GEC #72 and a #12 arrived today - first impressions (not impressed with the #72)

Humppa

Humppa

Joined
Jul 25, 2010
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Ladies and Gentlemen!

Today I got two great knives from GEC. Not the ForumKnife but a #72 Lockback and a #12 Powderhorn Jack.

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As you can see, the #72 is made of Ebony wood and the #12 is made of Copperhead Jigged Bone. I wanted a Copperhead Jigged Bone the first I saw it here :) And I don´t have a GEC in Ebony, so I thought why not?

A qickshot of the the ebony wood - the grain is not good to see, but the wood is great looking!

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The Copperhead Jigged Bone is as nice as I imagined. I really love it!

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The F&F on both knives is great. Especially the #12 is made near to perfect. No blade play, no gaps or whatever. Centered blades and everything is fitted well together.
The #72 has a little flaw... there´s a gap between the liner and the backspring/lock. When moving the tip of the blade, there´s minor blade play. It´s not as bad as on my #73, but it´s still there. It seems, I have no luck with singleblades GECs. :(
Til now it doesn´t bother me that much, but it´s not really ok.

Maybe it´s visible on the following two pics

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Size comparison to today´s fellow ;)

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The centered blades on both knives - the bladeplay on the #72 is not bad, but it might become a problem in the future

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Thanks for watching. I´m looking forward hearing your opinions :)
 
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What's the Band-Aid for? :p
:D

Nice looking knives Andi...I'll be looking forward to how you like using that Powderhorn! Nice bone on that one.
Enjoy 'em!
 
Andi....

The Powderhorn in Copperhead is beautiful...I remember when they first came out..never purchased one though instead when for other #12's and I have to say they're extremely comfortable in the hand and at the same time providing a larger blade to accomplish pretty much all tasks...
 
I really like ebony handled knives, and yours is no exception, but that copperhead jigged bone is just amazing!
 
love that ebony lockback! congrats on the purchase
my wife seems to think every new knife i got for awhile was accompanied with a trip to walgreens to get bandaids:D hopefully yours isnt the result of one of these
only happened twice i swear;)
excellent pictures and congrats
gene
 
Great looking knives Andi!! I like the #12 Jack, I need to get one one of these days. I'm sorry to hear about the #72 though. It does seem to be a common problem with that model. Is the blade play side to side or up and down? Or both? I've heard and have all of these on the #72 and can't recommend them to someone who wants a tight knife unless GEC changes thins in the future like it looks like they did with the #65 lockback. Can't comment on the #42 as I don't have one.
 
Congrats on the knives, Andy! You have good taste as both are beautiful.

Blade play and gaps...GEC should send you a new knife and let you send this one back, as I'm sure it was a pretty penny in shipping.
 
Thank you guys, for your replies. :)

@duane & gene: This band-aid I put on my thump because I got bitten by a cat. Not bad, but I don´t want an infection. It didn´t happen during sharping or using knives... just playing with a cat :p

@ Trand & Gevonovich: The blade play is from side to side and it might be cause because of the gap at the liner. About an up and down play - I haven´t realized it, yet. I thought, a spearblade lockback would be nice addition to my rotation. The gap is a little big, but the play is reall minor and hardly to realize. I bought it from a retailer that ships to Europe, not directly from GEC. Though the shipping wasn´t that much, but the wait is the worst, everytime. ;)
I´ve read about that pattern, that there might be some problems with blade play, but just after ordering it :( I would have made another decision. If it gets worse, I could have done a quick fix by my own, as well as I have done it with my #73.
 
NICE ones Andi!
Was the bite from a k55k Cat? :D
You should have my parcel soon!!
 
I´ve just tested the #72 ... now I´m not amused at all... :mad:

I cut some bread and a sausage for dinner. Then I looked at the gap between the liner and the backspring on both sides - this is result: The light is good visible through the gap and blade play is getting worse.

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I did definitelly do no prying work or whatever to the blade.

I should use a vice, leather belt and a metal hammer to use it for the pivot pin...

