Lets talk GEC!

Just checked out the "What's Happening" link on GECs site.

Holy Cow that is some rotten banana bone!
 
Words fail. I am so tired of posting, "TALK ABOUT THE KNIVES, NOT THE PURCHASING THEREOF."
 
knarfeng said:
Words fail. I am so tired of posting, "TALK ABOUT THE KNIVES, NOT THE PURCHASING THEREOF."
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I've gotta agree with you on this Frank. There's been so much said about GEC Knives in this thread that there isn't really much left to say about "the knives" themselves. Perhaps this thread has run it's course and it's time to close it.
 
I have to say of the 15 or so GEC knives I own and the 20 or so total I have owned, I haven't really had any with any issues that bothered me. I guess the worst is my 73 being way too stiff. When I compare that and their price to the couple S&Ms I've bought, the CS forum knife, and the price of customs, I feel like I'm getting a heck of a deal with GEC. I guess some case knives are cheaper, but they don't really compare most of the time IMO. The other production slip joints (I guess that's queen/SM at this point) seem to give you less for more money. Really my only disappointment with GEC so far was the SS 15 burnt orange jigged bone I ordered, but that was just because I don't care for that jigging style. I sold that one without ever even opening the tube though. For knives in the price range they are in I don't even see that they have any real competition. I guess that's why we all talk about them so much.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to some 77 barlows, some beer scouts, and seeing what's next. I'm very impressed with the job GEC does, with a lot of help from all of us fans here, of keeping interest going. I can't really think if another company where so many people follow the early reserves, production schedule, and progress photos. To me this marketing strategy is as much a part of their success as the beautiful knives themselves. They also make so many more unique and desirable patterns than anyone else in traditional knives. They are doing a whole lot right and seemingly are listening to all of us crazy knife people with what they produce.

Everyone step back, take a picture of all your awesome GEC knives and post them here. And for god sakes don't talk about buying them. Y'all are going to give a grumpy old man a heart attack.
 
Camillus said:
I agree with the posts above on QC and I don't think it should be a dealer responsibility - it's a GEC responsibility. As for QC, I will give an example of a SS boys knife I recently bought. It is a great knife and I am happy with it, but the shield isn't well placed. Some people will think this is a big deal, others won't even notice it. But it's definitely not great workmanship. This is not a knife I would return, nor is it a collectors copy with no flaws.

I have bought a few knives with flaws that are worse than this, and a couple with minor flaws that are even less visible. I would like to think this is about the worst I can expect to buy, and if a knife is any worse, it's either not released from the factory, or picked up by the dealer and not shipped.



Rightly or wrongly, I wonder if some of the recent demand for these SS knives out has created some production pressure?
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Well it contrasts sharply with my Bone SS 15 I showed earlier. You are not being too picky or expecting too much of a production knife, certainly not one that claims the mantle of top manufacturer-which they largely are.

I would not fancy that and would feel uneasy about trying to sell it at anything other than knockdown. The inletting and pin finish are poor, looks like splitting is on the cards too. Lot of gap around that shield.

However, I think the 'reclaimed' or whatever Chestnut they used in the first place is rather poor quality looking stuff, more like some dried up re-cycled decking. Lacklustre indeed. Fans of wood will be disappointed with that stuff, the bone and faux Tortoise were very nice options though.

Regards, Will
 
I really like my chestnut 15. I was showing it off to my mom and she remarked that it would look good with some stain on it, lol.

On the other hand, I like my bone and acrylic 15s better and wasn't impressed with the chestnut on the recent mustangs and makos. It certainly isn't a very "fancy" wood. I would like the chestnut better if it came with some sort of background on the source, a pic of the old barn it came from for instance.

The shield inletting on Camillus' example isn't great. I don't think I would return it or anything, if it were me.
 
jc57 said:
So if a dealer hand-picks a "good" knife for out-of-country customers, what happens to the knives that didn't pass inspection? Are they repackaged and sold as new to some other customer, or do they all go back to the factory?

Should all customers also ask for hand inspection of every knife, to make sure they are not getting the leftovers from the cherry-picked knives? I'd hate to think that just by placing an order on a web page without calling and listing my exacting criteria, that I am at risk of getting someone else's passed-over knives.

What exactly is the standard of acceptability? All knives with the least bit of blade rub go back to the factory? What about a slightly proud backspring? Blade that isn't perfectly centered? Color mismatch between scales? Stag that is fat on one side and thin on the other?

If those are flaws that must be selected for by each dealer, why is it OK for a factory to ship them that way? Should the hand-picked ones cost more, since they are clearly of higher quality and also there is more labor involved?

Is it only GEC knives that should get the hand-picked treatment, or should a dealer do the same for other knives such as Case or Queen?

