Gec bullnose

The one canvas that I had was quite nice. It was smooth to open and close and sat around a 6/7 pull.
It is in the hands of Miltmaldo now, so hopefully he will pop in here and give his impression of the same knife.

I only handled it once, since I had to know what I was going to be missing out on. :D

One of the perks of having a rather close knit community is that we can get actual experience and comments on individual knives in some cases.
 
mb> said:
Yeah my burlap was a nail breaker (literally). I worked the heck out of it this weekend and it got worse. I didn't want to lube it and prevent wear in, but I had to put some oil on the pivot. I can just barely pinch it open. It's pretty tough.
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The pull on mine is a 6-7, but the placement of the nail nick and the tightness of the pivot made it seem heavier at first. Because of the handle shape, the pinch point of the blade is closer to the middle, which makes for a stronger-feeling pull because of how levers work with forces. I've noticed lately that GEC pivots seem to be coming tighter from the factory, so rather than spring tension, think liners sandwiching blade harder. If you work the blade a lot, you'll probably notice snail trailing around the pivot axis on the tang. That will smooth out as the metal wears the metal, and then when it gets smooth, oil will help keep it that way.

When I have worked knives and the pull has gotten heavier/grittier/stiffer, it's usually been because there has been junk in the pivot area and also in the backspring area, so I clean thoroughly with hot soapy water, 3 or 4 times, and I blow them out with compressed air. Then I leave them sit for the rest of the day, then lube, and they're usually good to go.
 
I've been userin' mine, because this baby just begs for it:

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Lately, I've been convexing my edges to thin them, and then putting on a solid 25-35 DPS microbevel, depending on the knife. I love the way a convex edge slices, and that kind of microbevel makes for a super sturdy, super thin edge. This bullnose cuts like Zoro.

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Canvas and burlap are unused. I've been breaking in the orange. I've got time. Takes a while in an office.

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traumkommode said:
When I have worked knives and the pull has gotten heavier/grittier/stiffer, it's usually been because there has been junk in the pivot area and also in the backspring area, so I clean thoroughly with hot soapy water, 3 or 4 times, and I blow them out with compressed air. Then I leave them sit for the rest of the day, then lube, and they're usually good to go.
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I'll probably give it a cleaning and re-oil. Thanks for the heads up. I've done that with my Spydies when the action gets any grit in it, but didn't think to try that here right off with just a hard pull.
 
mb> said:
I'll probably give it a cleaning and re-oil. Thanks for the heads up. I've done that with my Spydies when the action gets any grit in it, but didn't think to try that here right off with just a hard pull.
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My burlap was sluggish on closing and found out the tang is rubbing the liner on the pile side really bad. Kept working it and wore a groove in the tang so i took a little file and took the tang down a little and it helped alot. The snap us still not as good as on my other new 71s but is much improved.
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Also been tring to sharpen it but having trouble especially with the tip and compared the blade to my 71 in black delrin and noticed thes blades are thicker on the newer ones....time to set it down and try another time.
 
I've found that with both of my Bullnoses I had to completely reprofile the edge to get it somewhere even close to 20 DPS which is my standard sharpening angle. Having a Wicked Edge helps but I can do it freehand also on my waterstones if needed.
 
I have had 6 GEC Sodbusters that I handled long enough to need to sharpen.
Each one needed the tip to be reprofiled, so much so that two of them actually had a flat where the edge should be.

From the tip to about 1/16" down, the bevels didn't touch, and I was left with a .005-.010 wide flat "edge".


I am rather confident in my understanding that the term "GEC Sharp" came from their Sodbusters. Meaning that they will show up with an "edge like thing" applied.
 
