close to flush (aside from the one). No crud or dust is going to collect in there. This knife is truly a marvel in the hand, very, very pleasant to handle.
• Walk & Talk/Pull: This is what the biggest complaints have been about, particularly in regards to the pulls. After a cleaning and some working of the pivot, the walk & talk is simply a delight. Smooth as butter, springy, and satisfying snaps at the open, closed, and half stop positions. The pull is indeed rather light, especially for a knife of this size. However, I don't find it irksome for some reason. The recent 46 sported a rather obnoxiously stiff pull and that was one of the biggest deciding factors in me moving it along to someone else. This 97 will not meet that fate, I find it very pleasing.
• Covers: With any black wood, particularly Ebony, there is always the risk of getting brown or black/brown covers. I was prepared to appreciate whatever ended up in my hands but I was still rather pleased to get some nice Black Ebony. Smooth, lustrous, and buttery to the touch, these covers are just a pure pleasure to have in hand and look at.
• Blade: I was initially a bit skeptical of a saber ground blade with double pulls but I figured it was unique enough to try it out and I am rather glad I did. The blade stock is rather robust, feeling even stouter than that of my departed 46, but that could simply be the nature of the grind. It is a knife that is meant to work and work hard and I think it will be more than capable of meeting that challenge. It will not be the efficient slicer that a blade with a full flat grind will be, but it will cut and it will do so just fine.

My overall impressions with this knife are very favorable and I am glad that I took the risk and acquired one. I look forward to seeing how it holds up with use, carry, and my ever evolving knife interests.

Another random thought. Someone mentioned somewhat recently that GEC does not resize their shields. Well, I am pretty certain that my eyes are not playing tricks on me but there is a picture below of my 97 and a 78. Same shield, different sizes... I hope this can bode well for our forum knife.

 

beautiful pictures of a beautiful knife @Pàdruig and nice comparison picture of the shields

The blade on the #97 is the same as on the #98, so I'm not surprised that it feels stout.

 

Awesome pictures. My ebony 97 is on the way now. Seeing all of these pictures has me chomping at the bit to get it. Can't wait. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.

 

Thanks, Logan. I have not had the pleasure of checking out a 98 but that is certainly interesting to hear about the blade. I know the 98s are big knives but this comparison certainly puts that into perspective.

Thank you! And welcome to the forums. I hope you enjoy the 97 when it arrives, I feel it is a rather fine knife but I do think it fits a certain niche. It is easily the biggest slipjoint I own, even bigger than the 21 Bull Buster, I think. But such knives are built to work and I hope the opportunity will arise frequently to do just that with them.

 

That Ulster's a real Behemoth, size of a moderate Dinosaur

Shackle alone looks like it weighs 500g/a Pound

 

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@L.H.S I think you'll find that's a Banner shield? Big spectacular shield especially suited to a big wooden handle, also found on Congress type patterns, large Bareheads etc.

Regards, Will