GEC #35 Churchill Thread

[joeradza]

I've had two. A yellow rose which I gave to my son and an ebony (always liked GEC's ebony) which I decided to sell. Like in baseball where they say the best trades are sometimes the ones you don't make. Same here, glad no one bought it.

 

[JTB_5]

Thank you for the compliment, Joshua. Hope you are having a very Merry Christmas!

You’re most welcome and Merry Christmas to you! Ours has been spectacular so far. May yours be as well.

 

[SnailOffTheTrail]

The Churchill ain’t the sexiest (unless it’s rail splitter’s gambler!) but it works!

Gambler is pure tuxedo knife. Gorgeous!
Quick update: I oiled the joint with few drops of ballistol and worked it while watching a movie, well only about an half an hour until my wife got mad about the constant clicking and whiped out all the black stuff that came out. Now it opens with authoritative snap and closes with rather soft, but confident snap from about 35°. Cannot complain about the walk an talk anymore. Just that made me feel much better about the knife.

Oh, I dont get how the uploading of the photos works. My appologies.

 

[traumkommode]

Gambler is pure tuxedo knife. Gorgeous!
Quick update: I oiled the joint with few drops of ballistol and worked it while watching a movie, well only about an half an hour until my wife got mad about the constant clicking and whiped out all the black stuff that came out. Now it opens with authoritative snap and closes with rather soft, but confident snap from about 35°. Cannot complain about the walk an talk anymore. Just that made me feel much better about the knife.

Oh, I dont get how the uploading of the photos works. My appologies.

Na, güt! As it should be.

 

[Leslie Tomville]

View attachment 1044218 View attachment 1044219 View attachment 1044220 View attachment 1044221 View attachment 1044222

So good to see this thread continuing on. The Churchill, and its first cousin the Drover, have to be two of the best looking, most useful, knives made by GEC. They are so easy to carry as well.

S SnailOffTheTrail ,

The Churchill’s have tight pivots and very little space between the blades. The ones I have experience with are late to snap shut. Also, with the blades being so close together, there is bound to be some rubbing unless you baby the knife. More than anything else, these are using knives. I believe the people that love them the most are the ones who use them the most. I hope that your knife breaks in to your satisfaction. Where in Europe are you located? I hope you figure out how to post photographs. I would like to see your knife and where you live. Which handle material does your Churchill have?

traumkommode , you and several others talk about washing your knives to improve the action. Could you please describe exactly how you do it? Do you actually soak the knife in hot soapy water and then rinse it off under the faucet?

 

[Dschal]

I use this one a lot.

 

[Kiteman72]

So seeing this thread get bumped, I had the urge to get my ebony Churchill out and whittle on some stuff. Man, what a great knife.

Next thing I know, I'm cruising the sites, hunting a Churchill, you know, for backup. I still don't have the maroon micarta, one of my favorite GEC standby's. Or the Cougar Clawed Bone! The pics make that one look so tempting! Little did I suspect that I would find a nice stag still in stock after over a year! I mean, sure, I have one already but now I'll have one to USE!

Should be on its way to me soon! Thanks Santa! Production wise, my prediction is that it will be a while before we see new Churchills.

 

[H2O2HI]

The Churchill #35 is the best all round knife for me. I have a small collection of 6 which I paw over most days. The drover, an ebony harness jack, a Rust red AAPK, Yellow Rose, Cougar Claw, and a Stag.
My personal preference of 3 3/4” make it a goldilocks size, not too small and not too large, and easy to carry. Their W & T for me is just right. I didn’t get the others simply because I discriminated.
Kiteman72 is probably right that GEC won’t make any more for a long time.They are just too practical and too nice. But - mine should last me the rest of my life.

 

[joeradza]

In an earlier post I talked about an ebony 35 that I've tried to sell. It must have been a senior moment. Other than having two blades (I prefer one) what's not to like. Beautiful ebony, great clip point, perfect size, excellent f&f, and even the secondary is useful when I get around to using it.

 

[Will Power]

Leslie Tomville

My wash&brush up method is as follows: put the knife in plastic washing bowl (so if you drop it it won't chip, it may in a metal or ceramic sink) Use water as hot as your hands can stand and use an old toothbrush plus liquid soap for washing up/dishes. Just get scrubbing all over in joints, blade(s) open and closed. Rinse under tap. Dry thoroughly with hairdryer, paper, or use compressed air. Once dry, put a bit of WD40 in the insides, wipe clean and use the oil or lubricant of your choice. This greatly improves W&T all round. On inferior dyed knives, some colour may bleed out....

Regards, Will

 

[traumkommode]

View attachment 1044218 View attachment 1044219 View attachment 1044220 View attachment 1044221 View attachment 1044222

So good to see this thread continuing on. The Churchill, and its first cousin the Drover, have to be two of the best looking, most useful, knives made by GEC. They are so easy to carry as well.

