Recommendation? GEC Fit and finish? One of my Barlow pins is sticking way up.

[Ice Tigre]

I cannot figure out why folks who are not interested in GEC's product still feel inclined to engage in GEC-related discussions. If a brand holds no interest to me, I leave it to the folks who have said interest.

The interest is to keep other people from being screwed by a company that makes crap, or to help them when they have just been screwed by that company.

Its a traditional American.. no, make that Human past time to butt into everyone else's affairs. Thus the existence of internet discussion forums.

 

[JoKr]

JoKr those are not examples of domed or spun pins. They were intentionally hammered that way on the ancient barlows to mimic the way pins were hammered on old knives of the 1800's to very early 1900's before spinning was developed.

Eric

yes Eric, i know, it's just another example of what can go wrong at working on pins, you have to be very careful.

While the pins pictured above may have been deliberately finished that way for some reason, that wasn't typical of knives from the turn of the last century. Riveting has existed for centuries, and well formed rivet heads was the norm, not that kind of ham fisted butchery. It's very common for reproducions to have exaggerated features. Many people equate details like that with Olde Tyme hand craftsmanship. That's a sales gimmic, not a history lesson.

yes, thnx.


(example for most of GECs domed/ spun pins)

 

[Will Power]

As I pointed out earlier, a leather strop loaded with green will take off any really sharp edges without compromising the head shape nor damaging the scales.

 

[glennbad]

Holy $h!t. Eric Albers replied to my thread. Huge fan of your work. Hoping I have enough luck left in the tank to nab one of your amazing pieces.

Geez, don't go inflating ea42 Eric's ego, there'll be no dealing with him after.

I mean, he's just like the rest of us. (Except he gets up every day and makes kick-butt knives!)

 

[glennbad]

As to the subject at hand, there's not much more to be said that hasn't already been said. You dome pins on materials that you can't get in there closely to sand down (sawcut anything comes to mind). I've never been a fan of domed pins, mainly because a lot of the time they are done wrong, meaning the tool goes too far and dogs out material around the pin. I'd rather leave a pin with a hammered look than reef all that material out.

Maybe it's just perspective from the picture, but those pins do look a little too fat.

 

[black mamba]

I like domed pins, and I cannot lie . . .

 

[LastRodeo]

Speaking as someone who is a self admitted fanboy of pretty much every knife company currently making knives (and also most that are recently departed), from my perspective every brand has detractors and apologists, by pretty much an equal percentage, from brand to brand.

 

[bbfish]

Speaking as someone who is a self admitted fanboy of pretty much every knife company currently making knives (and also most that are recently departed), from my perspective every brand has detractors and apologists, by pretty much an equal percentage, from brand to brand.

I agree. I really enjoy GEC, got a couple dozen at this point. That being said I've found things with some of my knives that I think probably shouldn't have left the shop. I'm also fully aware that these arent machine made and that humans are capable of mistakes and its not going to be the end of the world. I will say any time I've brought up anything online about it I've been dogpiled by a crowd, so now I just keep it to myself. If its bad enough I know I can always reach out to GEC. I would probably consider myself a fanboy, constantly checking here, FB, and GEC website for updates, but I'm not going to pretend that every knife that comes out of the factory is going to be perfect. I like questions like the OP raised because it got some really knowledgeable people to chime in with some information in that I may otherwise never know.

 

[JohnDF]

Uh oh....the controversial hammered pins on a Chevy!

Rebel...

Strongest rear axle that everyone uses is still the Ford 9"

Ford 9's are nice, but stronger than a Dana 70???

 

[akaMatt]

...
Ford 9's are nice, but stronger than a Dana 70???

If I had a GEC flush hammered spun pin for every time I’ve had the Ford 9 vs Dana 70 discussion...

 

[ea42]

yes Eric, i know, it's just another example of what can go wrong at working on pins, you have to be very careful.

JoKr, I just looked back at what you had circled in those pics, I missed that the first time as I thought you were referring to the pins themselves. Yes that's an issue, must have been a really big hammer! Just highlights the skills required of the old culters of the 1800's who had to accomplish the task on every knife without marring the surrounding bone. Lots of practice involved.

Eric

 

[EngrSorenson]

It's already been beat to death, but I'd consider that a neat feature of a handmade GEC. Watch one of the videos of how Case makes a knife and the only real handmade aspect is the hafting process. I usually give a little more benefit of the doubt for GEC, who does virtually the whole process by hand. Nice knife!

