What do you expect from GEC? (Northfield and Tidioute)

[confucius37]

I want to know what everyone expects from GEC's Northfield and Tidioute lines. I am talking in terms of the fit and finish department, the design aspect is sort of up to the maker and that is a whole other subject.

I am a bit confounded and don't know where to "draw the line" when it comes to what I will and won't send back. I own or have owned at some point 16 different GEC made knives and some have been perfect in every way I could tell, while others I knew I would be sending them back the moment I took them out of the tube.

I feel that sometimes I have been spoiled because I KNOW that GEC is capable of producing a damn near perfect knife so every knife I receive that isn't damn near perfect gives me the sense that "hmm, maybe I should send it back...". At the same time I understand that GEC is still a production knife company and there is some level of tolerance that must be had if they are going to survive as a sustainable business.

So what are the make or break items for you and to what standard do you hold GEC knives to?
If the knife functions flawlessly and the flaws are merely cosmetic, what would you do?
Do you think GEC is on its own level compared to the other production makers of today and should it be treated as such?
Would you be willing to pay slightly more to be absolutely sure that every knife that comes out of GEC's doors is as damn near to perfect as GEC can produce?

Those are just a few questions that come to mind, I hope that some of the folks here can ask even more questions that might be revealing of what GEC means to the knife loving world.

 

[richstag]

GEC should produce knives to the standard that they built their reputation on. That is what I expect.

Kevin

 

[Bigfattyt]

No blade wiggle, no liner gaps and no bone/liner/bolster gaps. Nice grind lines and even edge bevels.

I have been lucky so far.

 

[Modoc ED]

Contrary to what is said on this forum about how good GEC knives are, I have had a few duds from GEC - gaps, cracked covers, terrible blade rubs - but that said, I'd say 85% to 90% of the knives that come from GEC are first rate as to fit - finish, not so much. I got a GEC Northfield Calf Roper the other day (the highly polished one) and there are all kinds of finishing/polishing scratches throughout the blades and bolster. Nothing to hinder the use of the knife just not so attractive. The fit is good no gaps. That's not the only Northfield I've received with finishing/polishing scratches. I kinda wish they'd just give all their knives a satin finish whatever the line.

I like a stout pull on a knife - 6 to 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 but many of their knives (especially their early ones) came with much harder pulls - 9 to 10 on the scale and I swear even a couple/three with a pull of 11 to 12 on that 1 to 10 scale. GEC seems to be listening about pulls but some pretty tough pulls are coming from them.

GEC makes a great knife but like other manufactures, a few slipl between the cracks sometimes.

 

[jwh]

I think if one wants perfection and is willing to pay more they should buy a custom knife. I think with the few defects seen in the GEC line they are a good value. When people start sending back ANY product for frivolious reasons that causes an increase in price to be passed on to the more level headed consumers. Rest assured that we all pay for the anal retentive knife buyers. Now as to what I will not accept. I will not keep a knife with blade wobble/play. I will not keep a knife that the blade rubs on the liners or other blades. I will not keep a knife whose blade bottoms out and gets dull from doing so. A combination of smaller problems could cause one to be rejected also.

jwh

 

[Humppa]

Vic,

What I expect on most of the knives I have - and mostly really have got was, that the knife should work. Any cosmetic flaws like not 100 % fitting scales etc are no big deal for me. That´s really cosmetics. As well as gaps, as long as they don´t have any influence in the function of the knife don´t bother me. Cosmetics as well.

There´s one thing, that´s a no-go to me; that´s blade play when the edge is rubbing against the liner. Any blade rubbing against the liner gives the appearence of the knife being nothing well made. When it dulls the edge it has definitelly some influence on the function of the knife.

That´s my general thoughts about knives.

About GEC (Tidioute and Northfiel) - I own some of them (roundabout 12, I might count them) and only two of them had really my personal "no-go". They are well made knives, built very solid - all in all. For sure, mistakes can happen. And we wouldn´t be here, when we already had found "The One Knife". I haven´t found mine, yet. But most GECs have a great F&F and are really close to perfect.

