Lets talk GEC!

[hamsco]

Fine examples of Elk covers !!! I missed out on this batch of Elk. (Both 15 and 74) I will repost a image of the three that I own, and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Fanglekai]

Interesting. I received some GECs the other day with minor production flaws in them. I was surprised by this. I was fortunate that the store I purchased from was happy to take them back, but they were SFOs so they couldn't be replaced. I emailed Chris at GEC but she indicated GEC couldn't do anything about it. I hope my SS orders show up to normal GEC standards.

I can easily pick out flaws in every knife I've ever purchased. They ALL have something wrong with them, but I haven't gotten into $400+ territory. Every GEC I own has flaws, but if you watch the videos about how they're made it's surprising they can put out the quality they do. They're using ancient machines and a lot of processes that involve work done by hand. This isn't to say we should accept junk, but small imperfections are to be expected. What surprises me is the consistent level of high quality that GEC puts out. I haven't gotten a lemon yet.

 

[supratentorial]

My 15 sharpened up nicely and I'm totin' the knife today.

 

[MerryMadMonk]

Great Eastern Cutlery Factory Tour Part 1
[youtube]ZeHWa5jyO74[/youtube]

Great Eastern Cutlery Factory Tour Part 2
[youtube]xA-OpahW7EA[/youtube]

Great Eastern Cutlery Factory Tour Part 3
[youtube]yPzgOs6JEyg[/youtube]

 

[pmek5]

Those were a great look inside GEC, and how their traditional patterns are made. Lots of hands on in the making of their knives. Brings even more appreciation to their knives.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[jrawk]

How exactly would you go about filing the tang? The backspring on my beagle is a tad proud.

i'd need to get my dslr camera out to snap a ggod photo of the tang on my #15. But there is a very visible raised protrusion on the top side of the blade tang that wasn't ground down completely before assemply. So the bottom of the spring is making contact with that protrusion (like a mini kick on the wrong side). It'll be tough to correct with a needle file. A precision dremel tip would probably work better but i don't have steady hands and would likely screw up the liners. So it'll probably just stay proud.

 

[JB in SC]

i'd need to get my dslr camera out to snap a ggod photo of the tang on my #15. But there is a very visible raised protrusion on the top side of the blade tang that wasn't ground down completely before assemply. So the bottom of the spring is making contact with that protrusion (like a mini kick on the wrong side). It'll be tough to correct with a needle file. A precision dremel tip would probably work better but i don't have steady hands and would likely screw up the liners. So it'll probably just stay proud.

Mine looks almost exactly like that.

 

[supratentorial]

i'd need to get my dslr camera out to snap a ggod photo of the tang on my #15. But there is a very visible raised protrusion on the top side of the blade tang that wasn't ground down completely before assemply. So the bottom of the spring is making contact with that protrusion (like a mini kick on the wrong side). It'll be tough to correct with a needle file. A precision dremel tip would probably work better but i don't have steady hands and would likely screw up the liners. So it'll probably just stay proud.

Mine looks similar but I don't have a camera handy. I can take a photo later if necessary.

What is your concern? Is there play in the open position? Does the blade not open fully? Mine opens fine and doesn't have any movement.

 

[jrawk]

Mine looks similar but I don't have a camera handy. I can take a photo later if necessary.

What is your concern? Is there play in the open position? Does the blade not open fully? Mine opens fine and doesn't have any movement.

As previously posted a few pages back, the spring sits slightly proud with blade fully deployed. I, personally, have no concern over this. No blade play. No functional disadvantage. BlockPsycho asked how I would go about correcting this so I wanted to respond with a bit of detail concerning the 15 I received. And, as stated a few times now, I'm more than happy leaving it alone and enjoying the product I received the way it is. :thumbup: But this can be corrected by filing that protrusion down. After minimal consideration, to me this is not enough to send back for repair. Your mileage may vary.

You can see the slightly proud spring here:

Cheers

 

[supratentorial]

Here's a photo that I had handy showing the "run up" on GEC and Schrade stock knives. You can see that the "run up" is sometimes pretty rough. Mine seems to perform fine. But I don't think it's something easy to regrind without removing the blade first.

