Lets talk GEC!

[HEMI 49]

These look lovely but there sure are a bunch showing up on the exchange rather quickly.

The Charlie SFO's have, unfortunately, become a cash cow..... They are a sure way to double your investment...... To many they have become a commodity rather than a fine knife to collect and appreciate..... The same can be said about Northwood knives.... Probably 50% are purchased with an eye on making a buck rather than collecting.... Reminiscent of when the Hunt brothers cornered the silver market in the 1980's......

 

[mbkr]

The Charlie SFO's have, unfortunately, become a cash cow..... They are a sure way to double your investment...... To many they have become a commodity rather than a fine knife to collect and appreciate..... The same can be said about Northwood knives.... Probably 50% are purchased with an eye on making a buck rather than collecting.... Reminiscent of when the Hunt brothers cornered the silver market in the 1980's......

Double your investment may be a slight exaggeration. I bought mine to keep for a while, but if somebody offered me double what I paid for it, it'd be gone.
Your point is taken though.

 

[HEMI 49]

Double your investment may be a slight exaggeration. I bought mine to keep for a while, but if somebody offered me double what I paid for it, it'd be gone.
Your point is taken though.

No exaggeration..... There are many being sold for 2X purchase....... But the mods will kick us off this topic.... More discussion on good, bad and ugly thread.....

 

[Markeologist]

No exaggeration..... There are many being sold for 2X purchase....... But the mods will kick us off this topic.... More discussion on good, bad and ugly thread.....

Well hopefully some of the flippers who have jumped on the GEC/Mr. CC bandwagon will not quite see the return they expect. How many Black Jacks were made (Mr. CC may have to answer that in the near term)? I’ll stick with Mr. CC’s earlier SFOs...

 

[Jiki]

Well hopefully some of the flippers who have jumped on the GEC/Mr. CC bandwagon will not quite see the return they expect. How many Black Jacks were made (Mr. CC may have to answer that in the near term)? I’ll stick with Mr. CC’s earlier SFOs...View attachment 1262343

500

 

[Travman]

These look lovely but there sure are a bunch showing up on the exchange rather quickly.

The Waynorth Black Jack is a great knife. It has a greater pull strength and stronger snap than the other 86’s. I’m sure Charlie asks for this on his knives.

I’m not sure why so many popped up for sale so quickly. Possible reasons might be because:

• It is very heavy. It is all steel and is noticeably heavier than the other two-blade 86’s with brass pins and liners. I have noticed the increased weight of an all steel GEC when compared to a brass lined version before on smaller knives like the 15’s, but it didn’t really matter because of the relatively light weight of a smaller knife. On the big two blade 86 it makes much more of a difference. So this one may be just too heavy for some people.
  
• The shield is huge. This has to be the largest shield in proportion to the size of the knife of any GEC knife.
• It was a little more expensive than some anticipated, so they my feel the need to move it.

 

[jsdistin]

IMO as a carving knife? (For what it is intended) very useful. As an EDC? Meh, not so much.

Why? What makes it a very useful carving knife? I ask in all seriousness knowing you are quite good at it.

 

[Jiki]

Why? What makes it a very useful carving knife? I ask in all seriousness knowing you are quite good at it.

I use straight edged knives for my carving. The warncliff with it's pointed tip is good for getting into tight spots, although I do carve with sheepsfoot blades as well. With the 2½ inch blade on one it will be good for roughing out. Then for me at least a 1½ 1¼ inch blade on the other for detailed carving I would be very happy. The next thing which is difficult sometimes to find on folders is thin blade grinds. I have been told these will be .058 at the tang and with the need to fit three blades into the well they should end up very thin. At least that is what I prefer other people may like their own setup. I was out on the 62s with the pen blade however I will definitely get one of these.

 

[jsdistin]

I use straight edged knives for my carving. The warncliff with it's pointed tip is good for getting into tight spots, although I do carve with sheepsfoot blades as well. With the 2½ inch blade on one it will be good for roughing out. Then for me at least a 1½ 1¼ inch blade on the other for detailed carving I would be very happy. The next thing which is difficult sometimes to find on folders is thin blade grinds. I have been told these will be .058 at the tang and with the need to fit three blades into the well they should end up very thin. At least that is what I prefer other people may like their own setup. I was out on the 62s with the pen blade however I will definitely get one of these.

Thanks. I think it’ll be especially cool if the shield is stamped “pocket carver” like in the drawings, I kind of doubt it though since they’re both smooth.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Why? What makes it a very useful carving knife?

Most people will tell you it’s possible to carve with any knife, but the wharnecliffe shape has become most carver’s favorite. As Jiki said, it’s nice to have a thicker blade for strong cuts that don’t flex the blade, and smaller thinner blades that can make super fine shavings in tight spots. No one knife shape can do everything though, so for planning large flat surfaces it’s nice to have a curved blade that can make shallow concave cuts which are hard to make with straight blades.

that being said, a wharnecliffe or sheepsfoot is the work horse. For me this is two reasons:
1) cuts are predictable. The blade shape doesn’t change its angle the way a curved edge can through the cut. You can also have a better idea of where the point is in cuts where the tip is buried in the wood (ex. V cuts or chip carving).
2) the point is very accessible. There is no twisting of the wrist to use the tip for detailed work. This allows more comfortable and safer work, since contorting your hands in unnatural ways is asking for a slip.

a Whittler can do a lot with the knife GEC has planned. I’m just not sure I wouldn’t rather have a small wharnecliffe Nested between two larger blades: a wharnecliffe and a clip.