If I would spent more money on a near-to-perfect-knife made my GEC? Hard to say - most of my GECs are already close to perfect (exept of the #72 and the #73). The GEC #66 Serpentine Jack is on of the knives that is really close to perfect. Especially because of oversea shipping in my case and some others here on BFC.

Thank you for starting this thread. It helped me cool down a little from today´s delivery and remembering how many great knives I already got from GEC

 

[confucius37]

GEC should produce knives to the standard that they built their reputation on. That is what I expect.

Kevin

You know I have to ask, what is their reputation? I only knew what GEC was starting in late 2011 so I missed watching them grow.

Contrary to what is said on this forum about how good GEC knives are, I have had a few duds from GEC - gaps, cracked covers, terrible blade rubs - but that said, I'd say 85% to 90% of the knives that come from GEC are first rate as to fit - finish, not so much. I got a GEC Northfield Calf Roper the other day (the highly polished one) and there are all kinds of finishing/polishing scratches throughout the blades and bolster. Nothing to hinder the use of the knife just not so attractive. The fit is good no gaps. That's not the only Northfield I've received with finishing/polishing scratches. I kinda wish they'd just give all their knives a satin finish whatever the line.

I like a stout pull on a knife - 6 to 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 but many of their knives (especially their early ones) came with much harder pulls - 9 to 10 on the scale and I swear even a couple/three with a pull of 11 to 12 on that 1 to 10 scale. GEC seems to be listening about pulls but some pretty tough pulls are coming from them.

GEC makes a great knife but like other manufactures, a few slipl between the cracks sometimes.

I think it is essential for a company like GEC to listen to their customer base, I don't think GEC will survive if they don't listen to their customers.

I think if one wants perfection and is willing to pay more they should buy a custom knife. I think with the few defects seen in the GEC line they are a good value. When people start sending back ANY product for frivolious reasons that causes an increase in price to be passed on to the more level headed consumers. Rest assured that we all pay for the anal retentive knife buyers. Now as to what I will not accept. I will not keep a knife with blade wobble/play. I will not keep a knife that the blade rubs on the liners or other blades. I will not keep a knife whose blade bottoms out and gets dull from doing so. A combination of smaller problems could cause one to be rejected also.

jwh

That is a good point and not something to be taken lightly. GEC is a business and in order to stay afloat and continue to develop and make great knives, they have to be profitable. We the customer base have a direct impact on the direction the company will take. If everyone that bought a GEC decided that they only wanted custom level fit and finish, well it might turn out that GEC decides to only focus on making high end custom level knives, with a price tag to boot, and they would do that because it's what the customers wanted.

Vic,

What I expect on most of the knives I have - and mostly really have got was, that the knife should work. Any cosmetic flaws like not 100 % fitting scales etc are no big deal for me. That´s really cosmetics. As well as gaps, as long as they don´t have any influence in the function of the knife don´t bother me. Cosmetics as well.

There´s one thing, that´s a no-go to me; that´s blade play when the edge is rubbing against the liner. Any blade rubbing against the liner gives the appearence of the knife being nothing well made. When it dulls the edge it has definitelly some influence on the function of the knife.

That´s my general thoughts about knives.

About GEC (Tidioute and Northfiel) - I own some of them (roundabout 12, I might count them) and only two of them had really my personal "no-go". They are well made knives, built very solid - all in all. For sure, mistakes can happen. And we wouldn´t be here, when we already had found "The One Knife". I haven´t found mine, yet. But most GECs have a great F&F and are really close to perfect.

If I would spent more money on a near-to-perfect-knife made my GEC? Hard to say - most of my GECs are already close to perfect (exept of the #72 and the #73). The GEC #66 Serpentine Jack is on of the knives that is really close to perfect. Especially because of oversea shipping in my case and some others here on BFC.

Thank you for starting this thread. It helped me cool down a little from today´s delivery and remembering how many great knives I already got from GEC

Thanks for your thoughts Andi! Sometimes it's good to have a place to throw out your ideas and see what others are thinking as well.