 

[Acadian]

As previously posted a few pages back, the spring sits slightly proud with blade fully deployed. I, personally, have no concern over this. No blade play. No functional disadvantage. BlockPsycho asked how I would go about correcting this so I wanted to respond with a bit of detail concerning the 15 I received. And, as stated a few times now, I'm more than happy leaving it alone and enjoying the product I received the way it is. :thumbup: But this can be corrected by filing that protrusion down. After minimal consideration, to me this is not enough to send back for repair. Your mileage may vary.

You can see the slightly proud spring here:

Cheers

Thank you very much for sharing all that info. I even learned something new - I didn't know you could adjust the height of the kick on slip joints.

My new GEC 15 sits completely flush - guess I got lucky with mine.

Happy Friday!

 

[jrawk]

Here's a photo that I had handy showing the "run up" on GEC and Schrade stock knives. You can see that the "run up" is sometimes pretty rough. Mine seems to perform fine. But I don't think it's something easy to regrind without removing the blade first.

Concur, the best way would be to disassemble.

My new GEC 15 sits completely flush - guess I got lucky with mine.

Nah, yours is clearly the norm. Perhaps I was un-lucky, but I still consider myself being lucky having been able to reserve one in time

 

[supratentorial]

Thank you very much for sharing all that info. I even learned something new - I didn't know you could adjust the height of the kick on slip joints.

My new GEC 15 sits completely flush - guess I got lucky with mine.

Happy Friday!

jrawk is talking about the run up, not the kick (on the other side of the tang). Adjusting the height of the kick is normal maintenance on a knife that gets used and sharpened a lot. It'll also fix a proud blade tip on a new knife. You just use a file or abrasive to remove a small amount of material from the kick. Adjusting the run up, might be difficult unless you remove the blade.

 

[TsarBomba]

Thank you very much for sharing all that info. I even learned something new - I didn't know you could adjust the height of the kick on slip joints.

Only in one direction -- always down, never up.

 

[Acadian]

jrawk is talking about the run up, not the kick (on the other side of the tang). Adjusting the height of the kick is normal maintenance on a knife that gets used and sharpened a lot. It'll also fix a proud blade tip on a new knife. You just use a file or abrasive to remove a small amount of material from the kick. Adjusting the run up, might be difficult unless you remove the blade.

My bad Jake - you were the one that brought that up and not jrawk. I got mixed up in all the quotes. My apologies.

As soon as I read your post I jumped on google and was searching for videos on how to adjust the kick...didn't find much tho :\

all good info - love this forum.

Only in one direction -- always down, never up.

yeah figured as much since you are removing material

 

[StubbyThumbnail]

As previously posted a few pages back, the spring sits slightly proud with blade fully deployed. I, personally, have no concern over this. No blade play. No functional disadvantage. BlockPsycho asked how I would go about correcting this so I wanted to respond with a bit of detail concerning the 15 I received. And, as stated a few times now, I'm more than happy leaving it alone and enjoying the product I received the way it is. :thumbup: But this can be corrected by filing that protrusion down. After minimal consideration, to me this is not enough to send back for repair. Your mileage may vary.

You can see the slightly proud spring here:

Cheers

If you did so would you not end up with the spring low in the closed position? I'm thinking it would be a compromise either way.
Rick

 

[draggat]

If you did so would you not end up with the spring low in the closed position? I'm thinking it would be a compromise either way.
Rick

The only way you would lower the spring in the closed position would be by filing the kick, which is on the opposite side of the tang that he would have to file. That's the only part of the blade touching the spring in that position.

 

[supratentorial]

Only in one direction -- always down, never up.

You're not wrong (removing material is one way) but it may sometimes be possible to peen the kick on an annealed tang to raise it a little. I think Charlie (Waynorth) may have posted some photos of his attempt.


Here are some photos of one my knives. It's straight out of my pocket so please excuse any pocket lint.

 

[jrawk]

You're not wrong (removing material is one way) but it may sometimes be possible to peen the kick on an annealed tang to raise it a little. I think Charlie (Waynorth) may have posted some photos of his attempt. Here are some photos of one my knives. It's straight out of my pocket so please excuse any pocket lint.

Looks great!

Somebody not long ago posted a thread about successfully using silver solder to build up the kick again. Wonder how that is holding up.

 

[supratentorial]

Thanks! I'm enjoying it!