Lets talk GEC!

tdkfm said:
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.

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Does this affect the satin finish on your knives at all? I'd imagine you would end up with a mirror polish on everything eventually.
 
BlockPsycho said:
Does this affect the satin finish on your knives at all? I'd imagine you would end up with a mirror polish on everything eventually.
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Of all of those there are probably five or so that end up carried most of the time, and don't really ever use them on food. I just keep a light coat of oil on those, so even in a year or two that I've owned them most have probably really been polished 2-3 times. I don't notice much change. Really the only ones I've had start to patina much were the single blade 15, which was my first GEC, the sod buster, and a little on the 85s. The cocobolo 85 was grey when I bought it used, but that came off easy. If they do end up a little more shinny it won't bother me. I really don't even care that much if they had patina, but I don't cut fruit or intentionally patina them like a lot of people, so it ends up more as spots from oil on my hands.
 
Still having issues with the quality control of the GEC knives I receive. I have bought about five in the last month, and two ought to have been seconds - due to handles having flaws that spoil the knife. I love character in my knives but there is a line that can be crossed, where character marks just become flaws.

On a more positive note, the GEC walk and talk seems to be getting better and better.
 
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Camillus, you have bad luck. I bought a second that could be a first. Can we see pics?

Alan
 
Yay, Northfield Barlows are up for reserve!

Interesting color options.. blood red jigged, bone linen micarta, copperhead and green sawcut.. clip blade
 
cbr1000 said:
Yay, Northfield Barlows are up for reserve!

Interesting color options.. blood red jigged, bone linen micarta, copperhead and green sawcut.. clip blade
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Joy!! Grail reserved!

Green Sawcut Big Clip Longpull Matchstrike steel construction 1095 blade.
 
cbr1000 said:
Yay, Northfield Barlows are up for reserve!

Interesting color options.. blood red jigged, bone linen micarta, copperhead and green sawcut.. clip blade
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I fully intended to skip this one when it came up, in order to replenish my knife fund's piggy bank. But when I saw the Green Sawcut option, I caved. I apparently have the willpower of a flea.

I did manage to limit myself to one, so maybe there is hope for me yet. 😀
 
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Knife budget blown. :D
Anyone know where these fit in the production schedule?
 
I keep telling myself I am done.

Lick creek barlows came then I was done for a while, then MCAR put a Lick Creek antique yellow farmers jack on the exchange then I was done, and Spyderco had the Jade M4 Parmailitary 2 then I was done, and now these 77 Barlows.
 
r8shell said:
Knife budget blown. :D
Anyone know where these fit in the production schedule?
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Grrr, I was torn between the green sawcut and red jigged bone.. decided on the red jigged bone and now I'm reading posts about how excited some people are about the green sawcut.

I just can't picture a green sawcut cover, or a green sawcut cover on a NF barlow..
 
I can picture a green sawcut, looking like those magnificent deep red sawcuts you see... But I'm not sure how I like the idea of a "revised design pinchable clip." Clip blades already protrude more than others, and unless the thing is sticking way out there, pinchability is always a hit-or-miss thing for me. It may be theoretically possible but it's usually (for me) not easy or fast unless there's a dedicated EO notch or a big hawkbill blade or something. So I think I'm gonna pass on this one. I wish there were some two blade options, but my wallet is rejoicing!
 
Camillus said:
Still having issues with the quality control of the GEC knives I receive. I have bought about five in the last month, and two ought to have been seconds - due to handles having flaws that spoil the knife. I love character in my knives but there is a line that can be crossed, where character marks just become flaws.

On a more positive note, the GEC walk and talk seems to be getting better and better.
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I'm probably approaching a hundred GECs that I have owned over recent years and I must say, apart from some pretty naff edges from time to time, I've never had one that I thought was of 2nd quality apart from a small crack in a mark side cover which could easily have happened in transit. You must have had rotten luck recently!


- Paul

Edit: it was buffalo horn.
 
GaiusJulius said:
I can picture a green sawcut, looking like those magnificent deep red sawcuts you see... But I'm not sure how I like the idea of a "revised design pinchable clip." Clip blades already protrude more than others, and unless the thing is sticking way out there, pinchability is always a hit-or-miss thing for me. It may be theoretically possible but it's usually (for me) not easy or fast unless there's a dedicated EO notch or a big hawkbill blade or something. So I think I'm gonna pass on this one. I wish there were some two blade options, but my wallet is rejoicing!
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I thought these were two blade barlows. :confused:
 
tdkfm said:
No, it says single blade and the picture only shows the clip.
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That's odd. My confirmation email says GEC #771216, so I don't think I totally imagined it being a two blade when I reserved it. Hmm, it's a mystery.
 
pmew said:
I'm probably approaching a hundred GECs that I have owned over recent years and I must say, apart from some pretty naff edges from time to time, I've never had one that I thought was of 2nd quality apart from a small crack in a mark side cover which could easily have happened in transit. You must have had rotten luck recently!


