GEC #77 Medium Barlow Impressions

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r8shell said:
Waiting for Wednesday, too. I'm not so thrilled with how pink the Elderberries look, but I'm hoping I like mine when I see it in person. Trying not to be jealous of the Ironwoods. I'm happy to have gotten one at all.
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I’m in the same boat. My elderberry is scheduled to arrive Wednesday, ironwood was the cover I was really hoping for, and the lighter elderberries don’t thrill me.

I’ll just have to wait and see what I get, and if it speaks to me. I’m still quite excited that my standby panned out, and I’m eagerly awaiting the mailman’s arrival Wednesday! :D
 
r8shell said:
Waiting for Wednesday, too. I'm not so thrilled with how pink the Elderberries look, but I'm hoping I like mine when I see it in person. Trying not to be jealous of the Ironwoods. I'm happy to have gotten one at all.
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The saw cut was the only one I tried for. I love desert ironwood but used on a Barlow it didn’t do anything for me. I’m just crossing my fingers that the red is dark and most of the black is not buffed off.
 
BearBug said:
Very pleased with these. I love the ironwood and my daughter called dibs on the pinkberry which is growing on me. I showed a pic of square versus round butt. I personally prefer the round but I think I'm the minority. I like how they melt in your hand, not in your mouth
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Love the "heartwood" (is that what we call it?) on your DI barlow. I saw one like this in the "what's happening" production pictures and drooled.:thumbsup:
 
Pàdruig said:
Well, as promised, here are some thoughts and more than a few pictures regarding the Northfield #77 Barlow.

I was one of the rather fortunate souls to secure not only one, but three reservations. I really was only interested in two, but the two I wanted were the first and the last to be drawn so I threw my name in the picker so that I might have possible trade fodder in the event that I came up short on the final drawing. Fortune smiled upon me and I managed to secure the two that I wanted as well as an additional one. I was able to obtain one in the Red Sawcut, the Desert Ironwood, and the Elderberry Camel Bone.

Initial impressions of this knife are favorable. It has some excellent heft to it, it feels really good in hand and those of you who have commented in regards to it being an ideal working knife are in for a real treat. It is solidly constructed with a big clip blade that is thinly ground and a secondary coping blade that is also wonderfully ground and I expect it to be immensely useful. The blade combo of the #35 Churchill has proven itself to be magic to me and so I was excited to see something similar implemented in this release of 77s.

As has been noted, the big clip is not pinchable and I do not think the sheepfoot can be dropped to facilitate the main being able to be pinched. I do suspect that a brave soul could implement a EO notch, there does appear to be some room to do so and I would be curious to see someone make such an attempt. The action is good right out of the tube, though I did note that the coping blades are a bit sluggish so I think the knives could certainly benefit from a good flushing. The pulls are about a 6-7 for me, though I do know that is a bit subjective.

These are terrific knives and I feel very fortunate to have been able to acquire a few, my luck is usually not quite so good. I expect that these will remain the highlight of my collection for a good long while. Thank you, Mike knifeswapper knifeswapper , for an excellent run of knives and for putting up with all of our shenanigans.

Enough talk, how about some pics?!

Blood Red Sawcut:

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Desert Ironwood:

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Elderberry Camel Bone:

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All together:

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Very nice knives. Picking up the extra to use as trade fodder was a shrewd move . :D
 
BearBug said:
Side note my copings woke up their W&T with a quick WD40 flush.

Also a big Thank you to Mike for enduring all the headaches. I appreciate all your efforts.
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Could you elaborate on the WD40 flush? Just blow it in? Oil it after? One of mine could really use some help.
 
I cleaned mine with some dish soap and water, dried, and oiled with nano oil (what I've got). My main blade is perfect, but the secondary is going to need some more breaking in.
 
tmd_87 said:
What is the pull strength on the secondary???
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I'd say a 4 or 5 to half-stop then a 5 from there on mine. The main is a 5 to 6 to half-stop and a solid 6 from there. There walk and talk are both great on the opening and closing for the main. For the secondary, the opening is great, but it is a little lazy on the close. I think it will be fine once it is broken in.
 
Everyone - these are all looking stunning. Both shipped to me are excellent examples with great mechanics, F&F, and looks - that elderberry red is the sleeper of the lot, I think. My brother liked the elderberry so much, he took it home with him. :eek:

A great job done by GEC and Mike knifeswapper knifeswapper !:thumbsup::cool:

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Can we solicit trades here? Hopefully I won't get yelled at but if anyone wants to trade a sawcut for my ironwood we should talk
 
I am NOT an adherent that pink is the new whatever but aesthetically, the reddish-pink covers on some of these examples I am seeing here look very cool.

Overall, I'm finding that there's just something exciting about the proportions of the handle to the clip to the pen that just works so well. It's like a sort of Euclidean appeal to the proportions that just seems correct. Whoever penned the lengths and curves on this one at GEC deserves an extra clap on the back.

Edit: Is there a better looking fat clip blade than a recent GEC? I love the design!
 
JTB_5 said:
I'd say a 4 or 5 to half-stop then a 5 from there on mine. The main is a 5 to 6 to half-stop and a solid 6 from there. There walk and talk are both great on the opening and closing for the main. For the secondary, the opening is great, but it is a little lazy on the close. I think it will be fine once it is broken in.
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Thanks for the info, can't wait to get it in hand.
 
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