Anybody sharpen or heavily use a #71 from the new run? Things seem very strange with the heat treat to me? I ALWAYS knock the edge back on my GEC's to about 20-25 degrees inclusive and then sharpen @ 30 degrees on a Sharpmaker. I have probably sharpened 60-70 GEC's in this manner and have never seen much difference knife to knife. My natural canvas Micarta behaved as all other had before it. However, sharpening both the green and red linens revealed some totally different results. For starters, they seemed to sharpen with a little more effort using an extra coarse DMT. Secondly, they formed a huge burr that was very erratic and which you could move side to side with just your finger? Thirdly, they just would not get sharp? Very bizarre to me and wondering if anyone else has experienced this? The Nifebrite and maroon are next on the block and it will be interesting to see how they react to a sharpening.
 
Yes ive noticed edges like that on 71s 21s and on 73s but the blade grind on this new 71 is thicker (more blunt) than my 2015 model 71
 
blademan 13 said:
Anybody sharpen or heavily use a #71 from the new run? Things seem very strange with the heat treat to me? I ALWAYS knock the edge back on my GEC's to about 20-25 degrees inclusive and then sharpen @ 30 degrees on a Sharpmaker. I have probably sharpened 60-70 GEC's in this manner and have never seen much difference knife to knife. My natural canvas Micarta behaved as all other had before it. However, sharpening both the green and red linens revealed some totally different results. For starters, they seemed to sharpen with a little more effort using an extra coarse DMT. Secondly, they formed a huge burr that was very erratic and which you could move side to side with just your finger? Thirdly, they just would not get sharp? Very bizarre to me and wondering if anyone else has experienced this? The Nifebrite and maroon are next on the block and it will be interesting to see how they react to a sharpening.
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Im having the same problem i think. I hand sharpen on Arkansas stones and usually get a good edge but couldnt get rid of the burr. Ill try again in a day or two.
 
Absolutely agree, they left a lot of steel on the edge. The name Bull Nose says it all, I bet the edge angle at the tip approaches 60-70 degrees inclusive. Totally unacceptable. Anyone looking to try a GEC, but a little skeptical because of price, would most likely venture into the GEC waters via a #71. That first impression might not be favorable when it comes time to sharpen.
 
Theyre still one of my favorites, this one's just gonna take a little more work than usual.
 
Once taken to the Sharpmaker they seem fine. Easily knock hair off well above skin level. It almost seemed to me they may have altered the heat treat when sharpening the thick edge and made the steel softer at the edge? Once you worked past that bad steel, all was right with the world? Just a theory.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow comparing factory edge to a reprofiled one. Night and day....
 
Jamie, I have hand sharpened all my life until a few years ago. It's now done with my work sharp and with a belt sander I've come to appreciate things that go unnoticed via free hand. Carbon throwing significant sparks seems to be quality steel. I expect no spark from D2 and stainless steels. My Bull Nose threw nary a spark...immediately it struck my as odd.

Noticed the burr issue you described as well. I achieved the edge I expect eventually but admit I was surprised at the effort it took. After all that my curiosity is peaked as to why this is and how it will perform:confused::o

Will have freight coming in Friday so will see how it performs cutting thick shipping cardboard:thumbup:
 
There was a thread that was started recently of someone asking about edge retention of 1095 with thier bull nose. Or maybe it was a post earlier in this thread. I can't remember. Anyway, I believe the poster said after minimal use the blade had lost its edge...Hmmm... Interesting.

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One of the thoughts was that they were cutting their meat, veggies, etc. on ceramic, glass, porclin, etc. dinnerware/plates. That'll dull a blade real quick. 1095 is a great all around blade steel and holds an edge nicely.
 
Modoc ED said:
One of the thoughts was that they were cutting their meat, veggies, etc. on ceramic, glass, porclin, etc. dinnerware/plates. That'll dull a blade real quick. 1095 is a great all around blade steel and holds an edge nicely.
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I dont think the complaints or questions are regarding GECs 1095 as a whole, just this batch.
 
Could be. The guy was referencing a knife he'd just received but I don't think the consensus was that the blade steel on the current run of the Bull Nose knives was bad. Too many other posts about this run that had glowing reports.
 
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