S SnailOffTheTrail ,

The Churchill’s have tight pivots and very little space between the blades. The ones I have experience with are late to snap shut. Also, with the blades being so close together, there is bound to be some rubbing unless you baby the knife. More than anything else, these are using knives. I believe the people that love them the most are the ones who use them the most. I hope that your knife breaks in to your satisfaction. Where in Europe are you located? I hope you figure out how to post photographs. I would like to see your knife and where you live. Which handle material does your Churchill have?

traumkommode , you and several others talk about washing your knives to improve the action. Could you please describe exactly how you do it? Do you actually soak the knife in hot soapy water and then rinse it off under the faucet?

Leslie Tomville

My wash&brush up method is as follows: put the knife in plastic washing bowl (so if you drop it it won't chip, it may in a metal or ceramic sink) Use water as hot as your hands can stand and use an old toothbrush plus liquid soap for washing up/dishes. Just get scrubbing all over in joints, blade(s) open and closed. Rinse under tap. Dry thoroughly with hairdryer, paper, or use compressed air. Once dry, put a bit of WD40 in the insides, wipe clean and use the oil or lubricant of your choice. This greatly improves W&T all round. On inferior dyed knives, some colour may bleed out....

Regards, Will

My method is pretty much the same as Will's. Lots of liquid soap, scrubbing, then dry and lubricate.

 

[Will Power]

In an earlier post I talked about an ebony 35 that I've tried to sell. It must have been a senior moment. Other than having two blades (I prefer one) what's not to like. Beautiful ebony, great clip point, perfect size, excellent f&f, and even the secondary is useful when I get around to using it.View attachment 1044555

Just look at that Beauty! Well yes it MUST HAVE been a very senior moment indeed Alan, or temporary loss of all faculties short term dotage...

But, we've all been there I suspect.... I nearly sold a 38 Whittler..admittedly a good price even so, thanks be to god I didn't Would've been a serious error

 

[redsparrow]

The Churchills

 

[traumkommode]

But, we've all been there I suspect.... I nearly sold a 38 Whittler..admittedly a good price even so, thanks be to god I didn't Would've been a serious error

This is an error I have made not once, but twice. And before I knew what the grinling Whittler was, I passed on a really good deal on one. What buffoonery on my behalf!

 

[SnailOffTheTrail]

Guys, I was beeing such a fool. I have to eat my words now. After few more sessions with oiling, wiping out the gunk and working the main blade I am a big fan of the W&T. I grew up with slipjoints without halfstops, so GEC´s action have been a novelty to me and I was looking forward to it as everybody seems to like it, but gosh, I really prefer no halfstops.
@Leslie Tomville I have been living in Norway for the couple of years now, but I am originally from Slovakia.

I will give it a go let´s see what we´ll see:

 

[Railsplitter]

Guys, I was beeing such a fool. I have to eat my words now. After few more sessions with oiling, wiping out the gunk and working the main blade I am a big fan of the W&T. I grew up with slipjoints without halfstops, so GEC´s action have been a novelty to me and I was looking forward to it as everybody seems to like it, but gosh, I really prefer no halfstops.
@Leslie Tomville I have been living in Norway for the couple of years now, but I am originally from Slovakia.

I will give it a go let´s see what we´ll see:

That middle picture gets your point across pretty good. The GEC Churchills are known for relatively mild snap but that blade should have snapped shut by now. All of my Churchill's Clip blades have mild snap but none of them are that bad. I sincerely hope you can get that solved.

 

[SnailOffTheTrail]

I could make it stay even lower. That´s why I was so dissappionted, but it did break in allready and now it snaps (somewhat softly) from about 35°, if you know what I mean.

 

[Railsplitter]

I could make it stay even lower. That´s why I was so dissappionted, but it did break in allready and now it snaps (somewhat softly) from about 35°, if you know what I mean.

That is great news! I posted a little too soon as I see your earlier post now where you stated that you got it working better. Really glad to hear that!

 

[Will Power]

The W&T on this pattern does appear variable, the Cougar Claw I have has excellent snap and a firmish but gradual pull-without the half-stop interruption It makes plenty of noise if you let it whack back in place and no blade rub either- as it should be on a high quality Penknife type pattern (double end blades, single-spring) I commiserate with those having poor return travel on the Master blade, I'd be annoyed. I wonder if it is scale specific? The Ebony ones seem to have less snap perhaps??

 

[Railsplitter]

The W&T on this pattern does appear variable, the Cougar Claw I have has excellent snap and a firmish but gradual pull-without the half-stop interruption It makes plenty of noise if you let it whack back in place and no blade rub either- as it should be on a high quality Penknife type pattern (double end blades, single-spring) I commiserate with those having poor return travel on the Master blade, I'd be annoyed. I wonder if it is scale specific? The Ebony ones seem to have less snap perhaps??

I own or have owned Ebony, Hummingbird Acrylic, Maroon Micarta, Yellow Rose, and Rust Red Churchills and oddly, my Ebony variant has the best closing snap on the Clip blade. None of them were terrible. Just a little weak by GEC standards. I've come to enjoy the mild pulls and snap and I actually prefer that now over stiff pulls. The ease of opening the blades has proven rather refreshing.