I've got a number of GEC knives and they are all well-made knives. A couple have some minor issues. All traditional knives seem to have some variation in quality within the same brand based on factory QA standards. I know enough about simple knife maintenance to deal with any cosmetic problems myself. People who set up an expectation of perfection in every sample will inevitably end up disappointed.
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This is an interesting dilemma. Because I always tell customers if they have a certain criteria to let me know and I will check the random pick to insure acceptability. But with that, there are those customers that have decided to present a multi-chapter book in the order notes that they must keep stored in a file and copy/paste it during the order. It always leaves me wondering why a customer would buy a knife after its release if you know that the dealer is looking thru each one and sending the best to the customer that request it and presents their specific criteria? You are guaranteed to get a knife that has been picked over several times... My philosophy is to do my best to make sure each knife is a nice example and if they have one or two peeves to try and insure the random pick fits. But I want the last guy that buys one to have the same opportunity as the first guy. Many times I have unwrapped the last knife going out for the first time during shipment and found an exquisite example hiding in the oil paper.
 
Modoc ED said:
I've gotta agree with you on this Frank. There's been so much said about GEC Knives in this thread that there isn't really much left to say about "the knives" themselves. Perhaps this thread has run it's course and it's time to close it.
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I gotta disagree with you on this one. If there's nothing left to say about GEC knives, perhaps there's nothing left to say about other brands as well, or vintage knives... Why are we even here?

I would suggest, however, that it might be nice to have a different thread, perhaps in the Feedback subforum or other appropriate place to discuss the ins and outs of buying these knives. Folks always have a lot of questions, and the mods would have a place ready to move off-knife-topic posts.
 
StoneBeard said:
Anyone want to take a guess at what blade configurations GEC will throw on the new #35 whenever it makes its appearance this year?
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.....Let's talk GEC....again. ;) From the forum knife thread.
waynorth said:
So a little more info on this year's knife; here are renderings of the engineering drawings:

35_LP_PICK_zpsharqkup7.jpg
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Man, haven't been keeping up with the forum knife. Need to keep an eye out for ordering time I guess
 
GEC makes a really good quality knife. The craftsmen and QA folks bend over backwards to consistently build an excellent product. It's just unnecessary for each and every knife to be checked prior to shipping out to the customer from the dealer - although my dealer checks every out-going knife...

And although GEC does not post a return or repair policy, they have always honored a "no questions asked" policy on returns. GEC backs up the dealers 100%.

That's 100% customer satisfaction guaranteed.

Cant wait to see the new #35...





knifeswapper said:
This is an interesting dilemma. Because I always tell customers if they have a certain criteria to let me know and I will check the random pick to insure acceptability. But with that, there are those customers that have decided to present a multi-chapter book in the order notes that they must keep stored in a file and copy/paste it during the order. It always leaves me wondering why a customer would buy a knife after its release if you know that the dealer is looking thru each one and sending the best to the customer that request it and presents their specific criteria? You are guaranteed to get a knife that has been picked over several times... My philosophy is to do my best to make sure each knife is a nice example and if they have one or two peeves to try and insure the random pick fits. But I want the last guy that buys one to have the same opportunity as the first guy. Many times I have unwrapped the last knife going out for the first time during shipment and found an exquisite example hiding in the oil paper.
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Tilley Knife said:
.....Let's talk GEC....again. ;) From the forum knife thread.
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I see worm grooves in the picture you posted of the forum knife. This looks like it will be a fun knife. I'm undecided about getting this because I have my fill of knives with a punch.
 
In terms of the #35, (I dont want to discuss the forum knife as there is another thread on that), it would not surprise me if it does come in other variants or SFOs. It would be neat if there were some other variants. In the past I have been critical of SFOs (they often seem to detract from GECs repertoire, not add to it) but a situation like this is where they can be really cool, putting extra blades on a pattern that would otherwise only be available in one style.
 
Camillus said:
I hope this question means we might see a stockman configuration with a main blade and some secondaries!
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Txjohn said:
I'm hoping for a 35 cattle knife with spear main , Sheepsfoot and small clip secondary . Double bomb , fleur dis lis , federal , oval or bar shield. Something other than the cloud or typical UnXLd shield.
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Tilley Knife said:
.....Let's talk GEC....again. ;) From the forum knife thread.
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The initial #35 options on the forum knife look great! I'm guessing as a new pattern GEC will also do a general release like they did when they rolled out the #98's earlier this year. There are so many possibilities and configurations with a pattern like this. I wonder if they will do two or three releases on the same frame again like the #98. I think they would do extremely well with the suggested cattle knife/ stockman / whittler variations or possibly a smaller camp style knife like the original Boy Scout. If they decided to do any type of clip/ spear and crown lifter combination they would without a doubt sell out. I enjoy hearing what people's ideal setup would be on this new pattern. It's a great way to get back to the knives-
 
If the 35 comes out in a variant with clip main and pen secondary, that would be awesome. Sort of like a larger 68 White Owl.
 
r8shell said:
I gotta disagree with you on this one. If there's nothing left to say about GEC knives, perhaps there's nothing left to say about other brands as well, or vintage knives... Why are we even here?

I would suggest, however, that it might be nice to have a different thread, perhaps in the Feedback subforum or other appropriate place to discuss the ins and outs of buying these knives. Folks always have a lot of questions, and the mods would have a place ready to move off-knife-topic posts.
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Great idea and seconded on the notion of a feedback thread or a pinned thread even in our subforum meant only for feedback.
 
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