GEC #77 Medium Barlow Impressions

Ryouchijtx · May 17, 2015

TurkishChubs said:
All of the 77 single bladed knives I've gotten, each one had all sorts of scuffs or weird bone dyeing issues. The scale are nice on this one though. I do plan on sending it in, I was wondering if anybody else had his problem.

pm sent to you Turkish

Ryouchijtx · May 18, 2015

I recently received my old tan sawcut barlow in the post a couple days ago.

Pros: I love the 77 frame and how it's that perfect in between large and small at just the right size.
Cons, when I received my Tan Sawcut in the post from Collectorknives it had quite a sizeable gap on the pile side as well as the opposite. the finishing on the spring looked rough/burrs on the spine of the knife I immediately contacted Mike and waited patiently since he's doing inventory at the moment which is understandable. He made it right immediately/ he'd issue a refund but I was hoping to send them into GEC for repair. He was helpful and agreeable on every forefront.
To my dissapointment I think that they might have rushed this previous run considering two other forum members above have had issues, (unfinished fit and finish, canted blade, sizeable gaps) for a Northfield SFO of this calibre and price. After a few days I've decided to just keep the old tan in my collection until I send it to back GEC to see if anything can be done about these gaps. Superb customer service by Mr. Latham.

Gaps:

arizonaranchman · May 18, 2015

^^^ Sorry to hear about your 77 Barlow's issues. Mike is a very stand-up guy, he'll make sure you're happy with your purchase one way or another.

Ryouchijtx · May 18, 2015

arizonaranchman said:
^^^ Sorry to hear about your 77 Barlow's issues. Mike is a very stand-up guy, he'll make sure you're happy with your purchase one way or another.

Oh he offered to, I wrote in my post, he's a great guy and goes above and beyond. I'll just be sending this one back to GEC.

nugun55 · May 18, 2015

I'll be interested to see the results.

Ryouchijtx · May 18, 2015

nugun55 said:
I'll be interested to see the results.

The results of the warranty service? Do you think it's serviceable/fixable? To be honest it doesn't hinder the operation at the moment, nice walk and talk. Near flush half stop. Centered blade but the size/length of the gap is what concerns me with use over time. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

jkulysses · May 18, 2015

They can definitely fix that. Their warranty service is top notch & that should be a relatively easy fix for them.

nugun55 · May 18, 2015

I'm interested to see what the results of the repair would be. Curious if they can just tighten the gap by striking the pins or if they have to disassemble it and grind the frame/ spring components. Or...?

Ryouchijtx · May 18, 2015

nugun55 said:
I'm interested to see what the results of the repair would be. Curious if they can just tighten the gap by striking the pins or if they have to disassemble it and grind the frame/ spring components. Or...?

Disassembling it is what is what Mr. Latham implied they would do, disassemble it but "generally they will not tear one apart and take a half day on it for something they do not consider a defect."

I'd be hard pressed to send it in only to have a knife I bought and paid for already, wait a couple weeks to use it, and come back in the same condition. It's growing on me and I'm trying to overlook the gaps and focus on the fact that I have a beautiful knife instead

I did email GEC already and they responded as soon as the weekend was over. Christine is great at answering emails in the morn

jkulysses · May 18, 2015

Holding it up to a light tends to amplify spring gaps. Any chance of a picture under normal lighting looking down at the back spring?

Old Engineer · May 18, 2015

TurkishChubs said:
ok guys, I just recently received my Red 77 and I felt something was off with it, I could feel it in my hands. It turns out its canted. Here are some pics I hope it shows what I am talking about.

View attachment 544689 View attachment 544690 View attachment 544691

I bought 1 of each , just as you did , and my wife bought me an Old Red Saw Cut Bone and I have just looked over all 3 of them again to see if they have any of the same issues you and others have had. The only issue that I can see is that the Butt End and Bottom Middle slab pins are a little Proud on all three Knives. None of them are bad enough that I am concerned about it. This just tells me that the set-up on the pins was not done correctly or at least to not what they were on the earlier run.It still could have been correct as GEC defines it. Maybe they need to change their specification a little to meet what we expect. That being said : I Still like them and think they are a pretty knife and a great value.

