Flush or don't flush GEC?

J

joepa150

Joined
Mar 15, 2010
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350
I just received my first GEC knife. A "Charlow" in ebony wood. It is beautiful (Thanks Charlie). I can open and close it without a problem and I would say the pull is a 5-6.

I just was wondering if I should or if I would benefit from "flushing" it out.
Also should I just dip in in a bowl of soapy water or pour dish detergent in the joints and inside and then run it under warm water?
 
I'd say go ahead and flush. It can't hurt, and puting some oil in the joint can only do good. Oil it and work the blade back and forth a bit and see if any black stuff comes out. I don't have experience with GEC to make any predictions, but Case is famous for lots of gunk flushing out when cleaned. The only knives I've ever seen come to the customer without a load of gunk in the joints was Victorinox.

Flush the heck out of it and oil the joints. Can't hurt anything.

Carl.
 
jackknife said:
I'd say go ahead and flush. It can't hurt, and puting some oil in the joint can only do good. Oil it and work the blade back and forth a bit and see if any black stuff comes out. I don't have experience with GEC to make any predictions, but Case is famous for lots of gunk flushing out when cleaned. The only knives I've ever seen come to the customer without a load of gunk in the joints was Victorinox.

Flush the heck out of it and oil the joints. Can't hurt anything.

Carl.
Click to expand...

Oiling the joints is self explanatory but when you say flush, any optimal way of doing that? Should I use dish detergent and water and open and close the blade to work the gunk out. Then dry, oil, and open and close blade to get more gunk out?
 
I usually go with very warm water and Dawn dish detergent and an old toothbrush. Scrub out the inside well, and work the blade back and forth when covered with soapy water. Oh, please, duct tape the blade before you start. Working a blade back and forth covered in slick soapy water is NOT good for fingers!

After it's bath, dry well, and oil the joint lightly. Should be good to go.

Carl.

Edit to add- you can also use WD-40 to flush. It works well as a sovent to flush out the infamous black gunk. Then after you get all the WD-40 off the knife, just a drop of gun oil on the joints. Either way works.
 
I can't remember ever using soap and water to flush out my slipjoints. Whenever I get a new knife I place a few drops of oil in the pivot area and work the blades open and closed for awhile. Wipe off the black stuff and repeat as necessary. I've yet to find a slipjoint whose walk-and-talk wasn't improved by this procedure.

- Christian
 
I like to flood any new knife (or grungy old one) with WD-40, work the blades enough to dissolve any grime and then blow them out with compressed air.
 
I think the trick to the WD40 is the compressed air after...the shellac like residue left behind by WD40 when it dries is terrible.
 
I think I'm going to try this too. The only thing is that I really love the action on my new knife. I'm not sure that it won't drastically change it and make me regret doing it.

One thing I noticed right away. When I opened it for the very first time using the nail nick my fingernail had a lot of black grease under it. I had to clean the nicks out really well. Reminded me of my Chinese SKS assault rifles and their abundance of cosmoline. ;)
 
jackknife said:
I usually go with very warm water and Dawn dish detergent and an old toothbrush. Scrub out the inside well, and work the blade back and forth when covered with soapy water. Oh, please, duct tape the blade before you start. Working a blade back and forth covered in slick soapy water is NOT good for fingers!

After it's bath, dry well, and oil the joint lightly. Should be good to go.

Carl.

Edit to add- you can also use WD-40 to flush. It works well as a sovent to flush out the infamous black gunk. Then after you get all the WD-40 off the knife, just a drop of gun oil on the joints. Either way works.
Click to expand...


+1 on this method. I usually use either WD40 or Kanie Kroil, tape the blades, and with blades at half-stop flood the inside of the knife. Holding the knife over a bowl or a sink, I work the knife between half-stop to quarter-open, and half-stop to three-quarter open, giving it a solid shake at quarter and three-quarter open positions. Black gunk comes out in quantity at first. Once it comes out clear, I blow it out with compressed air, wipe down, and apply a drop of CLP or mineral oil (whichever I find first) at the pivots. Works a charm for me :D
 
kamagong said:
I can't remember ever using soap and water to flush out my slipjoints. Whenever I get a new knife I place a few drops of oil in the pivot area and work the blades open and closed for awhile. Wipe off the black stuff and repeat as necessary. I've yet to find a slipjoint whose walk-and-talk wasn't improved by this procedure.

- Christian
Click to expand...

This is all I have ever done to a knife. Works well for me so far.
 
joepa150 said:
I just received my first GEC knife. A "Charlow" in ebony wood. It is beautiful (Thanks Charlie). I can open and close it without a problem and I would say the pull is a 5-6.

I just was wondering if I should or if I would benefit from "flushing" it out.
Also should I just dip in in a bowl of soapy water or pour dish detergent in the joints and inside and then run it under warm water?
Click to expand...

If it's opening and closing with no problem and the pull is a 5-6, put a drop or two of oil on the joints and let it go at that. It'll work itself in in a short time just fine. Personally, I see no reason to subject it to a hot water bath with soap.
 
I can't imagine that it would hurt anything. That polishing compound can be stubborn stuff and the heat and detergent of warm water and soap or the solvent of wd40 can clean things out and smooth em up.

I actually do both, using the wd to help dry the knife.
 
joepa150 said:
I just received my first GEC knife. A "Charlow" in ebony wood. It is beautiful (Thanks Charlie). I can open and close it without a problem and I would say the pull is a 5-6.

I just was wondering if I should or if I would benefit from "flushing" it out.
Also should I just dip in in a bowl of soapy water or pour dish detergent in the joints and inside and then run it under warm water?
Click to expand...

I've never thought about 'flushing' a new knife before, but it makes great sense to me. Looks like I'll be doing some 'flushing' of my knives in the future!

By the way, can you share a photo of your new ebony Charlow? I have a small handful of the Charlow ebonies and I enjoy them immensely.
 
This certainly wouldn't be an option for all knives due to cover material, but on one particularly gritty knife that just wouldn't seem to clean up, I boiled it in soapy water on the stove for about 15 minutes. When I let it cool, rinsed it out, and oiled it again, it was as smooth as glass. YMMV...
 
I did it before when dying changing the color of knives and it never hurt anything. Of course, this wouldn't be a good idea for wooden covered knives, I think.
 
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^^^ that still takes a lot of guts! Especially that first time I would be watching it closely to make sure it was not coming apart
 
With a wood-handled folder, I'd flush it (gently) with WD-40. Use the supplied 'straw' with the WD-40 to focus the spray directly into the pivot, and try to keep the spray volume down. Keep working the pivot, after spritzing the WD-40 into it, and wipe down excess from the handle. The little bit of WD-40 that does contact the wood won't hurt it (it leaves some light mineral oil behind, which helps to keep it from drying excessively).

I generally avoid the use of soap/detergent & water on unstabilized wood handles, just to minimize the chances of expansion/contraction/drying out. If they do get wet, be sure to oil the wood a little after it dries out. I see no reason to otherwise immerse the knife in water with soap, if only the pivot needs a little flushing out. Not worried about that with bone or synthetics, but wood can be more vulnerable to shrinking & cracking, if it isn't varnished/sealed/stabilized or well-oiled. Not to mention, water absorbed into dry, untreated wood will be trapped there for a while, which may exacerbate rusting issues.


David
 
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