I’m also not a fan of the half moon pattern handle. Blades longer than the mid-point are harder to bury (or keep buried) in the well (compared to a cigar or other basic pickle shape). It’s my old complaint about the 2018 #44’s: the design gives an aging knife less of a fighting chance as the blades get smaller.

as far as a useful carver goes, take my trusty 2018 spear #15 and tack on the blade from my #06 wharnecliffe Pemberton as an opposite nail nick secondary and I think that’s be a very comfortable knife to handle for hours with two very useful blades.

 

[Jiki]

Like I said others may prefer a different setup, which is what makes it a great and fun hobby everyone can customize their tool set to their own preferences and strengths.

 

[Will Power]

500

That's a big run and should be enough to ensure most people who want to collect or use one get their fair chance Not a very promising Flipnumber so buyers should be calm.

 

[EngrSorenson]

Like I said others may prefer a different setup, which is what makes it a great and fun hobby everyone can customize their tool set to their own preferences and strengths.

no doubt- I just wonder, since you use other purpose built carving tools as well, if you don’t miss The need for a curved blade? Everyone’s different, but as a classic example, spoon carving requires some sort of hook knife or gouge or other creative solution.

do you fall in the “it’s good to have two identical blades for long whittling away from a strop” camp?

 

[Peregrin]

No exaggeration..... There are many being sold for 2X purchase....... But the mods will kick us off this topic.... More discussion on good, bad and ugly thread.....

We don't miss many posts! He's right ya know!

 

[Elgatodeacero]

2019 GEC production totals:

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019.pdf

 

[Jiki]

no doubt- I just wonder, since you use other purpose built carving tools as well, if you don’t miss The need for a curved blade? Everyone’s different, but as a classic example, spoon carving requires some sort of hook knife or gouge or other creative solution.

do you fall in the “it’s good to have two identical blades for long whittling away from a strop” camp?

I have tried carving with bellied blades and the advantage of straight blade to me is the force you can transfer to the tip without having to turn or bend your wrist.
I agree a purpose built tool like a spoon carving knife or a gouge is necessary when doing a spoon or bowl.
I mostly carve basswood so the blade do not dull as easy. As a matter of fact I have never put my carving knives on a stone, I just strop them very often. What I will do with this knife is put two different angles on the short blades one for harder wood one for softer.
You know most people have some sort of grail hard to find knife. For me my grail is to find the perfect carving pocket knife. That has been my goal for a couple of years now. Who knows this might be it.

 

[Matt_WY]

2019 GEC production totals:

http://greateasterncutlery.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2019.pdf

Always enjoy seeing the totals for the year. I expected a larger number of Blade Forum knives. Noticed a few missing off the top of my head, no micarta or ironwood #77s listed and no orange bone #29 for American Whittler.

 

[Mayonardo]

Although the upcoming Carver doesn’t interest me since I am not a woodcarver, I have to commend GEC for offering exceptional and unusual knives out of the main stream. If i were a bona fide collector I’d certainly scoop a few. Might even move me in the direction of carving some stuff. It’s all good. I’m certainly glad that GEC offers us such a wide variety of exceptionally well-made knives.

 

[black mamba]

GEC missed quite a few releases on their production totals:

Northfield 861219 Sambar Stag
Northfield 922219 Antique Goldenrod Camel Bone
Northfield 922219 Sambar Stag

Just among the ones I bought. If any of you GEC insiders can find these missing totals, please post them!

 

[HEMI 49]

The Waynorth Black Jack is a great knife. It has a greater pull strength and stronger snap than the other 86’s. I’m sure Charlie asks for this on his knives.

I’m not sure why so many popped up for sale so quickly. Possible reasons might be because:

• It is very heavy. It is all steel and is noticeably heavier than the other two-blade 86’s with brass pins and liners. I have noticed the increased weight of an all steel GEC when compared to a brass lined version before on smaller knives like the 15’s, but it didn’t really matter because of the relatively light weight of a smaller knife. On the big two blade 86 it makes much more of a difference. So this one may be just too heavy for some people.
  
• The shield is huge. This has to be the largest shield in proportion to the size of the knife of any GEC knife.
• It was a little more expensive than some anticipated, so they my feel the need to move it.

The topic of weight is often brought up.... So, for the good of the order, I got my handy dandy little scale out and checked my Oilfield 86's incl the CC SFO and the 2019 Forum Knife.... Below are my findings..... One point of clarification; Brass has a higher specific gravity than steel... So if all components are equally sized, the steel knife will weigh less than the one with brass.

JSR SFO 4.24 oz.
Barry SFO (2) 3.86 & 3.84 oz.
CC SFO 4.01 oz.
White Bone 4.29 oz.
Stag (2) 4.18 & 4.25 oz.
Micarta 4.01 oz.
Sucker Wood (2) 3.83 & 3.83 oz.
Oily Creek (2) 4.19 & 4.25 oz.
Acrylic 3.99 oz.
Jigged Bone 4.31 oz.
2019 Forum Knife 2.90 oz.