GEC Montana Whittler

Jake, I agree with why you would want this knife.

Nate, they can call it whatever they want. But as with the 54's with three springs, I will not pick on of these up if it is similar construction. Its not being part of the peaunut gallery, and my comment was more to keep the history in tact.

I love the 54, I have quite a few, but that 3 spring "whittler", never did pick one up.

What I am saying is I like this knife if the construction holds true to the name. Otherwise, nice handle design, blade choices and overall closed length.

Kevin
 
As said by "robot37", GEC is going to do pretty much what they want to and call whatever it is what they want to.

GEC calls this knife a Whittler (some say a Stockman Whittler) it is 4 1/8" long closed and is built with three springs.

gecnfwhittlerorangecrus.jpg


It is very time consuming and labor intensive to build a three bladed knife using a split spring and can drive the cost up considerably.
 
Definitely an interesting design. I'd love to see how it turns out. GEC's made 2 spring whittlers before so I don't see them having any issue doing it again.
 
Trand,

Correct me if I am wrong please. Wasn't the 54 "whittler" the exception with GEC? Unless I am missing something all the other knives carrying the whittler name have split spring construction.

They seem to pull it off well, and the day I worry about GEC not being able to handle it I will stop supporting them as a cutler. Compare the prices of a 66 calf roper to a 57 clip and its not really much of a price increase at all.

Kevin
 
richstag said:
Trand,

Correct me if I am wrong please. Wasn't the 54 "whittler" the exception with GEC? Unless I am missing something all the other knives carrying the whittler name have split spring construction. Kevin
Click to expand...

That wasn't my point Kevin. My point was that as "robot37" said; GEC can call any knife they make what they want to. That "Orange Crush" covered knife I showed above is no more a Whittler to me than it is a Sodbuster but that's what GEC chose to call it so in their eyes/description it is a Whittler. You may be correct that the 54 is the exception in the GEC line. I don't know. I don't care much for the Whittler pattern and don't have any whittlers. I only got the pictured knife because I liked the Orange Crush Covers.:rolleyes:

Good conversation so far.
 
I did miss your point Ed. Thank you for clarification. For me to clarify, I do not care if they call it the pink flamingo. I like the features of the knife but I would REALLY like the knife if it holds true to the name. It really has nothing to do with the actual name and everything to do with the construction. I am certain GEC will do whatever they want and most likely already have the spring configuration all set up.

I have stated before that I prefer whittler construction because it let's the main blade sit centered in the handle like a single blade knife and the secondary blades tuck in tight allowing for a slim design for a three blade knife.

To me a whittler is the right way to turn a single blade into a multi blade knife.


Kevin
 
I'm not sure if it's worth guessing... and we'll find out soon anyway... but can we make a guess about the springs from the length of the secondary blades?? Three back spring knives can have longer blades... Are those blades too long for a split backspring?
 
As a long time whittler collector, I'm in for one or three of these, as long as it's a split/tapered two-backspring job like the #62s, #57s and #89s, which were all excellent, IMO. If it's a clunky three-spring pattern, I'll gladly give it a wide berth.
 
Oh man, I really hope I didn't spawn too much of a tangent issue with split backsprings. I do want to keep it civil and avoid any sort of sharks-vs-jets argument here.
Points on both sides are really well taken. On the one hand, I kind of dig the beefy feel of a three backspring knife, but the more I think about it, a split backspring design would really dial in on the optimum frame size combination (i.e. keep it as narrow as possible), so the spring argument is still up in the air for me. On the other hand, I can see why some might steer clear of something that ends up being wide and chunky, and that's cool too. Case in point, the GEC whaler pattern: it looks like GEC is selling these like hotcakes judging by how many they are making, but I'm steering clear simply because it doesn't call to me as something I would use. This Montana pattern could be the same for others. Can't say anyone is right or wrong, just different, and that's what makes this forum great.

And like I said, GEC can call it what they want, but I'm still down for a couple of users and about three backups for when those wear out.

I did some measurements of the photo, and it looks like the blade lengths will probably accomodate a split backspring design. The secondary blades are about 2/3 the length of the frame and aren't so long that they seem to need their own spring to fit in the frame. Soooooooo. . . it looks like we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

-nate

P.S. Thanks to all for the lively discussion.
 
Nate -- If it's not lively, it's not fun. I think this has been a great thread. Lots of thoughts and ideas from everyone. As you said, we'll just have to wait and see ...............!
 
Although I don't think I'm interested in this knife, still you guys have managed to raise my interest in this thread.
Back to Jake's thoughts, the secondary blades (especially the wharncliffe) look quite long for a split spring construction (I'm comparing it to the #57 and #62) but so far it's just a guess.
As a sidenote, I have no data on this matter but I feel that GEC is selling well with their "beefier" knives lately, so it does not surprise me at all that they will be going more on this path.

Fausto
:cool:
 
I'm on the fence. I'm not sure it's different enough from my #53/#54 whittler.

Mark
 
Don't see the answer here, so --- it is a 3 backspring.

Different strokes 4 different folks...
 
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I suspected 3 springs, given the name of "workhorse" whittler. I hope it's stout and made with heavier springs than my 54W.
 
knifeswapper said:
Don't see the answer here, so --- it is a 3 backspring.

Different strokes 4 different folks...
Click to expand...

Oh man! Mike drops the knowledge on the forum from the top rope!
Thanks for clarifying the issue, brother. Now we can get on to speculating about what kind of variations GEC will produce on this frame.

As it stands, though, I'm probably gonna be down for at least two of these.

-nate

P.S. GEC cannot make these fast enough!!
 
Nate.....


First things first... handle material.....

#79 Montana Workhorse Whittler – 3 backspring, spear blade, clip blade, sheepfoot blade

Tidioute – Smooth bolster, smooth cap end
Jigged Bone ,Ebony Wood, Canvas Micarta, Red Abalone Looking Glass, Smooth Black Buffalo Horn

Northfield – Lined bolster, lined cap end
Smooth Amber Bone, King Wood, Jigged Bone, Burnt Stag, Genuine Stag, Primitive Bone, Ancient Kauri Wood
 
Ebony AND canvas micarta???!!!
Are you kidding me??!!
That's awesome. Now I know which two I'm gonna buy first.

The northfield wood selections look pretty cool too, but first things are first.
It's like a frickin' Christmas miracle with this knife.

Can you tell that I'm excited to get this one?

-nate
 
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