GEC Lockback Blade Play, is this common?

D

david childers

Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
75
Just got a GEC Tidioute #42 Lockback with smooth ivory bone handles. It's a beautiful knife and sharp out of the tube, with a good loud click when you open it. I was very happy with the knife but I noticed it has a very slight up and down blade play, and I mean very slight. Just enough to hear it click when you force it up and down. I don't think it would be a safety issue but I'm use to near perfection with my other Gec knives and I was wondering if this is common or normal and if anyone else has had this issue. Can't decide if I should exchange the knife or just learn to live with it. Thanks for any input.
 
Kind of common. I have two #42s, one is bank vault solid in all directions.

My user #42 has slight side to side, and a bit of up and down, a year later. The up and down is one you can feel and hear, but not really see. It's still the user in my edc lineup, and safety is not an issue for me. Ymmv.
 
As you said, it likely is no problem in safety... But, if you can contact your vendor and have it exchanged for one that does not have the play, it may be something you'll be happy in the long run for having done. In the short term, maybe it's kind'a a hassle, but since GEC made knives are not exactly cheaply priced, and since they pride themselves in better construction quality over their competition, you might as well get yourself a good specimen that makes you happy :-) Imo, of course :-)
 
It should pose no risk of failure or injury; it's pretty common to have a little vertical wiggle in traditional lockbacks (and many modern ones as well).
 
It's not just GEC. That small annoyance is a common occurrence in lockbacks, regardless of manufacturer.

- Christian
 
IMO you have a better chance of getting one with play than you would with most other brands.
 
Last edited:
When they first came out with a lock back many years ago, I sent every one back because of blade play. They have since made a lot of progress. Still a bit to go, but they are going in the right direction. :)
 
I sent one back due to blade play and GEC made it solid as a rock. I still sold it for a non-locking GEC because I didn't know how much use I could get out of it before it started to wobble again.
 
I really wish they would stop shimming the joint on peen and bang that sucker down tight. Since the backspring is more of a lockbar you might have to push them all the way open and all the way closed; but we would not have to keep getting in their chili about this play. I guess they just want a smooth flow and limited snap on open / close; that they obviously cannot get with a consistently vault tight lockup. Same with most Queen and Case lockback models I have seen.

I have just recommended they eliminate all lockbacks from their lineup; sure would make it easier on their distributors and customers who have a severe dislike for any sign of movement. I just got back a #72 from a customer that said it had severe blade play; if has zero play side/side and a full 4/1000" movement at the tip up/down. When that is the type of movement we can't stand, there is no sense in them trying to make these by hand. And it's our money, we should get to decide what is acceptable. It might actually be advisable to take the backspring out altogether like modern tactical knives.

So, for the OP, I would say that if it bothers you send it back for a refund. But if you like the knife otherwise have the factory pound that joint down. There is no danger on the lockup until you can hear the blade rattling when you shake the knife in one hand. Just holding the knife in one hand and moving the tip of the blade between the thumb / forefinger of the other hand and discerning movement is going to be fairly typical of free flowing lockbacks from GEC, Queen, Case.
 
The up/down/vertical movement that I have experienced with a couple/three of my #72 lockbacks has not been a problem for me. In fact, I had one that was so tight at lockup that I could barely get it to disengage to close the blade. That said, it does seem to be a problem for many. Due to this problem, I prefer the #73 linerlock but there again I've had some very minor play on a couple of those too.

There has been so much discussion about this problem on the forum that I'm surprised people are still buying the #72s.
 
knifeswapper said:
I just got back a #72 from a customer that said it had severe blade play; if has zero play side/side and a full 4/1000" movement at the tip up/down.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry you (and other distributors) have to deal with stuff like this, Mike. Seems to me, it's not a problem with the product, but with nit-picky consumers who have over-inflated expectations, and a lack of understanding as to the nature of this mechanism. Same type of frustration I feel (albeit vicariously) when someone speaks of blade play in the closed position.
??? :eek: :rolleyes:
 
It's our money, we get to decide how it is spent. But, I think a lot of these problems might go away if our hobby was still of the "old time" collectors that loved the old Remington, Case, Winchester, etc. knives for what they were. The new generation (me included) have put requirements on the manufacturers that simply didn't exist 20 year ago - much less 80 years ago. And we all say, "this is 2013, not 1940"; but what we have to remember is that these factories are running on the same equipment they did then. Queen has very old equipment and GEC specifically bought equipment from this era to make knives like our grandfathers loved. I have seen near mint Remington Bullets that I could watch tv thru the liners and Case lockbacks that flopped like ringing a bell. But the owners were as proud as a peacock to have them.

