Review Great Eastern Cutlery #73 liner lock

[miso2]

This is my humble attempt to review a traditional knife I have had for a while.
The GEC #73 liner lock with Osage Orange covers.

I have to admit that I am not familiar with traditional knives.
The GEC is my third traditional after a couple of Japanese back locks (Moki and G. Sakai) and the first slip joint (besides SAKs).
I love full Ti frame lock knives and have several of them.
But somehow I have also always had a thing on traditional knives with wood scales.

This GEC #73 caught my eye hard.
Very nice blade and handle profile.


The specs

  Overall length:              175 mm (6.89”)
  Closed length:               95 mm (3.7”)
  Blade Length:                80 mm (3.15”), 72 mm (2.83") edge
  Blade thickness:             1.93 mm (0.076”)
  Edge thickness:              0.18 mm (0.007”)
  Edge angle:                  20 DPS
  Blade material:              1095 (carbon steel)
  Blade grind:                 Flat grind
  Handle thickness:            12 mm (0.47”)
  Handle material:             Osage Orange cover, stainless liners
  Weight:                      78g (2.75 oz)
  Lock type:                   Slip joint with liner lock
  Deployment method:           Nail nick

I bought this knife a while ago but have not used it.
Because..... what a stiff knife!
I could not open it without tears in my eye!

So I left it half open for a while with a hope that it would ease up the spring.
Finally, it began to give in a little.
I also sanded the tang a little.

It is still very stiff, but at least I can open and close it repetitively.
Then, I oiled it, open/close many times, cleaned it, and oiled it again.
Now I can open it even with my sore thumb!

The knife has a nice half stop, which I like for this alligator.
It also has a liner lock bar for added security.
With the strong spring (still), the lock may not be necessary, but I do appreciate the feel of additional security.
The lock-up is about 100%, if it means anything.
There is no lock stick at all (the bar may not actually touch the blade tang).

The fit and finish is superb.
It doesn't look so in the pic, but the blade is perfectly centered.
There is no blade play in any directions.

One thing I am concerned is that the tip of the blade is very close to the edge of the scales.
After some sharpening, it may be sticking out.

The blade is very very slicey.
Thin blade stock, thin behind the edge, and full flat ground.
Together with the narrow blade profile, it glides through cut medium.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the knife, now that I can actually open and use it.
So satisfied that I ordered another GEC slip joint, based on recommendations I got here before.
After experiencing the cut power of this knife, it is difficult to go back to thicker modern knives......
Also, there is a strong satisfaction when I open ad close it with the hard snap sound (called "nice talk"?).

 

[miso2]

It is odd that I am almost addicted to the strong pull, which once gave me sore nail and tears.
When I opened a SAK main blade, I felt so lazy, insecure, and unsatisfied.

The spring of #73 is still very strong, such that I literally feel that I am lifting 5 lb with my thumb nail.
But it is much easier to open now.
I think I have acquired a muscle memory to open it more efficiently.
Particularly, coordinating the left hand to secure the handle with the pull and pulling the blade in the right direction seem to be the key.

Anyway, I am getting #15, which is supposed to have a much weaker spring than #73 (5 against 8?) and was recommended here when I asked for easy opening slipjoints.
I need to see which I prefer now....

 

[miso2]

I have to admit that I do wish the blade steel be something like M4.
But 1095 seems to work fine for my light cutting tasks.

I put a coarse edge with a Venev diamond #150 stone with Edge Pro.
Very aggressive edge.
I know that carbon steel takes an excellent fine edge.
But I put a coarse edge on this one to maximize edge retention and therefore the lifespan of the blade.

And the edge does keep going for enough amount of time.
I cut some cardboard, vegetables, and envelopes at work and at home
Because of the thin edge at 15 DPS, thin blade stock, and the narrow blade, I only need to apply minimum pressure when cutting.
Maybe that is why the edge retention is surprisingly good.

I was also afraid that the oxidation would degrade the edge quickly, but it doesn't seem happening.

Anyway, I am very happy with the steel so far.

 

[B.F.U]

Close to proud tips is the most common issue I find on GEC made knives. I think it's something that, as long as the tip is not literally above the frame, collectors don't care about. I also think it's often more a perceived problem than a practical one, but I still have filed several kicks.

Nice review. They're definitely made well and cut well.

 

[miso2]

Thanks.
It seems that there is still a good millimeter or so to go until the tip actually becomes proud of the frame.

Since the spring is so strong, the kick hits the spring very hard at closing.
I can see a clear ding on the front side of the spring and wonder if this makes the blade to sink little by little over time and keeps the tip inside.
Just a novice guess and hope.

Anyway, I am glad to know that I can grind the kick to remedy the proud tip.

 

[A.L.]

Nice review and a no-nonsense knife!

Funny thing that you mentioned the SAK. After carrying and using the GEC #66 for more than half year now exclusively, my alox SAK feels stiff and snappy in comparison.

Sometimes it's hard to please the slip joint crowd, but I think most of the people prefer stiff knives. The old GECs I used to own were sometimes obnoxiously stiff (especially the secondary small blades). Hard to open blades became particularly problematic with work knives that had to be opened a lot along the day. I personally like easy and smooth pulls just for the convenience.

Also the tips have been a problem for me with pretty much every single GEC knife I've ever owned. I lowered the tip on the #66 too so that it won't catch things that much.

 

[miso2]

Thanks, A.L.

So, the pull of #66 is low?
I just got a #15, which has significantly weaker pull than #73 for sure.
But for small #15, I am actually quite happy with the easy pull.
It is just so pleasant to open and close it.

For bigger #73, I still appreciate the strong spring for better safety.

So I guess I am now OK with both.
Too bad that I can just buy any GEC I like from now on.....