 

[akadave2]

I expect about the same as I see with Case, Schatt & Morgan, Queen, Hen & Rooster. They all make very good knives. I do like GECs choice of materials better though

 

[black mamba]

Just a month ago I returned my first GEC knife ever (out of over 100 owned) to the dealer I bought from. It was a primitive bone 2-blade, so an expensive knife. All was fine except the center pin hole was drilled sloppy, so that it had a dished out ring around the center pin. This should have been an EDC knife, and if priced accordingly, I would have kept it. But as a first quality, top of the line Northfield offering it was unacceptable.

I have owned 39 of the #53 Cuban 3-blade stockmen, and only a couple have had blade rubs. To me this is acceptable on a 2-backspring stockman, so long as it is minor. A heavy rub or contacting the liners is not acceptable, but I have never experienced this from GEC.

Their linerlocks and backlocks tend to have some vertical play, but only one of mine had any horizontal play out of 8 knives. I find this acceptable.

Liner gaps are also very rare. I've had 4 or 5 with very minor gaps, none with egregious ones. Also acceptable to me.

My thoughts on factory made knives are somewhat relaxed for a true "knife knut." GEC's knives are already quite expensive. To pay for 100% quality control would add greatly to the cost of all their knives, when only a few would be materially affected. Look at the cost of the Case/Bose collabs-- more than double the cost of even a stag GEC, and still, some of those get sent back. Just look at the responses from the many serious knife collectors and users on this forum about GEC's quality. It is pretty uniformly positive. To expect near perfection from a factory maker is just not realistic at a price point that could sustain their business. They would be alienating hundreds of consumers to please a few.

I would really like to see the responses of the really big GEC collectors on BFC. My 100+ is a good representative sampling, but nothing compared to several other regulars here.

 

[richstag]

Vic,

I own a good number of GEC knives. Not 100's and I never counted, but I have enough. With that said, I do not base their reputation soley on my experiences. I base it on the words of collectors on this site. I also base it on a few dealers that are honest with me. To answer your question, I feel their reputation is a very high level of fit and finish. Minimal gaps if any, minimal blade play if any, no knives coming loose from light use, good tolerances when fitting cover materials and even bolsters to liners.

If the reputation I understand is incorrect then someone has been hiding something. I do not believe this one bit. I can look at my earlier GEC knives and they are better in terms of fitting and finishing than recent releases.

GEC will have to keep to the reputation I have come to see or I would no longer support them with my wallet.

Btw, about lockbacks, I don't believe lockplay is acceptable. Sorry, I can go to walmart and buy dozens of knives under 70$ with no lock play.

Kevin

 

[burnside]

My first GEC experience was at the beginning of the week with an ebony 72. It had very obvious blade wobble or blade play in all directions when locked up, and I could see there was a gap between the liner and the backspring/lock. I sent it back to the seller.

Today I received my second and third GECs; another Tidioute 72 but this time a Wharncliffe, and a Northfield Half Congress 62. The 72 is much tighter than the last one, but has a very tiny amount of up and down blade play when locked opened. I'm sending it back. The Half Congress is just about perfect in fit and finish and I will be keeping it.

I have contacted a seller with the last 72 I can find on the net, and they told me it has the tiniest bit of up and down blade play when opened. I'm going to pass on it. I hear the 42 lockbacks and the Ben Hogan lockbacks are very tight with no blade play, and I've read the GEC linerlocks are good to go as well.

Based on what I've read and my own experience, it is not uncommon to get some blade play with the 72 GEC models. Maybe future runs of the 72 will have this eliminated, but for the time being, I will be staying away from that model. I do not find blade play acceptable in a 100 dollar and up knife. As long as this is just a fluke with the last few runs of 72s, I will be checking out some other models based on how nice my Half Congress is. For now, I'm done with the 72 unless I can find a seller who can guarantee that it has zero blade and lock play/wobble.

The 72 did not completely ruin my experience with GEC. I loved the knife and everything about it beside the blade wobble. I thought long and hard about sending it to GEC to get fixed, but there are enough other GEC models to focus on rather than wait the 2-4 week turn around. I have a feeling that the forum knife that I have coming will really change any disappointment that the 72 experience might have caused.

I'm still interested in and might check out some of the other GEC knives such as the 42 lockback, 73 scout, 66 jack, 66 moose, 85 EZ open, 65 Lockback, 25 barlows and jacks, 53 furtaker Trapper, 54 Big Jack or Harness Jack. Also, pretty much all the smaller jacks and whittlers like the congress, conductor, the white owl, etc. Too many for my wallet, but these are all the ones that peek my interest the most, and I haven't yet read about any issues with them.

