Let's talk Northwoods

[Jiki]

Update: the action on my Ocoee was not only light but gritty and any thing but smooth. This is very similar to the Fayette I picked up in January from the straggler sale. The Fayette was so bad I just put it back in the bag and in my knife box. A few months later I got it back out and fushed it a few more times and worked the knife till finally it became one of the smoothest knives I own and one I carry often. Back to the Ocoee, I have flushed it a couple of times and have been just working it while I watch the games tonight. It has improved greatly. I am now very optimistic that this will be a very smooth knife. I am even more pleased now and think this is a winner.

 

[dza]

Thank you! Looks like th signal jack might fill the hand better.

 

[dza]

Thank you! Looks like th signal jack might fill the hand better.

 

[CallMeDave]

I’ll use my 21 post on BF to ask a noob question; what’s the procedure to flush a new knife?

 

[Rockon75]

Got my first giraffe bone, and will say I am much more impressed with it in real life than I was with the photo...mostly because I get to see it in different light. There's a lot of depth there. I could only imagine how fantastic the ones are that I thought looked much nicer on the site.

The downside is I have a bit of a gap between scale and bolster. Not a huge deal. What I don't like is that it is very sluggish when closing.

It snaps open nicely, and closes to half stop with snappiness, but from half stop closed, it's very slow.

I flushed it, oiled it, and have been working it. It has improved (by maybe 5%) but I'll keep trying. I am hoping that some of the scale left on the tang is causing it to bind a little between the liners. I may see if I can get someone to buff the tang a little and see if it improves.

Absolutely beautiful, Ryan. You picked a winner. Don't be upset about missing out on your other choices.

 

[HEMI 49]

I’ll use my 21 post on BF to ask a noob question; what’s the procedure to flush a new knife?

It is like grilling a steak; everyone has their own method.... Mine is two steps.... First I use a light penetrating oil like Kroil and I slop it on the pivot and backspring.... Then I cycle the knife numerous times... Let it set a couple hours... Then I dry it with a rag... Then I add a lubricating oil like Hoppe's gun oil and cycle the knife numerous times... That's my procedure.... I have 50, or so GEC knives that I have given the "treatment" to and they all work fine..... The action on a slip joint is about as complicated as a hinge on your bathroom door so don't overthink the process.... Oh, I never use soap and water but I know some people do....

 

[A.S.]

 

[chuckgp]

Sorry for the newb question...are all the Giraffe covers natural bone? Seems like the color variances are all over the board.

Its dyed the different colors

 

[JohnDF]

I really like all the pictures of the Green Bone knives from the recent drop.
I'm sorry the pull isn't a little stronger for you guys. I hope it doesn't detract from everybody's enjoyment of them.

 

[AnW]

I really like all the pictures of the Green Bone knives from the recent drop.
I'm sorry the pull isn't a little stronger for you guys. I hope it doesn't detract from everybody's enjoyment of them.

After a day cool-off period I decided I do really like the tractor green jigged bone. After oiling the knife, the action is quite smooth. It's pull is lighter than expected but not so light that I'm worried about it. Overall, I'm happy to have it in my collection but I'm also happy I was only fast enough to get the one. I'll probably carry it this week to give it a fair shake.

 

[JohnDF]

I'm happy to have it in my collection

 

[draggat]

Got my first giraffe bone, and will say I am much more impressed with it in real life than I was with the photo...mostly because I get to see it in different light. There's a lot of depth there. I could only imagine how fantastic the ones are that I thought looked much nicer on the site.

The downside is I have a bit of a gap between scale and bolster. Not a huge deal. What I don't like is that it is very sluggish when closing.

It snaps open nicely, and closes to half stop with snappiness, but from half stop closed, it's very slow.

I flushed it, oiled it, and have been working it. It has improved (by maybe 5%) but I'll keep trying. I am hoping that some of the scale left on the tang is causing it to bind a little between the liners. I may see if I can get someone to buff the tang a little and see if it improves.

That's a good looking handle there! Sorry to hear about the sluggish closing. I've had more than one knife do that. It is possible that there is a small piece of metal in there causing that. I've had a few knives where they had to be flushed and worked for quite a while and then suddenly they worked just fine. If all else fails, you could try wiping some flitz at the sides of the tang and then cycle it open and closed. It would need a good flush after that kind of procedure.

I’ll use my 21 post on BF to ask a noob question; what’s the procedure to flush a new knife?

There are many threads here about this very topic. Everyone seems to have their own method.

Here is one such thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/flush-or-dont-flush-gec.1081109/

One fellow suggests boiling your knife. DO NOT BOIL YOUR KNIFE!

Chris, who was a longtime GEC employee, always recommended using WD-40. My own personal method is to use plain mineral oil. Get a toothbrush, dunk in the oil and brush into the joint. Cycle, wipe, repeat as necessary. I've sold a lot of knives over the years and I've had a lot of people comment about how well preserved they are. That's from wiping the blades and springs with mineral oil and leaving them that way while in storage.

Mineral oil is available at any drugstore in the laxative section (yuck!), it's cheap, food safe, does not become gunky or sticky over time (like 3in1) and never goes rancid like olive oil. It's a little messy but wipes off easily enough.

Toothpicks, gun cleaning patches and pipe cleaners can also help. Beware of using rubbing alcohol on acrylic. Hope that helps.

Knife content:
My absolute favorite Northwoods knife ever, and one of my favorite GEC knives of all time is this Esky Zulu. Wouldn't mind another run of them someday.

 

[JTB_5]

That's a good looking handle there! Sorry to hear about the sluggish closing. I've had more than one knife do that. It is possible that there is a small piece of metal in there causing that. I've had a few knives where they had to be flushed and worked for quite a while and then suddenly they worked just fine. If all else fails, you could try wiping some flitz at the sides of the tang and then cycle it open and closed. It would need a good flush after that kind of procedure.



