#35 Beer and Sausage Bar Tool Knife

Since I won mine in Mike's GAW, it will never be sold or given away, unless it's one of my kids that takes a shine to it. So, it will be a keeper, a user, and a display piece. If the comb has a lack of 'snap', I'll probably send it out for a "comb delete"... maybe.
 
While I can see the argument that a comb doesn't need to have the same snappy retention as a blade, I don't think it's acceptable at this price point to have such variation. It would be one thing if everyone's was like that, but I can definitely see how some people are upset when some of us got nice snappy pulls and others didn't.
 
I think someone from GEC should say what to expect on comb pulls, snap etc..... Obviously it had design characteristics and target performance..... But expectations are all over the place and no one definitively knows what it should be.... I stated earlier in this thread my opinion on it but who knows what I know?..... If you ask my wife I'm dumb as a rock...
 
Robot Mania Fu said:
While I can see the argument that a comb doesn't need to have the same snappy retention as a blade, I don't think it's acceptable at this price point to have such variation. It would be one thing if everyone's was like that, but I can definitely see how some people are upset when some of us got nice snappy pulls and others didn't.
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What is the solution? Had they said the comb had no spring right up front - everything would have been fine. But I would be interested in how you would engineer it differently.

Most that I have seen, the difference between a bit of snap and no snap is a couple minutes to flush it. GEC always leaves a little compound with the knives, free of charge. But most springs can overcome that and the tightness of the joints.

I would have preferred they left the brrt off - but they didn't ask me. My biggest problem with it is that it still cost everyone an extra $15 and provides very few with a required function.
 
I can understand why the comb doesn't need to be snappy - as long as it isn't falling open, why should it be of concern, right? That said, what is most concerning to me are the inconsistencies in QC that are being reported. Blade wobble, light pulls, little to no snap - versus others that are reporting things are just fine.

This knife is odd - not just because of the eccentric pattern/configuration - but also because the construction deviated some from past #35 runs. Typically when GEC makes a knife with a half stop on a frame that previously had a cam tang, they change the pattern number (53 vs 54, 55 vs 56, etc.). I have no doubt there are exceptions, of course. However, I do wonder if some of the inconsistencies being reported are due to a change in engineering where these were built previously with cam tangs (albeit on a single spring) and with this recent run, they have been made with half stops.

Pure speculation, of course - I am mostly thinking out loud, in a sense, but I am curious what the motivation was to introduce half stops where they previously had not. It seems to have worked out just fine - especially with the M&G knives.
 
Pàdruig said:
I can understand why the comb doesn't need to be snappy - as long as it isn't falling open, why should it be of concern, right? That said, what is most concerning to me are the inconsistencies in QC that are being reported. Blade wobble, light pulls, little to no snap - versus others that are reporting things are just fine.

This knife is odd - not just because of the eccentric pattern/configuration - but also because the construction deviated some from past #35 runs. Typically when GEC makes a knife with a half stop on a frame that previously had a cam tang, they change the pattern number (53 vs 54, 55 vs 56, etc.). I have no doubt there are exceptions, of course. However, I do wonder if some of the inconsistencies being reported are due to a change in engineering where these were built previously with cam tangs (albeit on a single spring) and with this recent run, they have been made with half stops.

Pure speculation, of course - I am mostly thinking out loud, in a sense, but I am curious what the motivation was to introduce half stops where they previously had not. It seems to have worked out just fine - especially with the M&G knives.
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Your theory makes a lot of sense. The conversion from cams to 1/2 stop hadn't even occurred to me as a change in the pattern. If nothing was done to compensate in part construction, it would certainly make a difference in the pulls. Its basic geometry.
 
bbfish said:
For 130 bucks I expect all of the springs to function like an proper slip joint. Ive already had it catch on my pants pocket and open up when pulling it out because I had mistakenly assumed I had manually closed it enough.
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bbfish said:
Thats fair, I still stand by what I said about expecting the spring to function well.
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Jiki said:
And you should, what is your expectation of well?
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This question wasn’t directed at me, but since I expressed disappointment with the action/snap of the comb in my own “review,” I’ll answer it anyways. I think any blade/tool on a slipjoint/spring knife should close/open itself (i.e., “snap” into position) from a certain point, let’s say somewhere between 45° and 20°. It shouldn’t do this:

A8o1p0z.jpg


QVN9Q43.jpg


(I have oiled/flushed/worked the joint on the comb, but it hasn’t made any improvement.)

JohnDF said:
Coming from GEC, I would also expect the comb to have some 'snap' to it.
I know we shouldn't have expectations about a comb, but if it's on a spring, I'd expect the 'snap'.
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Exactly. :thumbsup:

Camillus said:
As peeps know I am not a fan of this knife, but maybe we can give GEC a break on this aspect. Do scissors on a SAK or a Leatherman have to snap too? How about the cork screw? I don’t think its a requirement
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I can’t speak to Leatherman (haven’t handled one in years), but the scissors and corkscrew on every SAK I’ve ever owned have more snap than any blade/tool on these B&S knives. If I got an SAK and the scissors or corkscrew had the same action as the comb on my B&S, I’d consider it a defect.

Pàdruig said:
I can understand why the comb doesn't need to be snappy - as long as it isn't falling open, why should it be of concern, right? That said, what is most concerning to me are the inconsistencies in QC that are being reported. Blade wobble, light pulls, little to no snap - versus others that are reporting things are just fine.

This knife is odd - not just because of the eccentric pattern/configuration - but also because the construction deviated some from past #35 runs. Typically when GEC makes a knife with a half stop on a frame that previously had a cam tang, they change the pattern number (53 vs 54, 55 vs 56, etc.). I have no doubt there are exceptions, of course. However, I do wonder if some of the inconsistencies being reported are due to a change in engineering where these were built previously with cam tangs (albeit on a single spring) and with this recent run, they have been made with half stops.

Pure speculation, of course - I am mostly thinking out loud, in a sense, but I am curious what the motivation was to introduce half stops where they previously had not. It seems to have worked out just fine - especially with the M&G knives.
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I found that curious, too, Dylan. I certainly don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the knives GEC has made, but I can’t think of a pattern where they’ve changed from a cam tang to half stops (or vice versa), and it seems particularly odd to do so on a blade shape they’ve used on that pattern before.
 
Have there been complaints of light pull / action on the two main blades? I had not seen that. I'm afraid the biggest part of the issues I have seen/heard are due to the tiny spring on the brrt. Even the bit of play is probably because they needed to shim the joint so the brrt had action at all.

Luckily anyone who doesn't like Theirs can still make $100 on it by flipping it to eBay (give the dealers selling there a little competition).
 
Looking at some of the posted knives makes me wonder if some have been dyed twice - before and after hafting.
The reason I wonder is there seems to be two colors - with one lot more red and another more yellow. The red ones are beautiful but don’t have areas of lighter dye you typically see.
Further, the dyed yellow bone One Star knives are far more uniform than the yellow bone on previous runs.
 
Camillus said:
Looking at some of the posted knives makes me wonder if some have been dyed twice - before and after hafting.
The reason I wonder is there seems to be two colors - with one lot more red and another more yellow. The red ones are beautiful but don’t have areas of lighter dye you typically see.
Further, the dyed yellow bone One Star knives are far more uniform than the yellow bone on previous runs.
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New processes, maybe? I know it has been a point I've been critical of GEC in the past - they tend to struggle with getting good color consistency with their dyeing. In some cases, it produces a nice variety in a run - in others, it makes for a lackluster knife.
 
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