I'm willing to give GEC the benefit of the doubt. I'm still too inexperienced with the company to have a fully formed opinion at this point, but based on what I've read posted by other collectors, GEC is known for outstanding (if not the best) quality in currently made traditional folders.

 

[knarfeng]

What do you expect from GEC?

Same thing I expect from other knife companies:

• a good knife.
• a design or pattern or feature that I don't see from another company.

 

[yablanowitz]

Out of the hundreds of knives I have, from dozens of makers, I have sent exactly one back, so I guess a broken backspring is where I draw the line. It blows my mind to see the kind of nitpicking bs people return knives for.

 

[Campbellclanman]

To me, aside from the Company...price is the indicator of expectancy.

 

[Doug Add]

I can deal with some of those nits on a flea market beater knife, even a $20-$40 store-bought knife.

I know my next statement will seem silly to many of you who spend multiple hundreds of dollars on a knife, but these are my budget constraints.

When I spend $50-$100 on a knife, it better be right, right out of the box.

 

[burnside]

I can deal with some of those nits on a flea market beater knife, even a $20-$40 store-bought knife.

I know my next statement will seem silly to many of you who spend multiple hundreds of dollars on a knife, but these are my budget constraints.

When I spend $50-$100 on a knife, it better be right, right out of the box.

I agree. It seems that you can't be guaranteed a 'right' knife from a production line unless you are willing to spend 350-450 these days. It's more of a crap shoot, but If I'm spending 100 bucks on a folder, it better not have blade play or I'm sending it back for a refund or for one that has no blade play.

 

[fatcorgi]

opening up a package containing a GEC knife has almost always been a pleasure. There are some things that bug me about knives in general e.g. gaps in the liners, but GEC has better averages than some other companies and I don't consider this as an objective reason to send a knife back, more my personal bugbear. Maybe I'm influenced by the fact that, being in Europe, it would take months to get a replacement for a less than perfect knife.

 

[Stich2442]

I can deal with some of those nits on a flea market beater knife, even a $20-$40 store-bought knife.

I know my next statement will seem silly to many of you who spend multiple hundreds of dollars on a knife, but these are my budget constraints.

When I spend $50-$100 on a knife, it better be right, right out of the box.

Well said, this is exactly how I feel, I'll probably never own a custom. I own two GEC knives and both are flawless, if I did receive one with a flaw I would not hesitate to send it back. Most companies or manufactures have no problem rectifying a customers perceived mistake and want a customers satisfaction. Anytime there is a human hand involved in making something there are going to be variations. Each individual sets their own personal standard, if I am making 20 of the same fittings all 20 of mine will be identical, but other fellas I work with don't have the same attention to detail, I can walk through the shop and ID who made what by looking at the bends, how notches are cut, how hem flanges are made, cross breaks, etc. When I receive flawed products I simply shoot them a email, explaining what's wrong and ship it back, it only makes a company better when they can ID a reoccurring problem.

 

[Fanglekai]

My expectations are in line with how GEC is priced compared to Queen and Case. On a $50 Queen I don't mind minor gaps. On a $100 GEC I expect no gaps, no bladeplay, and decent bevels. My 85 has no gaps but the bevels were uneven and the tip is ground unevenly. I mostly fixed it on my WEPS.

 

[FLymon]

I can tell you what I don't expect, I don't expect perfection but it does happen sometimes.

My 2011 Forum knife is easily the best built, feeling, looking factory knife I have ever had the pleasure of owning.
The blade has a great thin primary grind and came sharp with even edge angles (I reprofiled, but only for my own preference).
The bone covers matched in every way, and fit perfectly against the bolsters and liners.
The backsprings are both custom level flush opened and closed, I mean they are perfect. I don't deduct for being proud at the half-stop because they obviously didn't design the knife to be flush in all three.
The walk and talk of both blades is without flaw, and about a 4 on the 1-10 scale.

I don't expect the level of F&F on that knife, but they usually get it pretty close.