Lets talk GEC!

chisumr said:
The 65 Ben Hogan Burnt Orange scale and shield were made exclusively for the Rendezvous 2015. They also had some in different colors. Shield is nice huh! I managed to get a few of them.
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I picked up one of the autumn gold jigs too.... It's a beauty as well. Don't have a picture of it at the moment. I love the production numbers on them!
 
Hey guys and gals, something stumped me about the ebony wood GEC uses. now there is a 77 clip with pen available but it is in ebony. Now there is Gabon ebony and ebony, both of which I have examples of. However the only difference is the Gabon ebony and regular ebony appears to be much darker? either natural or stained thus. Are they very close? can some one put pictures of them next to each other of they have examples of each. I believe its another trick of lighting thing... thanks! :thumbup:
 
meako said:
Will there ever be anymore #12 Toothpicks produced?
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That's a good question. They've made the 12 pattern so far in Toothpick, Powderhorn Jack, and Templar variants.

I love the #12 myself. I have more 12s than any other single GEC pattern in my small collection. The #12 Powderhorn Jack is my most frequently carried GEC.

They don't seem to be as broadly popular in general, though, as evidenced by the fact that you can still find some 12s from 2009 in dealer stock (though not many left). I wonder if it's because people often equate a Toothpick pattern with the small and rather delicate Case implementations?

Without something else in the shot to show context, it's hard sometimes to judge the size of a knife. That's why I like to take at least one in-hand photo so you can let people see.

Here are two of my 12s

Powderhorn Jack in Copperhead Jigged Bone:


Toothpick in Stag:


In hand:


4" long closed but carries smaller due to the tapered frame, but a lot of blade fits into it. I'm holding it oddly for the camera shot, but you can see that you get a full four-finger grip on it. I am a relatively tall guy at 6'2" with normal sized mitts for my stature, just to get an idea of hand size in comparison to knife size.

Sure hope they revisit these again. I'd love to get one in SS.
 
mrknife said:
Hey guys and gals, something stumped me about the ebony wood GEC uses. now there is a 77 clip with pen available but it is in ebony. Now there is Gabon ebony and ebony, both of which I have examples of. However the only difference is the Gabon ebony and regular ebony appears to be much darker? either natural or stained thus. Are they very close? can some one put pictures of them next to each other of they have examples of each. I believe its another trick of lighting thing... thanks! :thumbup:
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Gabon ebony is from a specific region of Africa. It is usually a solid black.

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/gaboon-ebony/

Ebony wood can come from multiple sources and different species of related tree, so other ebonies may have noticeable grain structure and lighter color.
 
A lot of the first run #77 jacks and some #15s that soon followed had that lighter ebony. GEC usually uses Macassar ebony (and ebonies like it) which often has dark brown/chocolate streaks/grain running through it and Gaboon Ebony which is mostly/very close to black. I believe that for the last few years, if the ebony was Gaboon ebony, it was listed in the description while Macassar ebony usually wasn't.

As John said, Ebony is actually a species of trees which can look differently. Do a Google image search of "black and white ebony". Very cool stuff.
 
2Dead said:
A lot of the first run #77 jacks and some #15s that soon followed had that lighter ebony. GEC usually uses Macassar ebony (and ebonies like it) which often has dark brown/chocolate streaks/grain running through it and Gaboon Ebony which is mostly/very close to black. I believe that for the last few years, if the ebony was Gaboon ebony, it was listed in the description while Macassar ebony usually wasn't.

As John said, Ebony is actually a species of trees which can look differently. Do a Google image search of "black and white ebony". Very cool stuff.
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ah i see, cause theres some 77 clips on one of the sites and i didnt want to end up with light colored ebony. one of the gec 15 i got from the FS section just said Ebony so I had hopes the 77 might have been possibly the same ebony. I figure I can always just have it modded to remove the pen blade out any way :rolleyes:
 
GEC's ebony usually is dark chocolate to black/mix in color but those #77s were light. If you can, ask to see the knife first or you might get a blonde one. If you're gonna mod it then the color might not matter as much as you could always get the covers changed too.
 
If you have any vintage folders with ebony handles the ebony is pure black and the grain is so tight that you need a loupe to just make out that there is a grain present. This wood came from old growth trees that grew slowly because of being crowded and partially shaded by other trees. You still find this kind of ebony on recently made knives if the maker has or had a source for pieces of ebony harvested many years ago. Old guitar manufacturing businesses can be a source for this.
Currently harvested ebony comes from tree farms, grown in the open, no shading and lots of water. Hence it grows rapidly and therefore is less dense, less black, and the grain is easily seen.
It is tree farming that gives this lower quality ebony, not the species of ebony or location it grows in.
kj
 
kootenay joe said:
If you have any vintage folders with ebony handles the ebony is pure black and the grain is so tight that you need a loupe to just make out that there is a grain present. This wood came from old growth trees that grew slowly because of being crowded and partially shaded by other trees. You still find this kind of ebony on recently made knives if the maker has or had a source for pieces of ebony harvested many years ago. Old guitar manufacturing businesses can be a source for this.
Currently harvested ebony comes from tree farms, grown in the open, no shading and lots of water. Hence it grows rapidly and therefore is less dense, less black, and the grain is easily seen.
It is tree farming that gives this lower quality ebony, not the species of ebony or location it grows in.
kj
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I'm not an expert in Ebony but I'd say that the difference in old growth and newly farmed trees can account for the difference in appearance of ebony of the same kind, not all ebonies out there. If you look at the link John provided, they do show actual differences between the different species and I would suppose would/could still look different even if old growth.
 
2Dead said:
GEC's ebony usually is dark chocolate to black/mix in color but those #77s were light. If you can, ask to see the knife first or you might get a blonde one. If you're gonna mod it then the color might not matter as much as you could always get the covers changed too.
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its on one of those sites, looks very blond. and by mod i mean rip a blade out. currently in discussion with Glenn regarding this 15 with clip and pen. it looks good, but I like how slim the one blade 15s are.
 
meako said:
Will there ever be anymore #12 Toothpicks produced?
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I'd like to think so. I really like GECs take on the pattern and have several. The 2-blade Powderhorn Jack is a sleeper in their line IMO. Its fits & feels great in hand & has a long pen blade that I like.

I think they should do a jack pattern t'pick with the slim clip (often called a California or Turkish clip) & pen combo. Wrap it in bloodwood, and or ebony and I'm in. Give me the same knife in SS & carbon. (I use my SS t'picks in the kitchen all the time)
 
Indeed - the #12 is a wonderful pattern. First I saw this kind of knife I thought ... looks like a mixture of french and spanish... ;)
But then I ordered one for myself; a #12 Powderhorn Jack with Jigged Copperhead Bone. I really love this great great pattern.

I wish they would make some with nice acrylics and/or micarta. But some sawcut bone might also do it rather well ;)
 
does anyone have all the varieties of clip blades that gec offers? found some old thread that died in 2013, but that was a mix of the clips and not a focus on the gec offerings
 
biglmbass said:
The 2-blade Powderhorn Jack is a sleeper in their line IMO. Its fits & feels great in hand & has a long pen blade that I like.
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I had a Toothpick that was really comfortable in the hands..... I think the two blade version would be pretty danged sweet.
 
Questions on the #12 Toothpick. What was the fit & finish like on the early runs, say 2009? Do they have a half-stop?
 
I always thought GEC had good to great F&F, the #12s included. I still have 3 of them. No half stops on the #12. Check out my sig line for more info.
 
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