Lets talk GEC!

[GaiusJulius]

Haha. The internet is the wrong place to look for consensus.

There's probably some middle ground between a run of 100 knives without SFOs (#15 440C boy's knives) and full production runs with multiple SFOs (#14 Lick Creek boy's knives). The differences among the SFOs is the covers material and at least a couple are very similar to others. Shields would have differentiated the SFOs a bit more. It probably would have increased the prices but I think it would have been very successful.



I agree. Some old boy's knives had shields and others didn't so I think either is traditional for the #14 pattern. But it would be neat to have some #14 runs with well chosen classic shields. I'd definitely like to see more classic shields on other patterns instead of their standard Tidioute/UNXLD/hotdog/cloud shields.

Agreed. I'd be much more interested in the 14 pattern if there were some shields and endcaps. But as it is I can't complain too much as my wallet gets a respite!

 

[zolthar]

I sense there is great wisdom in you young padawan[emoji106]

[emoji16]

 

[Buzzbait]

Has anybody else ever had a GEC that was some sort of rust magnet? I have a ton of carbon steel GEC's, and a pretty darned big collection of carbon steel knives, collected over 15 or 20 years now. I'm not some newbie. But I'll be damned if I don't find more rust pitting on my Esky Zulu every time I pick it up. I even forced a deep patina on it last week, in an attempt to stop it from happening. The knife is a user, and it's one of like 300 of my knives, so it's no big deal if one knife gives me fits. But I've never seen a knife attract rust like this one blade. Every time I pick it up off of my dresser, right next to two clean Beer Scouts, a 77 Barlow, and a Texas Camp Knife, only the Zulu is rusted and pitting. It's soooooooooo weird!!!!

 

[jrawk]

Has anybody else ever had a GEC that was some sort of rust magnet? I have a ton of carbon steel GEC's, and a pretty darned big collection of carbon steel knives, collected over 15 or 20 years now. I'm not some newbie. But I'll be damned if I don't find more rust pitting on my Esky Zulu every time I pick it up. I even forced a deep patina on it last week, in an attempt to stop it from happening. The knife is a user, and it's one of like 300 of my knives, so it's no big deal if one knife gives me fits. But I've never seen a knife attract rust like this one blade. Every time I pick it up off of my dresser, right next to two clean Beer Scouts, a 77 Barlow, and a Texas Camp Knife, only the Zulu is rusted and pitting. It's soooooooooo weird!!!!

Buzz this thread may help you. It is a very good read none-the-less.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1408178-Patinated-Opinel-carbon-keeps-rusting-!

 

[tdkfm]

Took my modest collection out for a cleaning. Never taken them all out at once like this before. I remember less than two years ago looking at GEC knives and thinking, wow people pay that for factory slip joints. Now anytime one I want comes out under $100 I think what a deal it is. This place is dangerous. Thought the same thing about the four sebenzas I've bought too...

 

[philllll]

Good stuff, tdk! :thumbup:

 

[BlockPsycho]

Took my modest collection out for a cleaning. Never taken them all out at once like this before. I remember less than two years ago looking at GEC knives and thinking, wow people pay that for factory slip joints. Now anytime one I want comes out under $100 I think what a deal it is. This place is dangerous. Thought the same thing about the four sebenzas I've bought too...

Do you polish those all the time or just not use them? There's hardly any patina!

 

[draggat]

According to what Bill Howard told me awhile back, the Steel used on the Bolsters and Liners of the all steel GEC knives is Low Carbon Steel. Also generically known as Mild Steel. I'm not a Metallurgist, but I think all steel contains some level of Carbon.

I have to agree with this from a first hand perspective. I've acquired some STL marked knives that have sat in their tubes for several years that had some minor oxidation on the bolster. It will patina over time. Also, in regards to NS bolsters, in my pocket, they do patina a bit. I don't typically have very acidic sweat but I do notice the bolster patina. 1 minute with flitz and a rag takes it right off though.

Are those darn 72's ever gonna come through?! I'd also like to see some rendezvous knives updates dagnabbit! 🤔

 

[tdkfm]

Do you polish those all the time or just not use them? There's hardly any patina!

Flitz and oil. Not a patina fan. Pretty much just wipe them off at the end of the day with an oil cloth and hit with flitz if it does start to show up. I typically carry a spyderco or sebenza and a GEC, so the modern knife gets the food work.

 

[Knurling_turtle]

I'm new to traditionals and only have a few.

I just received a GEC Tidioute 73 today and it's impossible to open without a pry tool. My north field viper is tight but the 73 is on another level.

What should I do?


Edit:English.

 

[supratentorial]

I'm new to traditionals and only have a few.

I just received a GEC Tidioute 73 today and it's impossible to open without a pry tool. My north field viper is tight but the 73 is on another level.

