GEC #73 Flat Spot & Stain

AFAustin · Jan 18, 2012

Thanks to a lot of praise and excellent comments I've read on the GEC #73 Scout, I pulled the trigger and am now the proud owner of a beautiful single blade Northfield model in Cocobolo. As comments in other threads have suggested, I believe it's one of the newer ones in that the pull is strong but quite manageable. It looks great, feels great in hand, has a very useful blade shape, and has taken a very nice edge (the factory edge was pretty fair to begin with). Still trying to decide if I like the swedge---it looks good and might help a bit with slicing, but can dig into my finger a bit when closing the knife.

So, I really like this knife and can see why it's received so many accolades. It has two small issues regarding which I would appreciate advice.

First, it has developed a small flat spot, approx. beneath the "Mark" (in "Trade Mark"), which I imagine is from the edge bouncing off the rise in the backspring due to the pin. I don't want to try and flatten/extend the kick because that would lift the point out to where it's exposed a little when closed. So, I guess my remedies are: (1) grind down the blade a little more, and (2) ease the blade more gently when closing, rather than letting it fly and bounce off the spring (which can be a bother and easy to forget).

Second, I notice some brown stain on the light colored padding that the knife rests on in my knife drawer. I hadn't noticed this before and so am fairly certain it came from the Scout. Is there a stain on the Cocobolo that would rub off a bit like this?

I would appreciate any insight or advice on these two small issues.

Thanks very much.

Andrew

Obsessed with Edges · Jan 18, 2012

That flat spot on the blade can likely be eliminated with a re-sharpening or two. More often than not, unless the blade is smacking the backspring real hard, just a little bit of metal removal by sharpening will fix the problem. If not, I remember seeing another thread here recently, from a member who had the same issue (I think with a 73 pattern). He sent it back to GEC, and they fixed it up right.

Here's that thread --->: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/888677-GEC-73-Problem

The possible staining from the cocobolo might be verified by wiping down the handles scales with some oil-based wood polish or something similar. If there's excessive stain in the wood, it'll show up on a rag with a little polish on it. This happens a lot with dyed bone scales. They can be cleaned up by wiping down with alcohol or WD-40. With wood, I think some sort of oil-based furniture treatment might be safer. You might not even need to use that. Some periodic wipe-downs with a clean cloth might take care of it. Whatever residual stain/oil that's left, I'd bet it'll cure or otherwise dry out in time.

AFAustin · Jan 18, 2012

David, thanks for the reply and excellent advice. I actually had read that thread you referenced some time ago, but just re-read it---very helpful discussion.

Andrew

lambertiana · Jan 19, 2012

I have the same issue with one of my 73s, but it doesn't happen if I ease the blade closed.

I doubt there is any stain in the wood, cocobolo is normally not stained or finished with any coating. But it is a very oily wood.

avoidspam · Jan 19, 2012

I had a flatspot problem with by Scagel Fruitport. As the knife has a halfstop I would close the knife to the halfstop before holding the blade and bringing the handle to the blade. That way your fingers on the blade act as a natural stop for the handle as it closes. Hope this makes sense! After a few sharpens the problem has gone

Sam

avoidspam · Jan 19, 2012

Lovely looking knife BTW

Obsessed with Edges · Jan 19, 2012

lambertiana said:
I have the same issue with one of my 73s, but it doesn't happen if I ease the blade closed.

I doubt there is any stain in the wood, cocobolo is normally not stained or finished with any coating. But it is a very oily wood.

That thought crossed my mind, too. I sort of doubted the wood was deliberately stained/colored with something, but the natural oils in it might be an issue, until it dries out sufficiently (and I'm confident it will, eventually). Might also be some fine wood dust caked into the grain, from sanding & finishing, if the scales weren't cleaned sufficiently before the knife was shipped.

AFAustin · Jan 19, 2012

Thanks, gents, for the posts. I did wipe down the scales, but no color came off on the cloth, so whatever it was, it's gone.

Some extra sharpening seems to have taken care of the flat spot, but I'm being a little careful closing it as well. Pretty soon, I'll likely go back to closing it in the usual fashion, so that'll be a better test.

Thanks again.

Andrew