- Paul

Edit: it was buffalo horn.
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I've had a few issues. I don't know offhand how many GECs I have. 15?

I have a 77 with lazy snap, there seems to be some big piece of steel wearing a track in the brass liner, caught between the liner and blade tang.

I have a 53 where one of the backsprings is noticeably recessed when the blade is open.

I have a 92 with ugly covers. If I were inclined to be picky I'd say Kirinite is cheap and these should have been thrown out in favor of more interesting pattern. But some people might like them because they're well-matched, just plain.

I have a 62 where one of the backsprings is quite proud when the blade is open, and the blade has no play when open but big play when opening, and when closed in the blade-well.

I have a 15 with a slightly recessed backspring when the blade is open.

I have an 09 with cracks around one of the pins. Buffalo horn.

I have a 38 that, when it came to me new, was not the one I picked on the dealer's site. (Stag.) It had uneven backsprings when the knife was closed, a rivet that was so proud, due to a valley in the stag, that it could cut you, very slight blade play in the coping, and when I got the knife wet while doing a clean-and-flush of the joints, a split in the stag cover opened up.

I have a 66 that has uneven coloration on one side of the jigged bone covers.

I have another 15 that has an uneven pattern in the jigging. It also had a place where the jigging was sharp and would stab your finger, that I had to fix with a very careful bit of cleaning up with a blade and sandpaper.

I have a third 15 with an unsightly unevenness in the coloration of the acrylic. There's a too-big patch of one color. Totally personal preference thing here, I bought the knife even though I knew what it looked like.

On the other hand I have an 85, a 47, a 73, and a Northwoods Presidential that are perfect in every way. (Except you could quibble with the Northwoods because the smooth bone covers are significantly more polished on one side, rough and porous on the other.)

So, many if not most of my GECs have "issues." A few kind of serious, most negligible little things about the covers, which comes with any knife that doesn't have micarta or delrin. But do any of these issues, even the most serious, prevent them from being totally functional knives with above-average fit and finish otherwise, in great patterns? Maybe I've just had bad luck. But I will say it's great how one or two perfect knives take away any bad taste and let me appreciate all the imperfect ones all the more for what they are.

They are what they are -not customs, and as a watchmaker I probably notice little fit-and-finish details more than Average Joe. But if any were carried exclusively for a year, the resultant normal wear would probably cover up any of the cosmetic defects.
 
GaiusJulius said:
I've had a few issues. I don't know offhand how many GECs I have. 15?

I have a 77 with lazy snap, there seems to be some big piece of steel wearing a track in the brass liner, caught between the liner and blade tang.

I have a 53 where one of the backsprings is noticeably recessed when the blade is open.

I have a 92 with ugly covers. If I were inclined to be picky I'd say Kirinite is cheap and these should have been thrown out in favor of more interesting pattern. But some people might like them because they're well-matched, just plain.

I have a 62 where one of the backsprings is quite proud when the blade is open, and the blade has no play when open but big play when opening, and when closed in the blade-well.

I have a 15 with a slightly recessed backspring when the blade is open.

I have an 09 with cracks around one of the pins. Buffalo horn.

I have a 38 that, when it came to me new, was not the one I picked on the dealer's site. (Stag.) It had uneven backsprings when the knife was closed, a rivet that was so proud, due to a valley in the stag, that it could cut you, very slight blade play in the coping, and when I got the knife wet while doing a clean-and-flush of the joints, a split in the stag cover opened up.

I have a 66 that has uneven coloration on one side of the jigged bone covers.

I have another 15 that has an uneven pattern in the jigging. It also had a place where the jigging was sharp and would stab your finger, that I had to fix with a very careful bit of cleaning up with a blade and sandpaper.

I have a third 15 with an unsightly unevenness in the coloration of the acrylic. There's a too-big patch of one color. Totally personal preference thing here, I bought the knife even though I knew what it looked like.

On the other hand I have an 85, a 47, a 73, and a Northwoods Presidential that are perfect in every way. (Except you could quibble with the Northwoods because the smooth bone covers are significantly more polished on one side, rough and porous on the other.)

So, many if not most of my GECs have "issues." A few kind of serious, most negligible little things about the covers, which comes with any knife that doesn't have micarta or delrin. But do any of these issues, even the most serious, prevent them from being totally functional knives with above-average fit and finish otherwise, in great patterns? Maybe I've just had bad luck. But I will say it's great how one or two perfect knives take away any bad taste and let me appreciate all the imperfect ones all the more for what they are.

They are what they are -not customs, and as a watchmaker I probably notice little fit-and-finish details more than Average Joe. But if any were carried exclusively for a year, the resultant normal wear would probably cover up any of the cosmetic defects.
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Goodness me. I don't know what to say.


- Paul
 
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