Lets talk GEC!

Today it’s the Weaver Jack
IMG-1520.jpg
 
Sorry to bother y'all. ☹️
I am just curious:
What GEC patterns (if any) are equipped wth iron bolsters, and/or both iron bolsters and liners?
 
afishhunter said:
Sorry to bother y'all. ☹️
I am just curious:
What GEC patterns (if any) are equipped wth iron bolsters, and/or both iron bolsters and liners?
Click to expand...
If I knew the answer I wouldn’t feel bothered and would be happy to help. Who do you need kicked off the porch for poor treatment?
 
afishhunter said:
Sorry to bother y'all. ☹️
I am just curious:
What GEC patterns (if any) are equipped wth iron bolsters, and/or both iron bolsters and liners?
Click to expand...

None that I know of. I doubt iron in its pure elemental form has been used much for knives for many centuries. Without the addition of carbon (which renders it into a compound known as steel), iron is too brittle and corrosion-prone to be of much use.

Steel, however, is used by GEC for the liners and pins of some of their products - sometimes they indicate this by the letters STL after the 6-digit reference on the tube lid. Apart from Farm & Field models (as has been mentioned by the previous post), steel liners often crop up on #14, #15, #77, but not exclusively, and not limited to those patterns. My #35 Cattle Knife and #68 Pony Jack have steel liners but other examples of those patterns don't (in my limited experience).

As for bolsters, I'm unsure. Perhaps someone else can definitively advise. Even when the liners and pins are steel, the bolsters still look like nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc). As for integral construction (where a steel liner and bolster are made as a single piece), I'm not aware of GEC ever doing this.

I wish GEC would use steel construction for their stag-handled knives. This would make the unsightly verdigris (aka brass bleed) less likely to occur than with brass.
 
dovidola said:
As for bolsters, I'm unsure. Perhaps someone else can definitively advise. Even when the liners and pins are steel, the bolsters still look like nickel silver (an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc). As for integral construction (where a steel liner and bolster are made as a single piece), I'm not aware of GEC ever doing this.
Click to expand...
I always thought that when they use STL it means bolsters are steel too. Mine sure look like steel in person. Intergal construction they don't do, as far as I know.
 
In order to blend the steel pivot pin properly, the bolster has to be steel as well. To my knowledge, if a GEC has steel liners it will also have a steel pivot pin and steel bolsters. You could also test material with a magnet as Nickel Silver is non-magnetic

As an example of the color difference between steel and nickel silver, this knife has a steel bolster and all the pins are NS.
IMG_6520.jpeg
 
I am an avid fan of GECs with steel construction-- in my little assortment I have five.

Two of these are all steel, with no brass, nor nickel silver. They are a 151214 Crown Lifter and a 2025 Waynorth Real Lambfoot knife.

Two have steel scales, bolsters and blade pivot, and bolster pins--and have brass cover and spring pivot pins (352322 Cattle Knife) and also brass lanyard tube on the 47P123 Harvester.

One is a 715121 Farm and Field Bullnose with all steel but the brass lanyard tube and back spring pivot pin- it's a shadow pattern.

They are all some of my favorites.
 
Last edited:
With a new year underway, I’m curious what everyone is hoping to see from Great Eastern Cutlery this year.

What patterns would you like to see brought back, or new ones you think would be a great fit for GEC? Any particular handle materials, shield styles, or blade steels on your wish list?
Personally, I'd love to see another run of Farm and Field in some older patterns. We haven't seen any 71's in a while.
 
I really like the two P74s that I bought last year so I'd like to see a run of H23s and/or H73s in bocote, brown burlap micarta or ironwood. Preferably in skinner and canoe pattern blades.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top