GEC Sunfish All Steel - some issues

R

RI Swamp Yankee

Joined
Jul 31, 2013
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25
Just got a new All Steel Sunfish! Well... it looks beautiful. Cocobolo and brass pins and steel liners, and no blade etchings. It's put together very well. But it's got two problems, one an annoyance, the other a dealbreaker.

1) It's not very sharp out of the box. Can't push-cut paper with either blade... the cheap Rough Rider this is replacing can still push-cut tissue wrapping paper after a month of EDC use. I can run it through a Work Sharp grinder to put a nice convex grind on it, but's annoying I have to do it with a brand new knife.

2) I can't open either blade with my fingers. I'm sorry, but a pocket knife I need a special metal guitar pick to open is pretty useless as a tool. Worse, it's dangerous... and closing it is no treat either, it nearly got away from me a few times trying to close the small blade.

Can GEC decrease the pull strength if I send it into them, or should I give up on it and send it back to the dealer for an EO sunfish model?
 
Option 3,

Send it my way. I love the strong pull on my Sunfish. Flush out the springs well, and oil them. It improved the pull on both the blades.

It is a heavy pull, but I can still pinch the main blade open, without an EO notch.
 
Before sending it away I would work on it a little. Hot soapy water to flush it out and then blow dry it. Tape the blade then force oil into the joints and work them a bit. If you still can't open it, send it back.

Paul
 
RI Swamp Yankee said:
Just got a new All Steel Sunfish! Well... it looks beautiful. Cocobolo and brass pins and steel liners, and no blade etchings. It's put together very well. But it's got two problems, one an annoyance, the other a dealbreaker.

1) It's not very sharp out of the box. Can't push-cut paper with either blade... the cheap Rough Rider this is replacing can still push-cut tissue wrapping paper after a month of EDC use. I can run it through a Work Sharp grinder to put a nice convex grind on it, but's annoying I have to do it with a brand new knife.

2) I can't open either blade with my fingers. I'm sorry, but a pocket knife I need a special metal guitar pick to open is pretty useless as a tool. Worse, it's dangerous... and closing it is no treat either, it nearly got away from me a few times trying to close the small blade.

Can GEC decrease the pull strength if I send it into them, or should I give up on it and send it back to the dealer for an EO sunfish model?
Click to expand...


To address the two points in bold:

1) Regarding obtuse secondary grinds, I understand and agree with your first complaint. I've purchased plenty from them, and it's a consistent problem. Fortunately, it's one that is easily rectified, as you pointed out. Besides, I'm kinda OCD and I sharpen all my knives regardless of the factory edge, so I don't think they could satisfy me in that regard anyway.

2) Pull strength. It too can be easily corrected, but needs to go back to have any significant change done. In my experience, GE has great customer service and Ms. Chris will get you taken care of, no problem.

There's no reason whatsoever to return a knife for credit or exchange that you otherwise love, when the fine folks at GE will happily work out a solution. I've only returned one knife in five years, and they squared it right away to my complete satisfaction. They can reduce the spring tension, just give Ms. Chris a call.

Btw, if you get a chance, I'd love to see some pics of your new knife, congrats!
 
Part of the problem is that I can't get a grip on it... it's disconcerting as I've got stubby "high torque" hands: finger tight for me usually means bent metal. Once the small blade is out of the way I can sorta muscle the big blade open. The false edge along the top does it no favors.

The other problem is closing it... break it halfway in the hands, and close it the rest of the way on the hip as I slide it into the pocket. Does Not Work. You have to go all Randy Savage "Snap into a Slim Jim!" to get the blades to budge.

I may trade it in for a single blade Lumberjack... it's got the fun elephant toe blade in a legal length, and enough of it sticks out the top of liners for me to get a good grip on.
 
I'm sorry that the knife isn't to your liking because at the end of the day, what matters is that you've got a knife you're happy with. I hope I didn't come across as trying to push something on you that you don't like. Personally, the sunfish/tonail/lumberjack knives aren't for me either, but I do have a great respect for GE and their customer support.

Pretty much, I prefer a narrower profile, and a knife between 3.5 and 4 inches in overall closed length. But that's me and my likes, other people's preferences differ greatly from my own which is a great thing... It gives me more photos to admire and experiences to learn from that I wouldn't see otherwise.

I suppose what would sum it up, is that I just hope you find one you're happy with, and share pictures and stories about it when you do.

Cheers!

-Russell-
 
A.G. Russell makes a quality sunfish. Check out their website. He is also a member of this forum.
 
bonky said:
To address the two points in bold:

1) Regarding obtuse secondary grinds, I understand and agree with your first complaint. I've purchased plenty from them, and it's a consistent problem. Fortunately, it's one that is easily rectified, as you pointed out. Besides, I'm kinda OCD and I sharpen all my knives regardless of the factory edge, so I don't think they could satisfy me in that regard anyway.
Click to expand...

first thanks for your feedback op on your new sunfish. Sorry it didnt rub ya the right way.

c
Bonky Sir curious.....gecs come often not very sharp from the factory? Asking cause I got a 99 model on the way.....and this is my first gec. That and I see that complaint allot with queen and I got a country cousin with no edge.....took forever to reprofile it. So I guess I got a second question.....does any traditional maker do well with sharp edges consistently? Apologize for side tracking your thread op.....if I oversteped good taste ill come back and delete the non relevant stuff.
 
I hope I didn't come across as trying to push something on you that you don't like.

No, I totally get where you're coming from, and really appreciate your input.

