Let's talk Northwoods

ljgepetto said:
I'm a girl, so forgive my unintelligence when it comes to slipjoint-lingo...is a "barehead" a pocket knife with no top bolster?
Click to expand...
Asking pertinent questions is a sign of intelligence, IMO!!!;)
When the top bolster, where the pivot on a Jack is usually located, is missing, the knife is considered to be a "shadow" pattern.
There is confusion when the other bolster, often called the "bottom" bolster or cap bolster is missing. Then the knife is often referred to as a barehead!
Most Barlows are bareheads!Boiley engraved.jpg
This is a shadow pattern (no bolsters). Shadow 1.jpg
Bolstered Jack Shielded HJ.jpg
 
My Fremont Jack arrived yesterday. It's my first Northwoods, and my second GEC-made knife. My tip was fine. It opens fine. Closing is great from open to half stop. From half stop to close is mushy. I've cleaned and flushed twice with WD40 followed by an oiling with Mil-tec. I then opened and closed one hundred times. It's definitely improved but still mushy. Maybe I'll try something other than WD40.

I reprofiled and sharpened as soon as I decided I was going to keep it. It's VERY sharp. This morning my wife used it to cut out a recipe from a magazine. I just finished using it to cut up a steak. It's a user and a keeper. I can live with mushy if I can't solve it.
 
I’ve found with some Gec and Nw a like when closing from half stop and its a little lazy . With normal use and flushing they always break in nicely with a nice snap .
So no need to worry at least from my personal experience :thumbsup:
I’ve got a NW Fremont Jack on the way from the latest run and hoping that still applies :)
 
singin50 said:
All beautiful knives, Al! You got some real stunners there.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I have been using Quick Release Oil and Birchwood/Casey Gunscrubber for years on all my knives and they all respond well to a good initial cleaning when new.
Click to expand...
Hey, Perry! Good to see ya, man! And thanks!
 
Here’s the pair I scored on Thursday. I’m new to traditionals so for me the knives feel fine in terms of opening and closing action. A tad gritty but not bad. What I did notice between the two particular Fremonts I got is that the mammoth covers are quite a bit thicker. The two almost feels like different knives. Something else I noticed that I’m not sure if it’s normal is on the mammoth one the blade would have a slight bounce when I close it.

352A02CB-70FC-43F2-80EF-D5FB5256C355.jpeg
 
First off, I'm a HUGE fan of GEC and the Northwoods brand. I was very excited to see the Smoke Burlap option on this Fremont release and was very fortunate to get one. When I opened the knife, it wouldn't snap closed at all. After flushing and a good bit of working, it is still VERY lazy closing. In fact (as shown below), it will actually stick open at any point between half stop and closed. For the record, I've never had to flush any of my previous Northwoods (11 in total) or GEC's (I lost count...). They all had perfect action with excellent walk-and-talk. I also notices a pretty severe up-sweep in the grind on this Fremont. The others have this to an extent, but this one is definitely the most prominent. Don't get me wrong, I love the knife and it is definitely serviceable, but I was a bit disappointed with the typically impeccable fit and finish I've always experienced with GEC.

Updated 2.jpg
Updated 3.png

Updated 1.png
 
Beautiful Fremont! I will be very surprised if after some use and a few thousand opening and closings, the action will be more to your liking in time.
 
The Logical One said:
Here’s the pair I scored on Thursday. I’m new to traditionals so for me the knives feel fine in terms of opening and closing action. A tad gritty but not bad. What I did notice between the two particular Fremonts I got is that the mammoth covers are quite a bit thicker. The two almost feels like different knives. Something else I noticed that I’m not sure if it’s normal is on the mammoth one the blade would have a slight bounce when I close it.

View attachment 922839
Click to expand...
Bounce? Can you elaborate?
 
LastRodeo said:
Bounce? Can you elaborate?
Click to expand...

It doesn’t do it every time, but when I push it down to snap it close it almost seems like it would stop just a hair short from the bottom, bounce up by a hair and then go to the fully closed position. I could hear it and visually see it as well.

