Lets talk GEC!

rcs86 said:
Carrying these two along to church today.

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I try not to go to a church where I might need two knives. :D
 
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Old Engineer said:
warrenwrench warrenwrench : Good morning my friend !!!!:):):):thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Great to see you are at least Lurking . It would be really Great to see you posting some of your Outstanding Knives . I have to remind you that some of your Stag :eek::eek::eek::thumbsup::thumbsup:just blew my mind . Take care my friend and carry them in good health .

Harry:thumbsup:
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Hi Harry, glad to see your doing well. As this thread has been looking, GEC things have been strange. I have been dealing a little more with custom traditionals as of late. Tired of fighting through the flipper people to get my hands on GEC blades I'm after. I need to take some new pics but this will have to do.
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warrenwrench said:
Hi Harry, glad to see your doing well. As this thread has been looking, GEC things have been strange. I have been dealing a little more with custom traditionals as of late. Tired of fighting through the flipper people to get my hands on GEC blades I'm after. I need to take some new pics but this will have to do.
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Thank you for the photo , and hopefully more photos , of some very nice Stag my friend . I really like the shield on the Stag too .

Harry
 
Just caught up on this thread. To tack on to what Leslie Tomville said, I have to agree that there some wild misconceptions about the folks at GEC.

Once upon a time in an empty barroom in Titusville, a strange twist of fate placed Bill Howard and I at a table with a pitcher of beer between us. We sat there alone, talking for 30 or 40 mins, maybe longer. We spoke about many things. About how he got started at Queen. How he made literal bushels full of hawkbill pruners for farmers when he was a young man. Those hawkbill knives were the bread and butter of the company apparently. We talked about farms and farming. About the old guard of knife collectors. About the founding of GEC. However, I was really struck when Bill spoke about his employees. Making sure his people have jobs is very important to him, he cares very deeply about his employees. It came up multiple times in our conversation.

He deserves every bit of credit ever given to him for achieving what he has with Great Eastern, he's fought hard for it. It's been a huge gamble and believe me, no one is getting massively wealthy off of it. GEC isn't some huge company with tons of capital, it's just a very determined and talented small group of people doing their best to keep the doors open. GEC isn't a perfect company, but they're a damn sight better than most. Hat's off to Mr. Howard.
 
Dr-Mabuse said:
Just caught up on this thread. To tack on to what Leslie Tomville said, I have to agree that there some wild misconceptions about the folks at GEC.

Once upon a time in an empty barroom in Titusville, a strange twist of fate placed Bill Howard and I at a table with a pitcher of beer between us. We sat there alone, talking for 30 or 40 mins, maybe longer. We spoke about many things. About how he got started at Queen. How he made literal bushels full of hawkbill pruners for farmers when he was a young man. Those hawkbill knives were the bread and butter of the company apparently. We talked about farms and farming. About the old guard of knife collectors. About the founding of GEC. However, I was really struck when Bill spoke about his employees. Making sure his people have jobs is very important to him, he cares very deeply about his employees. It came up multiple times in our conversation.

He deserves every bit of credit ever given to him for achieving what he has with Great Eastern, he's fought hard for it. It's been a huge gamble and believe me, no one is getting massively wealthy off of it. GEC isn't some huge company with tons of capital, it's just a very determined and talented small group of people doing their best to keep the doors open. GEC isn't a perfect company, but they're a damn sight better than most. Hat's off to Mr. Howard.
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Well said my friend .

Harry
 
It seems to be a hard thing to keep in mind, the relationship dynamic of employers and employees is symbiotic. Employers have a duty to their employees to keep the company profitable so work doesnt dry up. Afterall, people have families relying on it. Employees need to do an equal part at putting out a quality product in a timely manner while also being loyal. A would be employer would have nothing if he did not have loyal hard workers. People are loyal and work hard for an employer that understands the relationship.
 
ebony 99 clips would be really sweet. Classy looking knives. They look a lot bigger than 3-3/4" closed in the pics.
 
Dr-Mabuse said:
Just caught up on this thread. To tack on to what Leslie Tomville said, I have to agree that there some wild misconceptions about the folks at GEC.