Consider the other end of the spectrum- I have an ESEE Izula coming in the mail that I'm relatively excited about... but when I get it it's going to look just like all the pictures I've ever seen of one. I'll examine it a little, sharpen it and then stuff it in my drawer. From then on it's only going to see the light of day when I need it. I'll get just what I expect, and that's boring.

On the other hand your knife you can look at for hours and learn something about the processes it takes to make a good knife by hand. I hope you use the heck out of that barlow and enjoy every ding it collects, too.

 

[rbeggs]

What an exciting thread haha! This is a perk of being a member here, great entertainment.

 

[Sacto]

To the people that have said you don’t like domed pins: Is it that you don’t like any domed pins or you don’t like it when the dome sticks up above the handle material? It seems to me that any knife with jigged bone or stag would have domed pins of some kind because you can’t sand them down like you can on smooth delrin or micarta, but maybe I’m missing something.

Some of the knives I’ve seen with low-sitting spun pins will have a big scar on the handle material augered out around the pin which is not appealing to me.

 

[Sacto]

No that's definitely not ham fisted, nor is it exaggerated dsutton24 as you can see by Dylan's pics. That was the way it was done back then. They used a textured face on the hammer to help spread a head on the pin more quickly. This resulted in less cracked covers as a) you didn't have to strike the pin as many times and b) the face of the pin was quickly spread which prevented the shaft of the pin from expanding, again helping to prevent cracked covers. Sometimes they used a headed pin on the covers but more often than not they just hammered those as well since it was quicker and they had the knack for it. It took a LOT of talent to hit the pin and not the bone when you were so close! You obviously can't use a headed pin on the center or butt end pins.

I still use a similar method when I hammer the pins on my smooth covered knives since I sand the pins smooth in the end:

View attachment 1525426

Eric

Sorry if this is a little off topic, but we’re talking pins, so I’ll ask. Eric-what is the hammer that you use for this, if you don’t mind sharing?

 

[Ice Tigre]

Rebel...


Ford 9's are nice, but stronger than a Dana 70???

No idea. 99% of all hotrods and customs I see built in magazines, and on forums these days use the 9" or a full custom based on one... right now its the popular can't break it axle.

To be honest, I've never actually heard of a dana 70 before now...

D60s yes, D80s, yes... A 70? Nope. Guess I assumed they existed, but never thought about it.

But, I build trucks not cars, and have no use for strongest like drag racers do, even if I'm doing a powerhouse, cheapest within application is usually already over built... Else I'm doing a mud truck, then strongest means a deuce and a half that really does trump all others.

We're doing pretty good on big ticket arguments here... do we want to touch on Micarta vs G10?

Blonde vs Brunette?

 

[JohnDF]

To be honest, I've never actually heard of a dana 70 before now...

Ya, I'm sure that 9's are popular in the hot rod world, they fit better under cars.
For trucks, I'm sure the debate still lingers on between the 9, 14bolt, and Dana 60.
But I'm into Jeeps and rock crawling... where Dana 60s and 70s are king... 35 splines and full-float.

 

[glennbad]

To the people that have said you don’t like domed pins: Is it that you don’t like any domed pins or you don’t like it when the dome sticks up above the handle material? It seems to me that any knife with jigged bone or stag would have domed pins of some kind because you can’t sand them down like you can on smooth delrin or micarta, but maybe I’m missing something.

Some of the knives I’ve seen with low-sitting spun pins will have a big scar on the handle material augered out around the pin which is not appealing to me.

I like domed pins, IF they are done properly. What you mentioned above is one of the reasons I don't like them, because they go to far and damage surrounding material.

Domed pins often stick up above the handle material, it's just a question of how much.

 

[akaMatt]

I don’t care much for domed pins when they stick up above the handle material, simply because I tend to use my knives as fidget spinners and worry stones at least as much as I do for cutting, and I don’t much care for rubbing my fingers over a protruding dome of metal.

I have sold off several knives in the past specifically because of this, including the knife in question from the OP. I have no issue with the workmanship, the brand, the individual craftsman, etc... just personal preference on feel.

 

[GE Jr]

Some of the knives I’ve seen with low-sitting spun pins will have a big scar on the handle material augered out around the pin which is not appealing to me.

I like domed pins, IF they are done properly. What you mentioned above is one of the reasons I don't like them, because they go to far and damage surrounding material.

Kinda like crop circles?