Similar to 1911’s issue it would sometimes “lazy close”. I’m not too worried as I’m sure it just takes some breaking in. If I don’t flush it and relube do traditional slipjoints just break in over time?
 
l9ll said:
First off, I'm a HUGE fan of GEC and the Northwoods brand. I was very excited to see the Smoke Burlap option on this Fremont release and was very fortunate to get one. When I opened the knife, it wouldn't snap closed at all. After flushing and a good bit of working, it is still VERY lazy closing. In fact (as shown below), it will actually stick open at any point between half stop and closed. For the record, I've never had to flush any of my previous Northwoods (11 in total) or GEC's (I lost count...). They all had perfect action with excellent walk-and-talk. I also notices a pretty severe up-sweep in the grind on this Fremont. The others have this to an extent, but this one is definitely the most prominent. Don't get me wrong, I love the knife and it is definitely serviceable, but I was a bit disappointed with the typically impeccable fit and finish I've always experienced with GEC.

View attachment 923051
View attachment 923052

View attachment 923050
Click to expand...

Drives me nuts when I get knives like this. On first appearance it seems like it's an easy fix, but as you probably know it is not. This will need a significant amount of material removed to correct. Hard to tell from your pictures, I'm guessing removal half the height of the sharpening choil. The other bummer is the more material you remove the thicker your blade and then you start kicking around needing a regrind. If it's a user it will be a bonding experience at best.
 
singin50 said:
Beautiful Fremont! I will be very surprised if after some use and a few thousand opening and closings, the action will be more to your liking in time.
Click to expand...
Oh, just a few THOUSAND openings you say?! Lol o_O;)

LastRodeo said:
Bounce? Can you elaborate?
Click to expand...
Someone also posted a video, somewhere, he could one hand open their Fremont with a flick. And when the blade closed, it would push or bounce even further into the handle. I had never seen anything like it.
 
kaput said:
Oh, just a few THOUSAND openings you say?! Lol o_O;)


Someone also posted a video, somewhere, he could one hand open their Fremont with a flick. And when the blade closed, it would push or bounce even further into the handle. I had never seen anything like it.
Click to expand...
Is this a feature on some knives , like the damper on a drawer , so you can't slam them shut?
 
Finally got home to my Fremont that was sitting in my mailbox since Saturday while we were out of town :eek:. First off the knife is beautiful. I love the covers. And although I have a few Deltas I thought would be very similar, the sleeveboard shape is much more comfortable in hand. The thickness is great. And it's the first stag I've owned I really feel like I can use comfortably.

Unfortunately, like many others the walk and talk was fairly atrocious out of the box. It often failed to fully snap shut, instead getting hung up just before closing. Someone above described it like the safety feature on drawers and that was exactly what it was like. I've been working some mineral oil into the joint and thankfully that issue seems to have gone away. Still fairly weak pull but I can live with that for now. Unfortunately I don't know why this seems to be such a common issue with GEC. I told a friend of mine they are definitely precise if not accurate.

PSX_20180611_160921~01.jpg
 
Last edited:
25687346-704D-4FBC-92A3-0335EDFBD648.jpeg
Kind of sad that you need to consider yourself lucky that the blades snap close at all. Although mine don’t get hung up the walk and talk is still not very satisfying.
I did notice that the pull open from half stop is much firmer than to close. I would say its a 4 to half and a 6 to full open. Probably the tang geometry. Could be a design feature or just the way it happened to be. GEC seems to be a bit hit or miss when it comes to W&T lately.
 
blanco112 blanco112 I think after time the pull will get snappy . Every one I ever had with some flushing and use really came around to nice walk and talk .
Just enjoy it and you’ll be pleasantly supprised in the near future :thumbsup:
Beautiful stag btw !!
 
Got mine today and I am very happy. Fit and finish is excellent, a soak ind wipe down with mineral oil revealed and very nice walk and talk with a light but not too light pull. This one actually has an edge that is serviceable and a stropping will make it shave hair I think. This is my first, elusive, Freemont Jack. The knife that started my traditional addiction, pictured with its cousin.

FreemonJack (1 of 1).jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top