The lock and snap on my GEC #97 Allegheny

[Sheamo]

Hello all,

I recently bought a GEC #97 Allegheny pocket knife. I had heard that GEC made the snap close a little bit softer on this model with the reason being that is was a better suited and safer option for this size and style. My knife definitely has a softer close then any other GEC I have. My question is should the blade also be easier to begin to close when it is fully open? When then blade is opened on my knife it seems much easier to begin to close then my other knives. It's not a locking blade obviously but it doesn't have that final pop when it's opened and that more aggressive set in it's place feel that takes a little effort begin to close like with other slipjoints. Is this the way the GEC Allegheny is? Is a soft close the reason you should also expect and easy fold close due to something regarding the spring?

Thanks,

Shea

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Hello all,

I recently bought a GEC #97 Allegheny pocket knife. I had heard that GEC made the snap close a little bit softer on this model with the reason being that is was a better suited and safer option for this size and style. My knife definitely has a softer close then any other GEC I have. My question is should the blade also be easier to begin to close when it is fully open? When then blade is opened on my knife it seems much easier to begin to close then my other knives. It's not a locking blade obviously but it doesn't have that final pop when it's opened and that more aggressive set in it's place feel that takes a little effort begin to close like with other slipjoints. Is this the way the GEC Allegheny is? Is a soft close the reason you should also expect and easy fold close due to something regarding the spring?

Thanks,

Shea

Shea, I have had about 8 different 97’s and still have 3 or 4 and none have what you are describing. It almost sounds like there is some lint or dirt in the knife well. You might try flushing out the pivot area with water and then WD-40 and make sure there isn’t gunk in there. I have noticed that GEC doesn’t always clean the hafted material off the knife as well as they should. I have seen the ones with wooden handles have sawdust in the well. Some patterns are worse than others and some handle material is definitely worse, like wood.

[kootenay joe]

Your description of the effects of a too weak spring apply to many of the #97 pattern GEC knives. I had 3 of them. With 2 of them the spring is weaker than it should have been but it did hold the blade open well enough to make them safe to use. The one with yellow bone handles i returned to the dealer. The spring was so soft that the fully opened blade needed only a light touch to knock it off the fully open position.
To sum up: all 97's have too weak springs. None of them have the spring strength that this pattern has from every other maker. Some of the 97's have springs too weak to be used safely.
kj