What should I do?


Edit:English.

Flush out the joints with oil and if that doesn't work then buy a knife opener. There are many different knife openers but here's one example: http://www.collectorknives.net/great-eastern-tube-popper-must-accompany-knife-order/ Basically, it's just a piece of metal to use in place of a thumbnail. In Youtube videos of some factories, you'll sometimes see the employees using similar tools.

Do you polish those all the time or just not use them? There's hardly any patina!

Flitz and oil. Not a patina fan. Pretty much just wipe them off at the end of the day with an oil cloth and hit with flitz if it does start to show up. I typically carry a spyderco or sebenza and a GEC, so the modern knife gets the food work.

I never judge a knife by the patina. I've seen photos of knives with heavy patina and scratches but they still had the factory edge.

Some of my knives get used but don't have patina because I don't use them for cutting food. I typically use kitchen knives for food.

Took my modest collection out for a cleaning. Never taken them all out at once like this before. I remember less than two years ago looking at GEC knives and thinking, wow people pay that for factory slip joints. Now anytime one I want comes out under $100 I think what a deal it is. This place is dangerous. Thought the same thing about the four sebenzas I've bought too...

Nice collection!

 

[Camillus]

I can't believe those knife opening tools! To think you have to carry a tool around to open your knife... Wow. Surely a knife that can't be opened is simply returned to be fixed.

 

[supratentorial]

I can't believe those knife opening tools! To think you have to carry a tool around to open your knife... Wow. Surely a knife that can't be opened is simply returned to be fixed.

Just listing possibilities. I've never owned a knife opener and never needed one. I assumed that he had already thought of returning it on his own. That seems to be the default solution to everything

 

[Camillus]

Yes sorry, wasn't having a go at your helpful suggestion. Just expressing my views on these tools.

 

[supratentorial]

No worries. Not necessarily recommending it but it's an option. I could see it being useful for someone working in manufacturing... though I've heard that Bill has thumbnails of steel. ...or maybe someone with arthritic hands. They come in keychain sizes as well.... come to think of it, I have some vintage keychain combination tools that could probably double as a knife opener.

Sometimes there's some compound and junk in the joints so hopefully giving it a good flush will fix it for him.

 

[t.willy]

I've read of many different cases we're people returned there early GEC knives do to being too tight. With the earlier knives I think it's a common occurrence.

 

[GaiusJulius]

When I got my Washington Jack I remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach: oh no, this thing is a bear trap, it's almost impossible to get open, and it's gonna rip my nail off of cut me badly someday. What a beautiful knife, but there's no way I could carry this thing.

I flushed and oiled the joints several times over the course of a week, opened and closed the knife six dozen times.... And now the pulls are a light and pleasant 6.

If it's a newer 73 it's probably just got debris and polishing compound in the joint, not a monster spring.

 

[Knurling_turtle]

It's a new 73.

What does flush with oil mean? Like, apply oil and use compressed air to try and flush the excess?

I put some light weight gun oil(not clp) into the joint last night and worked the action several dozen times last night and left it to penetrate overnight but it was still too strong to open without a pry bar this morning. I'm afraid I'll have oil leaking out of this thing for rest of it's life if I over oil the action.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Ramrodmb]

It's a new 73.

What does flush with oil mean? Like, apply oil and use compressed air to try and flush the excess?

I put some light weight gun oil(not clp) into the joint last night and worked the action several dozen times last night and left it to penetrate overnight but it was still too strong to open without a pry bar this morning. I'm afraid I'll have oil leaking out of this thing for rest of it's life if I over oil the action.

Thanks for the responses.

Yes. Apply oil, work back and forth, then blow out with air. I do it until I stop seeing black gunk collect on the back of the backspring after working back and forth. 73's are known for some having heavier springs.
Good luck
Mark

 

[GaiusJulius]

It's a new 73.

What does flush with oil mean? Like, apply oil and use compressed air to try and flush the excess?

I put some light weight gun oil(not clp) into the joint last night and worked the action several dozen times last night and left it to penetrate overnight but it was still too strong to open without a pry bar this morning. I'm afraid I'll have oil leaking out of this thing for rest of it's life if I over oil the action.

Thanks for the responses.

I flushed the joints out with hot water, having first wrapped the clip blade with cloth so I could open and close it under the running water fifteen or twenty times. This got quite a lot of debris out, but made the knife almost impossible to open owing to lack of lubrication. Flush under water, then leave the knife open, blow it out with compressed air (and I used a hair dryer to dry the inside well out) and then dribble oil in the joint. Work the dry, oiled knife a bunch, wiping off the excess oil as necessary from the back of the spring where it gets squeezed out. You'll probably notice that by now the pull is a lot more manageable than it was when you first received it.