We all like the history behind old knives that got us started collecting; but want them built like only the lasers and automated machines in high tech factories can - that didn't exist in 1940. Could our craftsman in these factories make a rock solid knife without any room for complaints? But I couldn't sell one for the price it would require.

There are a lot of problems that show up here and there that can be fixed; and we need to keep them towing that line. But there are some issues that cannot be fixed without a company spending 20 years profit to modernize. They might as well shut down and send the 20 employees packing.

So, we do a lot of whining, I include myself in that as I complain to the factories about something nearly every time I talk to them. Most justified, some not. But I don't think we have heard real whining until we slam the doors shut on these factories forever and then go looking for the knife made like grandpa's.

But this is exactly the conversation we have had over and over. Normally ends with me getting accused of defending the factories - maybe I need some commission for being an apologist.
 
I have a two 42s and a 72 with the minimal up and down blade play. I don't see it as a problem at all but it detracts from the perfection I desire. Maybe it is too much to ask of a lockback but my orange 99 farm and field locks open solidly with no play so is it luck?. I am unfamiliar with the manufacturing methods here but it seems like it can be done.
 
knifeswapper said:
It's our money, we get to decide how it is spent. But, I think a lot of these problems might go away if our hobby was still of the "old time" collectors that loved the old Remington, Case, Winchester, etc. knives for what they were. The new generation (me included) have put requirements on the manufacturers that simply didn't exist 20 year ago - much less 80 years ago. And we all say, "this is 2013, not 1940"; but what we have to remember is that these factories are running on the same equipment they did then. Queen has very old equipment and GEC specifically bought equipment from this era to make knives like our grandfathers loved. I have seen near mint Remington Bullets that I could watch tv thru the liners and Case lockbacks that flopped like ringing a bell. But the owners were as proud as a peacock to have them.

We all like the history behind old knives that got us started collecting; but want them built like only the lasers and automated machines in high tech factories can - that didn't exist in 1940. Could our craftsman in these factories make a rock solid knife without any room for complaints? But I couldn't sell one for the price it would require.

There are a lot of problems that show up here and there that can be fixed; and we need to keep them towing that line. But there are some issues that cannot be fixed without a company spending 20 years profit to modernize. They might as well shut down and send the 20 employees packing.

So, we do a lot of whining, I include myself in that as I complain to the factories about something nearly every time I talk to them. Most justified, some not. But I don't think we have heard real whining until we slam the doors shut on these factories forever and then go looking for the knife made like grandpa's.

But this is exactly the conversation we have had over and over. Normally ends with me getting accused of defending the factories - maybe I need some commission for being an apologist.
Click to expand...

you make some great points here, Mike.
 
knifeswapper said:
But I don't think we have heard real whining until we slam the doors shut on these factories forever and then go looking for the knife made like grandpa's.
Click to expand...

And I worry that day might be coming more quickly than any of us know. I hope it doesn't happen.
 
I've never handled a GEC lockback since slipjoints are good enough for me, but it seems like some people have very high expectations for their knives.

I don't like bladeplay in any direction either, but it doesn't ruin a knife for me if it's only slight movement.
 
Good post, Mike. A lot of food for thought there.
 
This topic comes up every once in a while. I bought a Queen Mountain Man that I sent back to the factory for blade play, and now I see Mike has a disclaimer on his site that blade play is normal on these. I don't have any GEC lockers, but apparently they have the same issue. The question I have is how did Schrade manage to build their large lockbacks without blade play. Or am I the only lucky one who has had half a dozen or more large Schrade knives (pre 2004) with no play whatsoever when they are open. The only ones I currently have, an LB8, OT6 and SC507 all lock up tight as they can be. And the Queen came back not only tight, but actually sharp. If Schrade could do it on knives that, adjusted for inflation, weren't any more expensive than what we are seeing now why can't the current manufacturers? And if Queen can fix blade play and sharpen returns, why can't they do that before they ship out their product?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top