John Greco Grifon... No bones about it, Brilliant value for money!!

savantuk

savantuk

Joined
Sep 20, 2002
Messages
268
Hello Chaps,

Postman delivered the GRIFON to me in the UK today. I had been a bit worried because I had heard that these knives are brutes to use.

Sure enough, when it arrived, the blade was almost impossible to open, and even more difficult to close, as a tremendous amount of pressure was required on the framelock to close it.

Out to cold workshop we went. Screws initially difficult to remove because of prodigious use of loctite. Heating the knife in front of a fan heater did the trick, and the screws were removed.

The following simple operations were then carried out:

Blade spindle polished.

Lock ramp at rear of blade polished.

Frame lock - light sanding to remove burr, then polished.
Locking leaf - considerable pressure put on leaf, to bend it away from lock, because leaf had engaged on ramp over 100% of ramp width, making release too tight.

All moving parts then washed in methylated spirit and left to dry.

CRK flourinated grease applied to all moving parts.

Set of optional micarta scales fitted, and Reeve style lanyard attached.

Knife re-assembled, and blade spindle tension screw finely adjusted.

Result?

A frame locked knife, handmade from very high quality steel and components that 'flicks' open with very little effort, with a locking leaf that slams into place with all the assurance of a breech lock, and is easily closed again.

And all for less than $90!!!! What a bargain!!

Doug
 

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I keep looking at these over at www.cqcknives.com - thinking.. man, that sure seems like a good deal.

They look super tough.

It doesn't sound like they are all the way finished out of the box.

If they were a little bigger and had a pocket clip, I'd probably consider getting one.

I've been wondering what the optional micarta scales look like when attached. Your picture helps a lot.

Good review.
-- Rob
 
Hello,

It's just that to be 'perfect', they need a liitle help. It's no wonder when you appreciate the price of these pieces. Even at full price they would be a bargain.

Out of the box, the only thing required to make the knife immediately useable, is the adjustment of the pivot screw. (Of course, it may be that I am just a weakling).

With a half hour fettling, you get a knife that opens as though the blade is on bearings, has a rock solid lockup, and absolutely ZERO blade play, in any plane.. Hell, I'm bloody impressed!!

Doug
 
I've a Falcon and a Raptor. Incredibly tough, great beaters in the woods, and easier to carry than my Buck/Strider. I don't baby them, so I just drop them into a pocket. I know they aren't going to open up accidentally!
 
I bought a Falcon from John and it was also stiff when I got it. First I used some Tetra Gun lubricant and worked the action back and forth, not completely opening or closing the action. Next for me it was easier to reliably open the blade by not using the thumb stud. Rather I pinched the blade between my thumb and middle finger, lifted the blade about 1 to 1 1/2 inches out of the frame, then finished the motion using just my thumb.
 
When I try to access this web site I get a blank screen. Nothing. What gives?
 
CQCKnives has a terrible java applet type of interface that's slow to load, buggy, and just looks like crap, IMO. I probably would have bought a Greco during their $50 sale if not for the nasty website.
 
Very good value for the $$$


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
GREETING"S:as i am new to this forum, i would like to say hello to everyone. i was going to place my first post concerning "greco" knives to see if anyone had experience with them.what a surprise to come on the first time , and read a post on them by savantuk!. they do look to be of good quality. i am unfamiliar with their steel however. their website was experiencing problem"s when i was trying to get the technical information on the steel.if savantuk will give us an evaluation, and it"s a good one, i may have to add one to the collection!. i very glad to be here folk"s, i love to talk knive"s. savantuk, i have a son in your enchanting country. i go to vist him in "newcastle town" for christmas. i always look forward to visting england. again i"m glad to be here, thank"s for having me!
 
Warrior Poet..... hello, and welcome to blade forums:)

I can do better than a review of the steel.... here is the analysis of the steel, direct from the Greco site, which, by the way, I have no problems accessing...

The 8670 steel is a chrome/nickel alloy carbon steel from Germany. The contents are .71 - 1 % nickel, .3 - .5% chrome and .75% carbon. The RC on the edge is 58, and the spine is almost dead soft to provide flexibility. We find the steel easier to sharpen, and it holds an edge longer. That is one of the reasons John switched from 5160 and A2.

There we have it. In theory, this is all well and good, but in practice? I find the blade to extremely sharp, it keeps an edge well, and needs re sharpening only after heavy use. A few strokes from a crc stick, followed by a stropping seems to do the trick. In the real world, (my test of sharpness is using the knife, not cutting sheets of paper, cutting cardboard boxes, and shaving), the knife does all I require of it, including slicing electrical cable (domestic), removing staples from packing cases, sharpening pencils, and killing Ringwraiths, and the occasional orc... (the blood of the latter two tend to leave a blue stain on the blade, which is easily removeable with metal polish).

The thickness of the blade at the spine is no inconvenience to me, in fact it is an advantage. The blade is near indestructible.

Regards,

Doug
 
Originally posted by savantuk
...There we have it. In theory, this is all well and good, but in practice? ...and killing Ringwraiths, and the occasional orc... (the blood of the latter two tend to leave a blue stain on the blade, which is easily removeable with metal polish)...
Regards,

Doug
Click to expand...

And therein lies the rub ;) Nothing like a good polish to remove Orc blood!

Met Mr Greco at the show this weekend, nice as can be, clean shaven as well! I asked about his new face and he said that he must keep people guessing, next year probably some facial hair...good plan! :)

Tough weapons his fixed blade fighters are, very well thought out and strong sharpedged tools!

I'd hazard they'd give some of the top named fighting knives more than a run for their money!

ps
Outstanding work on the conditioning of your folder! I've done similar things to an older Benchmade Emerson folder that didn't open smooth either, sanded and polished the tang area and opened smooth as glass once done, but work it was to do so, as your was it seems, well worth it!
G2
 
I asked Mr. Greco at the show yesterday about the possibility of putting clips on his folders, and he didn't seem to feel the need for them. Says they feel better without, and I agree that clipless knives feel better in the hand, though it makes them much less convenient.

The folders looked much better in person than on CQCKnives. They were also well worn-in, so they felt just like other normal framelocks. Dangit, now I regret not getting one.
 
My dad got me a flat-ground whisper for X-mas. He called me yesterday saying he wanted to keep it. I said he could, but he wouldnt get the SOG Vision I got him that he has been wanting all these months.

What he was increadibly impressed by was the service at CQC Knives. He got a refund check in the package for a good portion of the shipping and when he called them to thank them he said they were super-ultra-friendly folks.

Thanks for the pic of the knife with scales...I had been foto-shoppin them in to see what it would look like and it came out about right. I am anxious to see if mine too is tuff to open since it is alluded that the flat-ground ones have more ease. I did want a knife that was strong, durable, and I could turn a wrench on.
 
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