Sending it back would also be an option. But the wait would last very long.
 
Gevonovich said:
Congrats on the knives, Andy! You have good taste as both are beautiful.

Blade play and gaps...GEC should send you a new knife and let you send this one back, as I'm sure it was a pretty penny in shipping.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: They should let you keep the current 72 on top of it.
 
I purchased a Beaver Tail 73 not too long ago. Should have sent it back the same day I got it but didn't. Wish I had. Sent it basck to GEC but since I had rounded off the corners of the tang it was out of warranty.
I won't be buying any more GEC products.
 
Whitedog - I had (propably) the same problem with my #73 Beaver Tail. It was easy to fix up, after some help from Kevin. Here´s the link http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...C-73-and-blade-play-and-gaps-*Problem-solved*

I don´t want to place bad mood against GEC, but it happens already two time in one year, that a GEC came with blade play. However, that´s not great. I gonna fix my #72 in the same way and see what will happen. Maybe I gonna write GEC an Email about what has happened. It can happen, of course. Nobody is perfect.

I´m a little annoyed right now. Maybe tomorrow and on beer more, and I´ll fine again :)
 
Andi, be careful if you try tightening up that knife. Compared to regular slippies, lockback springs are substantially weaker. This is done so you can actually depress the lockbar without using a vice grip and two hands. Because of this the tightness of the liners against the lockbar and blade is very critical. If you were to make it as snug as a slipjoint, you'd render the knife useless since the bar and or blade would be too bound up to move smoothly with the pressure that the spring produces. It's common for many makers to purposely leave a slight gap for just this reason, especially on a large knife with a long lockbar. The greater distance between the center pin and the blade pin leaves a lot of room for a slight bend or twist in the bar to wreak havoc on an overly tight knife. The blade wobble is another story, just to be on the safe side if you can slide an .005 or so shim between the liner and the blade tang/lockbar before you tighten it, you'll avoid making it too tight.

Eric
 
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Eric!

Thank you a lot for this advice! I could hardly sleep that night, went up and looked at the knife for some time. I won´t put my paws on it for repairing.

I made a decision - I gonna send it back to GEC - though I don´t know how this usually done in the US, sending it back to the retailer or directly to GEC? I mean, it´s not the retailer´s fault that the knife has these problems.

For sure, this will cause extra cost and a long long wait - but I don´t wanna put any damage on it and loose the warranty.
 
Nice #12, sorry about the other... I just received my GEC Northfield Missouri Trader #42 copperhead jig bone, lock back (see link below), and it does not have the space issue or blade play you mentioned on your #72. Best I can tell, your knife should not have these issues and can function normally with all the parts fitting perfectly/ tightly. Good luck man, at least you have the #12 to use until the other comes back.

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog...09/421112lb-MS-Trader-copperhead-jig-bone.jpg
 
Hi Andi, gaps I can put up with, blade play is a different story though, I think you are doing the right thing in sending it back. Imho I think they are striking looking knives!
 
Hello Andi, I regret to hear of your lockback's problems. However, it's very right that this gets aired, many of us like GEC knives, yet not telling it how it is leads to fanboyism and uncritical worship. This inhibits objective discussion, never good.

In the other thread I would say that my hope is that GEC delivers knives that have minimal or no gaps, all my GEC knives are like this EXCEPT the 72 lockback I had! Certainly Eric's point about lockback springs is important and I think lockbacks unless machined to very exacting tolerances are likely to suffer from inherent gaps or play. It appears that quite a few people have been less than satisfied with their 72 knives. Could it be that GEC can't master the production techniques for this type of knife? Maybe. Interestingly, their liner lock 73s don't seem to have these problems. Both of mine are tight and gap-free, possibly because they can retain the strong slipjoint spring as well as the linerlock. Most traditional lockbacks seem to have some play or gaps. A Japanese Moki I have is flawless in all actions and oddly enough a Chinese Schrade OT-3 is also tight&gap free (opening action is a bit coarse though).

I hope you get a replacement or opt for a single blade Toothpick perhaps?

All the best, Will
 
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