Once upon a time in an empty barroom in Titusville, a strange twist of fate placed Bill Howard and I at a table with a pitcher of beer between us. We sat there alone, talking for 30 or 40 mins, maybe longer. We spoke about many things. About how he got started at Queen. How he made literal bushels full of hawkbill pruners for farmers when he was a young man. Those hawkbill knives were the bread and butter of the company apparently. We talked about farms and farming. About the old guard of knife collectors. About the founding of GEC. However, I was really struck when Bill spoke about his employees. Making sure his people have jobs is very important to him, he cares very deeply about his employees. It came up multiple times in our conversation.

He deserves every bit of credit ever given to him for achieving what he has with Great Eastern, he's fought hard for it. It's been a huge gamble and believe me, no one is getting massively wealthy off of it. GEC isn't some huge company with tons of capital, it's just a very determined and talented small group of people doing their best to keep the doors open. GEC isn't a perfect company, but they're a damn sight better than most. Hat's off to Mr. Howard.
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Yes, I have met Bill and was able to spend an hour or so with him this past summer at a picnic. I came away with the same impressions. I was surprised at how little he really understands the outside world of social media. He genuinely was concerned about the high demand for their knives created partially because of all that free marketing (on Blade Forums, Facebook groups, and Instagram) was not good for the average guy just trying to buy a well made knife at a good value. He was worried about the long term health of his company and his employees. He seemed surprised when I showed him my collection of 80 or so knives. He enjoyed looking at them, but I think he thought I was an exception. He didn’t understand that the intense demand for these knives clearly is a good thing for his company and that this demand is not going away. He wasn’t interested in raising the wholesale price of the knives either. He just wants to provide knives at the highest quality and best value.
 
The last time I was at the factory, a week or so ago, I only talked to Bill a short bit but he seemed shocked that I drove an hour to get there. When talking with him before he’s seemed to have the same concerns mentioned above; providing for his employees, making the best knife possible, normal people getting them. Maybe we’re all the bad guys, because I really don’t think many non enthusiasts are getting GECs right now let alone using them. William is the one who does the Instagram (not sure about the site etc.) it seems, so I’m sure he sees more of the hullabaloo. They’ve all always been very genuine when I’ve stopped in.
 
Travman said:
Yes, I have met Bill and was able to spend an hour or so with him this past summer at a picnic. I came away with the same impressions. I was surprised at how little he really understands the outside world of social media. He genuinely was concerned about the high demand for their knives created partially because of all that free marketing (on Blade Forums, Facebook groups, and Instagram) was not good for the average guy just trying to buy a well made knife at a good value. He was worried about the long term health of his company and his employees. He seemed surprised when I showed him my collection of 80 or so knives. He enjoyed looking at them, but I think he thought I was an exception. He didn’t understand that the intense demand for these knives clearly is a good thing for his company and that this demand is not going away. He wasn’t interested in raising the wholesale price of the knives either. He just wants to provide knives at the highest quality and best value.
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I met Bill in November 2018.......As we chatted I to!d him that BF was full of fan boys for his knives..... He replied that he never looks at BF....... He also likes to have the knives used versus becoming dust collectors.......
 
aji1 said:
And the 99s (wharncliffes, though) and 42s. The 42 is not as big as a 110, but it is still a pretty good sized knife.

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The elk stag 99 is a beautiful piece, I have a chestnut but would really love to get my hands on a stag. Curious if anyone knows the answer to this, but the chestnut is listed as "american chestnut", I was under the impression that american chestnut was all but extinct; was the lumber pulled from reclaimed wood or some other source?
 
bbfish said:
The elk stag 99 is a beautiful piece, I have a chestnut but would really love to get my hands on a stag. Curious if anyone knows the answer to this, but the chestnut is listed as "american chestnut", I was under the impression that american chestnut was all but extinct; was the lumber pulled from reclaimed wood or some other source?
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I think it was reclaimed from an old barn... or maybe that was CSC.
 
Here is the rub, Mr. Howard typically builds such a quality pocket knife, that if just normal guys buy it, he would probably go out of business. The every man would buy 1 knife and use it for 20 years.
Repeat business is a part of the reason manufactured goods are crap these days. Business realized if they make their products too well people won't need to come back and buy more.
Granted that there are plenty of people in the world to buy 1 knife every 20 years to keep a small cutler in business. But how many people actually know about GEC outside of this hobby?
 
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