Stupid #@!&*%! nail breakers - pimp job GEC

made2cut

made2cut

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
943
Been getting more and more interested in traditional knives and picked up a GEC #68 in Snakewood a little while ago. I really liked it but the pull was a little soft. When I saw a used GEC scout up for sale with the pull listed at an "8" I thought "cool, this one might be right up my alley". Well... after getting the knife I tried to open it up and son of gun if it wasn't just about impossible for me. I tried everything I could think of (including letting it sit half open trying to weaken the spring for a week) but the fact remained that this knife was pretty much a paper weight for me. After being completely frustrated I was holding it last Saturday thinking, if I could only grab the blade and pinch it open... Suddenly the light bulb went off in my head and I remembered some Easy Open patterns. I decided right then to make it happen!

Lets see.... I think my thumb and index finger should go just about here...
a.jpg

b.jpg

c.jpg


Quarter to 10pm... Let's get started....
ca.jpg

d.jpg


Damn! I drilled a little too fast and the bit was probably too sharp. Cracked the bone on the right side. Looks like my design will be modified :p
e.jpg

f.jpg


Time to put the dremel to work...
g.jpg


.... and now the hand files and sand paper ...
h.jpg

i.jpg

j.jpg


... by George I think this may feel pretty good!
k.jpg


Lets take off the tape and see what we have... (notice the clock say's it took a little over an hour)
ka.jpg

n.jpg

l.jpg


All cleaned up...
r.jpg

q.jpg

p.jpg

o.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice work. You are a lot braver man than me. I simply sent my primitive bone 73 back and exchanged it for an ebony White Owl. I like the ebony, like the 68 pattern, and like that I can actually open the blades and use the knife. But I have to say, I miss that primitive bone. It was quite unique.

Glad you pressed on and came out with a good result.
 
I have to admit, I was sure you had screwed that baby up when I saw where the bone had cracked, but damned if you didn't pull it off and make it look great!
Beautiful mod!
My #23 is also about an 8 on the scale. I love it, but it's dangerous for non-knife people...and anyone with weak fingernails.
 
Outstanding! :thumbup: I applaud your willingness to take matters into your own hands. Really gutsy on a GEC Primitive Bone. You adapted well to the unexpected chipped bone, too. Basically you just ended up "stretching" the cutout a little closer to the end of the knife than you otherwise planned - is that correct?

I've tweaked the blades on some knives I have, and have been very satisfied with the results. I've never done anything to the handles, but I have a GEC #23 and #73 (single blade each) on the way. If they end up being nail busters I think I'll give this a try. One is in Cocobolo and the other is Ebony. Any further hints or caveats if I do decide to undertake this?

Thanks for posting and congrats on a job well done!
 
This is a very cool thread but I'm going to move it to Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment. I know we've had some mod and fix it threads on the Traditional forum lately but they should have been in the Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment sub forum.

Frank and I are going to try and steer them that way in the future.
 
coyote711 said:
Outstanding! :thumbup: I applaud your willingness to take matters into your own hands. Really gutsy on a GEC Primitive Bone. You adapted well to the unexpected chipped bone, too. Basically you just ended up "stretching" the cutout a little closer to the end of the knife than you otherwise planned - is that correct?

I've tweaked the blades on some knives I have, and have been very satisfied with the results. I've never done anything to the handles, but I have a GEC #23 and #73 (single blade each) on the way. If they end up being nail busters I think I'll give this a try. One is in Cocobolo and the other is Ebony. Any further hints or caveats if I do decide to undertake this?

Thanks for posting and congrats on a job well done!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the good words guys!

Yeah, when I saw that bone crack I thought I was screwed but I just tried to smooth it out as little as possible and got lucky. Doing this with wood scales should be a lot less risky. My only tip would be to take your time :D. I started to use my colbalt drill bits but they were actually too sharp and started to dig in more than I liked which caused the problem. I switched to some beat up HSS bits after that.
 
Nice recovery!:thumbup:

You're a much braver man than I, sir. I'd have just used a large half round file and took it a bit slower.

Carl.
 
made2cut said:
Doing this with wood scales should be a lot less risky. My only tip would be to take your time :D. I started to use my colbalt drill bits but they were actually too sharp and started to dig in more than I liked which caused the problem. I switched to some beat up HSS bits after that.
Click to expand...

Thank's for the reply, and I agree wood scales should be easier to do. I have a fair amount of patience and will take my time. I'm considering using only hand tools - maybe half-round and rattail files, then finish off with sandpaper. I'll probably start off that way, but if it becomes too painstakingly slow I'll use some power tools. :)

Heck, I'm thinking about doing it to one of my inbound knives anyway, even if it isn't a nail breaker. It sounds like a fun project, and the EO notch makes a great place to put your ring or little finger when using the knife.

Thanks for the great pics in this thread, too! :thumbup:
 
awesome mod! gutsy making it an easy open. so the million dollar question is.........can you open it now? :D
 
That's a great looking and useful mod you accomplished doing that,outstanding work!!Well,how much easier is it to open?
 
All that drilling must have been tricky with those brass balls of yours getting in the way, heh. Awesome stuff.
 
clich said:
awesome mod! gutsy making it an easy open. so the million dollar question is.........can you open it now? :D
Click to expand...

I can open it now with relative ease :). The blade is pretty polished and the spring didn't get any weaker so it's still an effort but I don't look like an idiot trying to open it anymore :D
 
What the true shame here is, that a knife owner has to go to his length to mod a knife some can use it. I've never understood the nail breaker back spring thing.

Carl.
 
Bravo Sir! All I can say is they must be solid brass and as big as grapefruits...I would not have the nerve to tackle that project. Well done, and it looks awesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top