GEC Question

xtonesterx

xtonesterx

Joined
May 26, 2009
Messages
867
hey guys need some help here. i currently own only one GEC which is a MOP barlow. absolutely beautiful knife however the opening on it is a nail breaker for sure. are all GECs like this? im thinking about getting a dogleg jack but would probably think twice if its a nail breaker to open. thanks for the help guys, heres a pic to show my appreciation ;)

4599727432_4002e2f7be_z.jpg
 
I have Ebony Gec 25 barlow and its nail breaker for sure, but not as much as one of my #73's. I do have dogleg jack from GEC too and its completely different beast, not nearly as hard to open.
 
I have an ebony barlow and it is very easy, very smooth opening. Maybe a 5 on the pull scale. Much different from some of their other models.
 
The earlier knives from GEC had the stoutest springs. The very early #23 Pioneers were VERY difficult to open. GEC seemed to lighten up on the springs about a year or so ago. Just about the time the Dogleg Jack was released. Now a days it seems that the bigger the knife,the tighter the spring. With most of the smaller and medium sized knives being just about right. The days of the GEC Nailbreakers are pretty much gone. Having said that,the Big knives still have a pretty stout spring. ie; the 23's,the 46 whalers and such. I think GEC is trying to make all their knives about a 5 or 6 on a pull scale of 1 to 10.
Also,most GEC Authorized Distributors offer a "No Questions Asked" return policy,and the GEC Factory itself has been able to 'tune up' the pull on several knives.
RMA100
 
#23, #73, and #25 early models are the tightest. The scouts and pioneers are still fairly tight but all other recent models, to include the dogleg, are relatively tame. At one time I had some barlow pen blades that I simply couldn't open and had to send back....
 
I only discovered GEC earlier this year and have three of them...Ben Hogan, Barlow and Conductor. All of them are excessively stiff and it is my
only complaint regarding GEC. I have around 30 Case knives of various styles and vintages and none of them have this problem.
 
I have a number of GEC knives, the stiffest spring (what might be probably called a nailbreaker) is on a #23 Pioneer. Second stiffest is #36 steel Sunfish (both blades). On all others (3 #89s, 4 #72s and a Conductor) the springs are not stiff at all (rather weak on the lockbacks as a matter of fact - which makes sense considering that the spring does not have to hold the blade open on these). Hope this helps.
 
I've got a single blade Beaver Tail that is a real bear to open...repeated open/close while watching TV has helped (hundreds of reps). Still tough!

Also have a two-blade Trapper that opens just right.....

And my Calf Roper opens very nicely.
 
I have had a few GEC's that are nail breakers for sure, one thing I do is get some oil in there and when sitting down watching the box( which is rare ) I work it and work and work it, it does help.
One paticular GEC , and equal ender Jack - with a punch...man that was real difficult - the punch was damned hard, but now its real good :thumbup:
 
Beautiful knife in the OP! I had a couple of the earlier GEC 25's and they were nail breakers, especially the little pen blades. I couldn't deal with it and sold them. I've got some of the later 25's and they're much better. I have a #56 Dogleg Jack and I'd give the clip blade a 6 (maybe 7), and the pen blade a 5 on the "pull scale". Just right, IMHO. YMMV.
 
I have a couple of GECs. Most of mine are harder to open than I appreciate. Kind of given up on the brand for that reason.
 
repeated opening and closing the blade will help some.

I had one that was a little bit gritty when opening and closing, and I opened it and closed it a bunch with no oil on the joint, and it actually produced some tiny metal shavings. Now that blade is actually a little easier to open than I want it to be!

I have one of those Barlow's coming in burnt stag, so hopefully it is not too much for my thumb nails!

(by the way, that MOP looks awesome!).

That a real looker! I have never really considered MOP scales on anything until seeing some of these threads and hearing from a maker that MOP doesn't "move" over time like bone or stag can.
 
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thank you so much guys for all of the input! man im so undecided! theres this beautiful GEC bare ended dogleg jack in amber bone on a site that i would love to have. but if its stiff or a nail breaker i just wont carry it. decisions!
 
xtonesterx said:
thank you so much guys for all of the input! man im so undecided! theres this beautiful GEC bare ended dogleg jack in amber bone on a site that i would love to have. but if its stiff or a nail breaker i just wont carry it. decisions!
Click to expand...
Take a week or so to work it in and apply oil liberally. It WILL smooth out. Also, make a habit of keeping your thumbnails fairly trim.
 
I had a dogleg jack that I sold because it was too hard to open. I currently have a #25 easy open jack that has a stiff spring but with the easy opening it's not a problem. I just ordered a #85 bullet jack and I'm hoping that with the long pull and blade shape that it won't be a problem.
 
I have 1 clip and 1 spear dogleg jack. The clip I believe was a little stiffer than the spear.
 
If you want a pleasantly easy to open GEC, I'd recommend the 33 Conductor pattern and the 48 trapper with the pen secondary. The 56s I have (multiples of clip & spear models) are fairly stiff to open, though not as much as thier 73 pattern.
 
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