Will Power
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It's a fine shield that could do with appearing on more of their knives. Here on a 66 Slim in Grey Pearl too.
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GEC 25s - Gots 'em?
- Thread starter pertinux
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Got my first 25 wharncliffe in the mail today. Very interesting blade shape for this pattern. One question though. I was cleaning it up a little and noticed that there is a S in cursive stamped on the front side of the tang. Anyone have any idea what that means?
black mamba
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The S stands for Store, and denotes that it is an EDC model, with some minor lack of fit or finish to keep it from being a first quality knife. Usually the flaws are so small and/or unnoticeable that without the marked tang it would be hard to find. Could be a minor gap, or unmatched covers or an uneven swedge, but does not affect the use of the knife. Dealers usually sell them for about a 30% discount. I actually may have owned that knife at one time, and paid $50 for it when the first quality ones were about $72.
EyeDog
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Might mean a "store" knife. But don't know for sure.
EyeDog
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Well...the S is also almost unnoticed. Both the previous owner who had it for 2-3 years and me a few months NEVER noticed it. I have written to Chris at GEC in hopes she can clarify it. I can't find ANY documentation on the net for the scrolled S. Lots of info on a stamped 2 for a second.
gruntmedik
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I'm pretty sure the S means it is a second. Some sort of cosmetic flaw, however minor.
My 66 is a second, and has the S. It almost looks like a backwards 2. The flaw is when they spun the pin for the backspring on the mark side, it scuffed the handle. Unless you look for it, you wouldn't know it was there.
My 66 is a second, and has the S. It almost looks like a backwards 2. The flaw is when they spun the pin for the backspring on the mark side, it scuffed the handle. Unless you look for it, you wouldn't know it was there.
black mamba
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Mike, I sold mine on 6/14/11 here on the forum, don't remember who bought it. There are usually only a few "S" knives, if any, of a particular run, so I think it pretty likely this was my knife. I never could find a flaw of any kind on it, just thought it too small for me, so moved it on. Maybe knifeswapper will see this thread and comment on the cursive "S."
EyeDog
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Here's from Chris Tucker at GEC:
If we have a knife that has a slight cosmetic flaw to it we will mark it with a S which means Store Only Knife, this is not a second as we mark all second's with a 2 and only sell them to our employees. If the S is a cursive one that would be unusual as we normally use a non-cursive S on the back of the tang. Also, the tube it came in would have a red S on the hand written label that can be found either on the top cap of the tube or on the bottom back of the tube depending on the year it was made. Hope this helps some. If you need anything else just let me know.
Sincerely,
Chris
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So in my humble opinion this is a mystery knife. There is no tube and the fancy "S" does not appear to be normal.
Mike
black mamba
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I'm the previous owner of whom Mike spoke, and I just wanted to chime in and say he is correct - I never noticed the scrolled S either. I know I didn't buy it from Jeff - black mamba - because I've known Jeff for years on this forum and would've remembered if it was from him. If there's a flaw in this particular knife I'd say it must be fairly inconsequential because neither Mike or I noticed it.
In fact, I've owned two knives of this exact model - both with what I'd call excellent F&F. I bought one new when they first came out, but sold it after a year or so. I regretted selling it and bought another one (the knife in question) approximately 2 or 3 years ago. Then I started "lightening the herd" a few months ago, put it up for sale, and Mike bought it from me.
Perhaps this is too much information because it really has no bearing on the mystery of the scrolled S, but I wanted to throw in my $.02 on this particular knife.
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black mamba
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Keith, thanks for the clarification. I wasn't sure mine had the cursive S or not, but the time frame seemed about right. I'm sure I would have remembered if you had bought mine as well. Guess it's still a mystery!
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Hey guys & gals, just for the fun of it I went to GEC's site and it looks like there were 25 unserialized Smooth Oiled Bone Northfield 250109's produced:
http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/2009-PROD-TOTALS-rev-3-8.pdf. Certainly not the most rare of GEC's knives, but pretty low production nonetheless.
But take a look at some of the other production numbers for these early GEC's!!!
.. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 pieces total production!!!
http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/2009-PROD-TOTALS-rev-3-8.pdf. Certainly not the most rare of GEC's knives, but pretty low production nonetheless.
But take a look at some of the other production numbers for these early GEC's!!!
.. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 pieces total production!!!
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I don't remember if this one came to me in the tube or not, Mike. I scoured the house looking for the tube when I sold it to you, but no luck. I don't keep my GEC knives in the tube, and usually store the empty tubes in a couple baskets or boxes in "my area" of the house. But I've occasionally found them out in the garage, or buried in a cabinet somewhere, etc. So I'm guessing this one probably didn't come to me in the tube. I don't remember who I bought it from.
The cursive "S" looks pretty fancy, and it apparently isn't normal for GEC to use that style. The mystery continues ...
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AKC
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Actually, without being able to see it closer, it does appear to match the cursive style of the older bolster serial numbers.
There's also the reasonably unobtrusive location to consider...
