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Great Eastern Cutlery 2011 BladeForums Traditional Knife Review
Great Eastern Cutlery (GEC) is the kind of company most of would like to support. It makes small batch, largely handcrafted products in the US. GEC offers three product lines from its factories in Titusville, PA.
The Traditional Forum here at BladeForums has contracted with several knife manufacturers to produce an annual knife for several years, following the specifications of the forum. The 2011 model was an Easy-Open Jack from GEC. At the time of request for the 2011 Forum Knife, the candle tip pattern was not a part of GEC’s standard offerings, but having created the tooling to produce it, GEC has since offered it in other models, such as the #85, which features Cocobolo handles.
The 2011 Easy-Open Jack is the second GEC knife I’ve owned. Both have had very good fit and finish with centered blades and nicely finished scales that fit flush. If I have a nitpick with GEC, it is that the pull on the backsprings it too hard. The blades come with an extra long nail nick, but opening them can be difficult. When closing, they snap shut with authority. A distinct half-stop along the way helps avoid nipped fingers.
With the 2011 Easy-Open Jack, the strong pull isn’t as significant an issue. The Forum Knife features a cut out at the butt end of the handle that allows the user to get a good pinch grip on the blade for opening. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with the cap lifter/screwdriver secondary blade, which is very hard to open. There have been reports that the cap lifter doesn’t open bottles properly, but I found it to be adequate for my needs.
The main blade is what would typically see the most use, though, and it is a workhorse design. The stout spear point blade has a swedge ground at the tip and should be up to most tasks. There is no side-to side blade play. The edge that came on the knife was good, but not great. Some users have reported that the knife’s strong pull was causing the blade to strike the backspring when closing, dulling the blade. A special BladeForums stamp appears on the blade tang.
The scales are jigged bone in a peach pit pattern and are well crafted. I’m not drawn to the brown color, but that’s a subjective call. You may love them. The propeller shield (as chosen by BladeForums) is a nice touch. The packaging is terrific. GEC knives come wrapped in wax paper in a tube. The attractive label on the tube was designed by a member here.
All in all, the 2011 Forum Knife is a great knife from a great company. What makes it special is that it was created based on the input of the community here at BladeForums. The 2012 Forum Knife discussion has begun here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...raditional-Forum-Knife-let-s-begin-discussion. I encourage you to participate.
Thank you to everyone who worked on the 2011 Forum Knife (and previous knives.) It is a tribute to their leadership that I’m not exactly sure of everyone who was involved. As a BladeForums member, it just seemed to come together seamlessly.
Great Eastern Cutlery (GEC) is the kind of company most of would like to support. It makes small batch, largely handcrafted products in the US. GEC offers three product lines from its factories in Titusville, PA.
- Tiduote - carbon steel working knives designed for everyday use.
- Northfield UN-X-LD - GEC’s premium line with carbon steel blades unusual handle materials.
- Great Eastern - 440c stainless blades and US materials wherever possible.
The Traditional Forum here at BladeForums has contracted with several knife manufacturers to produce an annual knife for several years, following the specifications of the forum. The 2011 model was an Easy-Open Jack from GEC. At the time of request for the 2011 Forum Knife, the candle tip pattern was not a part of GEC’s standard offerings, but having created the tooling to produce it, GEC has since offered it in other models, such as the #85, which features Cocobolo handles.
The 2011 Easy-Open Jack is the second GEC knife I’ve owned. Both have had very good fit and finish with centered blades and nicely finished scales that fit flush. If I have a nitpick with GEC, it is that the pull on the backsprings it too hard. The blades come with an extra long nail nick, but opening them can be difficult. When closing, they snap shut with authority. A distinct half-stop along the way helps avoid nipped fingers.
With the 2011 Easy-Open Jack, the strong pull isn’t as significant an issue. The Forum Knife features a cut out at the butt end of the handle that allows the user to get a good pinch grip on the blade for opening. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with the cap lifter/screwdriver secondary blade, which is very hard to open. There have been reports that the cap lifter doesn’t open bottles properly, but I found it to be adequate for my needs.
The main blade is what would typically see the most use, though, and it is a workhorse design. The stout spear point blade has a swedge ground at the tip and should be up to most tasks. There is no side-to side blade play. The edge that came on the knife was good, but not great. Some users have reported that the knife’s strong pull was causing the blade to strike the backspring when closing, dulling the blade. A special BladeForums stamp appears on the blade tang.
The scales are jigged bone in a peach pit pattern and are well crafted. I’m not drawn to the brown color, but that’s a subjective call. You may love them. The propeller shield (as chosen by BladeForums) is a nice touch. The packaging is terrific. GEC knives come wrapped in wax paper in a tube. The attractive label on the tube was designed by a member here.
All in all, the 2011 Forum Knife is a great knife from a great company. What makes it special is that it was created based on the input of the community here at BladeForums. The 2012 Forum Knife discussion has begun here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...raditional-Forum-Knife-let-s-begin-discussion. I encourage you to participate.
Thank you to everyone who worked on the 2011 Forum Knife (and previous knives.) It is a tribute to their leadership that I’m not exactly sure of everyone who was involved. As a BladeForums member, it just seemed to come together seamlessly.
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:thumbup: I keep it in the kitchen where it also gets used every day to cut up the breakfast oranges, good patina coming along. It sharpens keenly and is a very able slicer.