Harry

Dr. Scott · May 18, 2015

I bought 2 and was gifted a 3rd. All 3 are above average for GEC's fit and finish, as you would expect from the Northfield line. Sorry to hear about these problems. I would not hesitate to send 'em back to Titusville for fine tuning.

FW JSB · May 19, 2015

What is a "canted blade?" Never heard the term before.

nugun55 · May 19, 2015

My interest is peaked because after reading this, I checked both of my new ones..and yes ther is light coming through between the liners (scales_ and back spring. The Old tan is worse than the Old red, but both are gapped. I, too have emailed Chris at GEC to see if it can be fixed. I might accept this on any other knife , but not a Northfield. These are supposed to be the cream of the crop GEC line. Not a good representation. IMO None of my other GEC knives have this issue.

Ryouchijtx · May 19, 2015

nugun55 said:
My interest is peaked because after reading this, I checked both of my new ones..and yes ther is light coming through between the liners (scales_ and back spring. The Old tan is worse than the Old red, but both are gapped. I, too have emailed Chris at GEC to see if it can be fixed. I might accept this on any other knife , but not a Northfield. These are supposed to be the cream of the crop GEC line. Not a good representation. IMO None of my other GEC knives have this issue.

I'm sorry to hear that your knives have this issue as well. I was really hoping that mine was a lemon. I've sent mine in already and hope yours come back perfect. A 77 in old red also have small spots of light but I can live with them. It's just that if my tidioute 47 viper can come out perfect in every way, a special factory order by Northfield should be able to surpass that more so. Best of luck nugun55

nugun55 · May 20, 2015

Ryouchijtx said:
I'm sorry to hear that your knives have this issue as well. I was really hoping that mine was a lemon. I've sent mine in already and hope yours come back perfect. A 77 in old red also have small spots of light but I can live with them. It's just that if my tidioute 47 viper can come out perfect in every way, a special factory order by Northfield should be able to surpass that more so. Best of luck nugun55

I'm hoping GEC can work them out. It's not the end of the world by any means. Since this was a "make up order", I'm wondering if these might have been some seconds that failed inspection on the first go around and didn't get fixed before shipping.
'

Ryouchijtx · May 20, 2015

nugun55 said:
I'm hoping GEC can work them out. It's not the end of the world by any means. Since this was a "make up order", I'm wondering if these might have been some seconds that failed inspection on the first go around and didn't get fixed before shipping.
'

I'm sure they can, and if not I'll just live with it. After all, they're still great knives. I was wondering that too or perhaps with all the current orders production was just rushed. The canted blade from above was the worst I've seen by far for something to pass inspection. Then again, things happen.

dispatch184 · May 21, 2015

I am curious to see how your knives come back. I really like mine but I just did the light test and I also have the same issue.

Ryouchijtx · May 21, 2015

dispatch184 said:
I am curious to see how your knives come back. I really like mine but I just did the light test and I also have the same issue.

Will update you when it comes back. The light test obviously enhances the gaps when you use a 10 lumen light but holding it up to daylight I could still see the flesh tone of my finger pass between that gap. It's not the end of the world but I'm just interested in how they'll fix it as well. If it comes back the same as before I wouldn't have any issue, shall just use it and love it. It was more so just a concern about how the fit and finish seemed less than acceptable for their 'premiere line'

kootenay joe · May 21, 2015

"What is a "canted blade?" "
If you look at the 3rd attachment picture in that post you can see that when fully open the blade spine is not in a straight line with the spine of the handle. The blade is cocked forward a few degrees from horizontal. Some knives are made this way purposely to give the best blade position for function. But not in the 77's; the blade and handle should make a straight line when the blade is fully open.
kj