GEC half stops spring never flush

Kitten Party

Kitten Party

Joined
Jun 9, 2014
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Anyone else have this expirience? I have had around 15 GEC folders and all that had half stops where never flush in the half stop position. I have crummy imperial that get this right. Maybe I just have bad luck. It's not to important to me honestly, but I always check this on a new knife like I check centering and for lack of gaps in the springs.

Does GEC not care about this, or is it just a balance about being good at the things that matter most while keeping production up. I heard somebody say once that Bill Howard said he could make better knives but our would slow down production.
 
none of my GEC's are flush at half stop...but I don't care.....the amount of time my knives with half stops sit in that position is about 1/89,000,000 of the time I am engaged with said knife. :)

Peter
 
Flush at the half-stops is something I am pleasantly surprised by when it happens, but isn't anything I expect. It just so happens the knife in my pocket at the moment (77 Yankee Jack) is flush in all positions, both blades.
I'm glad it happened that way, but I'd love the knife no less if it hadn't.
 
I do the same checking that you do but honestly it doesn't bother me in the slightest. It is a nice surprise when they are flush as I've found on a couple of mine but I've customs that had small minute caps or weren't complete flush at the half stop. The one that was most recently flush on two models were the GEC scout 15's they did.
 
Send them back! Just kidding.

I've never taken the time to check until just now. I have a #25 Easy Open in front of me right now and I'll be danged. It isn't flush in the half stop position but it is in the other two positions. Not something that I really care about but it is an interesting observation and one that I hadn't picked up on.
 
Railsplitter said:
Send them back! Just kidding.

I've never taken the time to check until just now. I have a #25 Easy Open in front of me right now and I'll be danged. It isn't flush in the half stop position but it is in the other two positions. Not something that I really care about but it is an interesting observation and one that I hadn't picked up on.
Click to expand...
Lol, I wonder what they would say if I sent them a bunch of knives with that complaint...
 
It's kinda like gold plated rims...It's a nice feature, but it doesn't really do anything.

I would say it's the sign of a well-designed knife, and wouldn't be that hard to mass produce once it is all worked out on a knife.

Doesn't bother me either, but it is something I would attempt on a custom.
 
Mine are hit or miss but like everyone else here has said it doesn't bother me. It's just a pleasant surprise when I do get one. Almost all of my 15'S I've gotten in the last year have been flush in all 3 positions.
 
Some folks take it as a plus and as a display of precision. But from a functional standpoint it makes no difference, because amount of time a knife spends with the blades half open is ridiculously tiny.
 
I'm pretty darn sure that any, ANY, factory knife that is flush in the half-stop position achieves that Nirvana purely by accident. I've had a couple hundred GECs and could count on one hand the number that were flush at half-stop. It just isn't important. On a custom, it shows good workmanship, but just isn't important.
 
I do not remember ever using a knife in the half stop position. If that is your biggest worry you have ever had with a knife , you have been very lucky.


Harry
 
My 92 isn't quite flush in the half stop position, but it isn't really that far off and it doesn't bother me at all. I agree that it's a sign of quality and good design, but unless I'm buying a custom I only care about open and closed.
 
I have some GECs that are flush at half stop but I don't think they really consider that a plus or minus as the blade isn't meant to stay half open. For a spell I sort of thought that minor imperfections would bother me in a knife but as time goes by and I look at the knives I love most they all have a little something off. Perfection can be a little boring in the end.
 
If you watch the step by step videos of the GEC manufacturing process, you can see them grinding the springs flush in the closed position. I think it's at the end of the 2nd video (there are 3 videos). It's part of the normal manufacturing process. I don't recall seeing them grind the blades flush in the half stop or closed position. I may have forgotten it. If someone else remembers otherwise then please correct me.
 
Only knife I have owned with a flush half stop is my TA Davison. None of my gec knives have been flush but it isn't a major concern.
 
I've seen knives from Ken Erickson and Ryuichi Kawamura (two of my favorite makers) that also had springs flush in all 3 positions. I haven't been fortunate enough to be close enough to a Bose knife to see... maybe some day... but I'd bet they are as well.

I don't think companies build knives with that intention.
 
Expecting too much for a production knife at the GEC price point, if one expects flush in three positions. Nice, but, not needed.

Already, GEC produces centered blades, flush springs where it counts, and tight fitting springs and covers.

Any more than that and you are in custom territory.

I dare say that GEC already exceeds the quality over some custom makers. ;):)
 
Open/Close > Half-Stop

^^^^^ This is what really matters to me in reference to my traditional knives and their spring flushness in any given position. :)

Though I will say, I "notice" if they are or if they aren't. ;)
 
Very true, Rob, Jeff and Frank. If you get a knife that's flush at all points, its just luck. GEC is still hands down way above the competition in the other points Rob mentioned.
 
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