New run of 54s

Man, I was totally blindsided by this run of 54's. When they were announced, I had not the slightest inclination to buy one. Then a couple of the single blades caught my attention, preorders placed. The Desert Ironwood was just released and is gorgeous, how could one go wrong with a stellar wood like that for covers? I have long awaited a Desert Ironwood GEC and the 54 provides plenty of real estate to showcase this highly figured wood. Now the Maher & Grosh Moose is singing its Siren song and it is indeed enchanting. Good thing I have a soft spot for a big equal end....
 
supratentorial said:
Oooh! Good to see some classic shields on these knives. :thumbsup:
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Same here!:thumbsup:
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I sure hope you are right about more in the future! The M&G has a real nice federal badge as well.
 
I reserved my DLT Appaloosa Bone #54 and they don't look as dark as I wanted them to be. I guess I'll be crossing my fingers.
 
blademan 13 said:
Man, I was totally blindsided by this run of 54's. When they were announced, I had not the slightest inclination to buy one. Then a couple of the single blades caught my attention, preorders placed. The Desert Ironwood was just released and is gorgeous, how could one go wrong with a stellar wood like that for covers? I have long awaited a Desert Ironwood GEC and the 54 provides plenty of real estate to showcase this highly figured wood. Now the Maher & Grosh Moose is singing its Siren song and it is indeed enchanting. Good thing I have a soft spot for a big equal end....
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So....I'm not the only hopelessly addicted collector on the forum?
 
I'm excited to get my Snakewood and Appaloosa singles. The 54 is a little bigger than I usually like. But, the single, being skinnier should be just great! Plus, I personally really like that DLT Oak Leaf Shield .
 
AShearer said:
I'm excited to get my Snakewood and Appaloosa singles. The 54 is a little bigger than I usually like. But, the single, being skinnier should be just great! Plus, I personally really like that DLT Oak Leaf Shield .
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AShearer AShearer , I like the DLT shield too! I think its an Emperor oak leaf. I really wanted those two you have coming, but had to hold off. I will regret it. The singles should be just great!

AShearer said:
Fantastic Ramrodmb Ramrodmb . You done good!
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Thank you! I'm excited to get it!:thumbsup:
 
AShearer said:
I'm excited to get my Snakewood and Appaloosa singles. The 54 is a little bigger than I usually like. But, the single, being skinnier should be just great! Plus, I personally really like that DLT Oak Leaf Shield .
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Alan, I feel the same way about the 54... a little large but should be real nice with a single blade spear. I reserved the same two you did. It's been extremely difficult the past few days to not add 3 or 4 more to the pile. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out with so many wonderful 54s available!!! The single blades need to get sent out real soon before I completely cave and blow the budget... once again. :eek:;)
 
The way the DLT Appaloosa turned out is unexpected, but perfect for me. I'm usually the guy buying the black camel bone that is mostly white with just a touch of black. So, I'm pretty excited about these. The snakewood looks like it's going to be luck of the draw if you get stripes, spots, or not much of either. The burlap turned out pretty good too. I need to start getting some invoices for 54's before I end up ordering something else. Will be interesting to see how the blood red jig bone turns out. Judging from the three below, chances are it's going to be nice too.

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I finally got to reprofiling the blades on my Beaver Tail last night. The factory sharpening was pretty good on mine, except maybe near the tips, but I like all of my slipjoints to be at my perfect edge angle.

It took quite a bit of time to reprofile both blades. Maybe it's just me, but the blades seem to be very hard on this run. This makes me immeasurably happy, as I have little patience for soft steel that easily deforms.

I started with an 8" medium/fine Norton combination India stone, and lots of mineral oil. The only problem I had was with the clip blade. Like some of the other GEC clip blades in my collection, there was a slight recurve near the center of the flat. This made it very hard to sharpen on a bench stone. I sort of had to drag the blade to the edge of the stone, in order to get the recurved area to touch the stone. I really wish that GEC wouldn't add those slight recurves to their clip blades, whether intentional or not. They're a pain to sharpen.

The spear blade was straightforward and easy in comparison to the clip . I finished the blades off on a medium/fine combination Arkansas stone, and a quick strop at the end. The spear blade's shape is very flat and parallel to the spine on this model. Kind of like the 2015 #77 Barlow. I really enjoy the variation in GEC's spear blades. They have models like the #85 bullet jack with giant fat bellies on them, and some like the #54 with very little belly.

All in all, the Beaver Tail is a really nice knife that just screams to be used outdoors. The jigged wood covers are absolutely spectacular, and give the knife a wonderful utilitarian vibe to it, in a fur trapper/mountain man sort of way. I'm normally not much for wood covers, but these are flat out amazing. Between the size of the knife and the jigged wood, the grip is soooooooooo secure and comfortable. Especially when using the clip blade. And the lack of Northfield trim on this model makes it even more likely that I'll use the knife hard, and not baby it like some of my other GEC's.

There are so many great shields on this run!!!!
 
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