I've got an Opinel No. 8 Garden Knife which was my EDC up until I ordered a Rough Rider Sunfish on a lark. It was like the sunfish was made specifically for my hand and work style - can't explain it, it just is. It gets used everyday - opening boxes and shipping envelopes, stripping cable insulation, cutting and trimming cable ties, making hot-dog and s'more sticks, making fuzz-sticks and shredding newspaper and cardboard into firestarters, pruning rhododendrons and roses and blackberry canes, carving gourds, cutting rope to hang hammocks and trim sailboat hawsers. I use a knife everyday, and a big, fat sunfish makes chores fun. I just need one I can open and close without drama.

(I also have a Kershaw Compound, but I don't like tac knives. A knife should be a tool to build something cool, not a weapon you use to open DVD packaging. The Compound looked more tool-like on the site I ordered it from, but was yet another "fightin' knife" once I had it in hand.)
 
Hi JB! I don't mean to start a hooplah, but I suppose I should clarify.... GE sends knives with an exemplary primary grind (the view of the knife from spine to edge), nice and thin. The secondary grind, or the edge as most consumers see it, is a bit narrow for my taste and can be improved upon with a few minutes time on the stones.

Queen's issue (in the past) has been with the primary grind being thick coupled with a narrow secondary grind, which is an entirely different kettle of fish, especially when you start throwing D2 steel into the mix. It takes longer to reprofile a thick primary grind, and even longer when it's made with D2 as you have discovered.

GE uses 1095, 01, 440C, or occasionally 420HC on their knives which are much easier to sharpen, especially since the blades are thin at the cutting edge to begin with. As I stated earlier, I'm a bit OCD and would sharpen any knife I receive regardless.

To sum up:

Question: Do GE's knives come dull from the factory?
Short answer: Yes, to my standards. To most people's, probably not.

But even so, they can easily be made razor sharp due to the thin grinds and blade steel. Hopefully I didn't come across as a "know-it-all", because I am more of a "know-it-just-a-little" trying to fill in til the big guns chime in :D
 
^understood. Thank you Sir. Appreciated. Back to the main topic...once again my apologies for sidetracking...
 
RI Swamp Yankee said:
I hope I didn't come across as trying to push something on you that you don't like.

No, I totally get where you're coming from, and really appreciate your input.

I've got an Opinel No. 8 Garden Knife which was my EDC up until I ordered a Rough Rider Sunfish on a lark. It was like the sunfish was made specifically for my hand and work style - can't explain it, it just is. It gets used everyday - opening boxes and shipping envelopes, stripping cable insulation, cutting and trimming cable ties, making hot-dog and s'more sticks, making fuzz-sticks and shredding newspaper and cardboard into firestarters, pruning rhododendrons and roses and blackberry canes, carving gourds, cutting rope to hang hammocks and trim sailboat hawsers. I use a knife everyday, and a big, fat sunfish makes chores fun. I just need one I can open and close without drama.

(I also have a Kershaw Compound, but I don't like tac knives. A knife should be a tool to build something cool, not a weapon you use to open DVD packaging. The Compound looked more tool-like on the site I ordered it from, but was yet another "fightin' knife" once I had it in hand.)
Click to expand...

Thank goodness I didn't rub you the wrong way! I'm all about some Opinels, and as luck would have it, so is my wife (in the kitchen, anyway).
If you really like a sunfish pattern, GE will soften the springs if you ask, no problem. Best customer service experience I've had in a long while, and I'm quite the geezer.
 
Does she have the Opinel chef's knife or santoku? I was contemplating a purchase based on my very positive experiences with their pocket knives, but there's little feedback out there on their big kitchen knives.
 
Neither, I'm afraid... She confiscates my Henckels santoku when she needs it, but her favorite kitchen knife is an opinel #8 as a petty knife. She refuses to use a vegetable peeler, and has me hone the darn thing about twice a month....... Small price to pay for a happy household though, so I strop it occasionally and pretend that it's a much bigger task than it actually is.

Job security, you know. I don't want her going for a trade-in after 20+ years, I don't have much tread left on my tires :D
 
I get to do most of the "fancy cooking" (or at least the "fancy cooking" requiring a lot of knifework), hence my interest. I've got a set of Ikea 365+ (designed by Fallkniven) kitchen knives, and they do =ok=, at least as well as my folk's Wusthoff's for 1/10th the cost, but it's time for an u/g.

To get back on track... here's what a GEC All Steel Sunfish looks like. The little blade gizmo up top is the "pick" the dealer sent to open the thing, and I can't get either blade open without it.

GEC_All_Steel_Sunfish.jpg
 
Haha, sounds like we have a little in common in the cooking department!

That's a darn beauty of a sunfish! Kingwood or Cocobolo? Hard to tell from the photo, but either way doggone nice! Send it back to GE to get the tension softened, I sure would!!
 
I think the EO model might be the way to go regardless of what GEC might be able to do with the spring on the knife you have now. Single blade + notch is going to give you a better grip every time versus two closely set blades with no notch. It's a stout knife that's probably going to snap harder than most in either case so why not give yourself the best mechanical advantage.
 
bonky said:
GE uses 1095, 01, 440C, or occasionally 420HC on their knives which are much easier to sharpen, especially since the blades are thin at the cutting edge to begin with. As I stated earlier, I'm a bit OCD and would sharpen any knife I receive regardless.
Click to expand...

Which models have GEC made with 420HC?
 
biglmbass said:
Spec run SFOs for Cripple Creek come to mind. They made some 53s and 73s.
Click to expand...
Yep, the CCs. They also made some single blade #73s with the acorn shield. These won't have the Cyclops Steel Works stamp, that's how you know they're not 440c. Most recently, the #65 Fish knife was made in 420HC.

As to the sunfish, I can't really help there as I never held one. I do have a single blade whaler and while its stout, it is pretty easy to open. It was part of the first run without the EO notch.
 
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