There are many threads here about this very topic. Everyone seems to have their own method.

Here is one such thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/flush-or-dont-flush-gec.1081109/

One fellow suggests boiling your knife. DO NOT BOIL YOUR KNIFE!

Chris, who was a longtime GEC employee, always recommended using WD-40. My own personal method is to use plain mineral oil. Get a toothbrush, dunk in the oil and brush into the joint. Cycle, wipe, repeat as necessary. I've sold a lot of knives over the years and I've had a lot of people comment about how well preserved they are. That's from wiping the blades and springs with mineral oil and leaving them that way while in storage.

Mineral oil is available at any drugstore in the laxative section (yuck!), it's cheap, food safe, does not become gunky or sticky over time (like 3in1) and never goes rancid like olive oil. It's a little messy but wipes off easily enough.

Toothpicks, gun cleaning patches and pipe cleaners can also help. Beware of using rubbing alcohol on acrylic. Hope that helps.

Knife content:
My absolute favorite Northwoods knife ever, and one of my favorite GEC knives of all time is this Esky Zulu. Wouldn't mind another run of them someday.

I’d be in for a Zulu hunt!

 

[cbr1000]

That's a good looking handle there! Sorry to hear about the sluggish closing. I've had more than one knife do that. It is possible that there is a small piece of metal in there causing that. I've had a few knives where they had to be flushed and worked for quite a while and then suddenly they worked just fine. If all else fails, you could try wiping some flitz at the sides of the tang and then cycle it open and closed. It would need a good flush after that kind of procedure.



There are many threads here about this very topic. Everyone seems to have their own method.

Here is one such thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/flush-or-dont-flush-gec.1081109/

One fellow suggests boiling your knife. DO NOT BOIL YOUR KNIFE!

Chris, who was a longtime GEC employee, always recommended using WD-40. My own personal method is to use plain mineral oil. Get a toothbrush, dunk in the oil and brush into the joint. Cycle, wipe, repeat as necessary. I've sold a lot of knives over the years and I've had a lot of people comment about how well preserved they are. That's from wiping the blades and springs with mineral oil and leaving them that way while in storage.

Mineral oil is available at any drugstore in the laxative section (yuck!), it's cheap, food safe, does not become gunky or sticky over time (like 3in1) and never goes rancid like olive oil. It's a little messy but wipes off easily enough.

Toothpicks, gun cleaning patches and pipe cleaners can also help. Beware of using rubbing alcohol on acrylic. Hope that helps.

Knife content:
My absolute favorite Northwoods knife ever, and one of my favorite GEC knives of all time is this Esky Zulu. Wouldn't mind another run of them someday.

I second using mineral oil.

I think our giraffe bone might be related...

 

[CallMeDave]

Heres' what I mean by a bouncy walk:
(note: videos are 240 fps slow motion!)

Contrast with my Elderberry #92

The difference in feeling is profound; the Northwood shudders to the half stop, instead of a satisfying walk.

Is that normal?

 

[benbpatrick]

The tracking on my Ocoee Jack said it was supposed to be here on Tuesday, but to my surprise it showed up in the mailbox yesterday!

Overall I'm very pleased with the knife. The transitions on mine are all very smooth. No gaps in the spring. Centering is near perfect and there is zero blade play. The back spring at the half stop is not quite flush but close and better than most. Like others have said, the pull is around a 4-5 however it is very crisp and in no way feels sloppy.

My only minor complaint is that the tip comes extremely close to protruding from the handles. It hasn't caught on anything yet but I'm wondering if sharpening in the future may lift the bevel above the handles. Not a big deal for now.

This is my first Northwoods and overall I'm very pleased. Here are some pics

 

[HEMI 49]

Heres' what I mean by a bouncy walk:

Contrast with my Elderberry #92

The difference in feeling is profound; the Northwood shudders to the half stop, instead of a satisfying walk.

Is that normal?

Not normal after it is broken in.... IMO you have to keep it oiled and keep cycling it while you are watching the Browns beat the Bill's... I have had numerous GEC be sluggish as you describe until broken in...

 

[EssKayR22]

Mine arrived early as well, and I'm super happy about that! I really like this knife and can't wait to start carrying it. I can't fairly judge the pull since I have very little experience with traditional slip joints, but mine seems like what has been described so far; light, but decent with a little sluggishness between half-stop and closed. While the shield side was awesome in the initial pictures, the pile-side didn't seem to match quite as well. I'm happy to say that the pile-side has a lot more character than is easily able to by photographed, with some chatoyance gleaming in there as well. Very happy with my purchase and feeling very fortunate to have gotten through the process with what I wanted.

And here it is next to a couple Madisons. I'm quite pleased with the new pocket slip design.

 

[jsdistin]

Heres' what I mean by a bouncy walk:

Contrast with my Elderberry #92

The difference in feeling is profound; the Northwood shudders to the half stop, instead of a satisfying walk.

Is that normal?

Looks to me like a combination of heavier blade and perhaps looser fit slows it to over travel compared to the other one. I’ve had knives do that and never saw it as a problem as long as everything else was in order.

 

[cricks1492]

Just wanted to update my original post: the action is really starting to grow on me. As many of you have indicated, flushing it out with some oil (daiwa reel oil, in my case) and working the pivot has helped tremendously. I hesitate to say this, but the action feels almost luxurious. Weird.

As I stated previously, both the tractor green jigged bone and DIW had excellent fit and finish, and now I'm starting to like the action. These might stay in the collection after all (read, I'm loving these). I'm a fickle man, guys.