Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

GEC specializes in highly collectable and premium quality usable pocket knives. The company's USA manufactured knives have quickly proven to be a big hit with both collectors and users who seek quality American craftsmanship.
kootenay joe
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Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

The GEC website section "About Our Brands" states: "our Great Eastern Cutlery line of knives with blades and springs made of stainless steel." These have 440C steel and an acorn shield.
I have quite a few GEC knives but they are Northfield & Tidioute brands. I don't see any of the Great Eastern Cutlery 440C knives being produced or sold.
Do you know if any 440C knives were made in last 1-2 years ? And if so, which patterns ?
If you own any stainless GEC knives how about posting pictures in this thread. These knives are seriously under represented in this forum.
kj
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Railsplitter
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Railsplitter »

I don't own any currently but I have owned a couple #53 Stockmen and #25's in 440C. They are usually (but not always) identified by the Acorn shield.

GEC currently has one on the production line right now. The #99 Wall street.
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XX Case XX
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by XX Case XX »

745116. I have one.

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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by robbobus »

I sprnt some time with my micarta 15 Navy knife last evening. I also have a large 53 muscrat in elk and 440c. GEC does not use 440 often as the carbides wear out their machinery faster. By ll accounts, their stainless make excellent users.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks for your posts. Too bad the stainless # 99 in production now has a Wharncliffe blade which despite it's attractiveness, is not as useful as a clip or spear point.
I'd like to find a 440C GEC with a clip blade as first choice and spear point as my second choice.
I would like to see GEC make more 440C knives. It is a very good knife steel and sensible as an EDC as moisture will not adversely affect it. If the 440C steel wears out the grinding belts faster than 1095, then charge more for these knives. We who want a stainless GEC will pay the higher price.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by SteelMyHeart85420 »

I'm curious as to what a clip or spearpoint blade will do that a Wharncliffe would not, or even just more efficiently ::shrug::
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Clip and spear point have a 'belly' to the cutting edge. If you do any hunting (birds or mammals) some belly is needed to field dress, skin and to de-bone.
A Wharncliffe with straight edge works well for scoring cardboard etc. and is o.k. for slicing veges but not as good as a blade with some curve (belly).
The Warncliffe is popular because it looks good. Most people who use a knife for outside work (farmer, logger, back country hiker, etc.) carry a blade with some degree of curve to the edge.
I don't whittle but perhaps a Warncliffe works well for whittling ?
I think the Warncliffe appeals more to urban dwellers than to those who live on a piece of land which means they always have some outdoors work on their 'To Do' list.
kj
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Tsar Bomba »

I don't think it's quite that cut-and-dried as evidenced by the sheer popularity of the lambsfoot profile across the pond in a country that was notorious for its open stretches in the 1800s and 1900s. ::shrug::

I'm personally of the opinion "why not both" and one of my favorite knife patterns is the trapper with Wharncliffe secondary. I'm also a big fan of the Hawbaker muskrat, or any other knife with a full-sized clip AND Wharnie.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Tsar Bomba »

I don't think it's quite that cut-and-dried as evidenced by the sheer popularity of the lambsfoot profile across the pond in a country that was notorious for its open stretches in the 1800s and 1900s. ::shrug::

I'm personally of the opinion "why not both" and one of my favorite knife patterns is the trapper with Wharncliffe secondary. I'm also a big fan of the Hawbaker muskrat, or any other knife with a full-sized clip AND Wharnie.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by WoodManGM »

Tsar Bomba wrote:I don't think it's quite that cut-and-dried as evidenced by the sheer popularity of the lambsfoot profile across the pond in a country that was notorious for its open stretches in the 1800s and 1900s. ::shrug::

I'm personally of the opinion "why not both" and one of my favorite knife patterns is the trapper with Wharncliffe secondary. I'm also a big fan of the Hawbaker muskrat, or any other knife with a full-sized clip AND Wharnie.
Exactly! A perfect example is the two-blade #48 from the '17 run.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Tsar Bomba »

WoodManGM wrote:Exactly! A perfect example is the two-blade #48 from the '17 run.
Got THAT right. ::handshake::
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m0nk
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by m0nk »

I agree with Roland that I'd like to see more GEC stainless blades. Why not put stainless blades in their F&F work knives? Then it would be a much more durable, harder working knife. These nice bone handle knives can be put to work for sure, but I for one wouldn't want to carry such a nice and expensive knife when I'm actually working. In my part of Texas, outdoor work means buckets of sweat and sandy grit covering everything. Not to mention sawdust or concrete dust if I'm building something. When I'm working on my little piece of Texas, I'm always carrying a stainless steel knife with a synthetic handle, certainly not bone or high carbon steel. Even if money were no object, if you were to lose or wear out or ruin a nice GEC knife, you couldn't just go buy another one because a year or so after they're released they're all sold out, and often much sooner than that.

For work, I carry a Colonial E-4 Coping knife on my belt, and depending on what I'm doing, also a short Buck fixed blade for quick draw. The Buck is a drop point and the Colonial is a sheepsfoot blade. Both of these work knifes are inexpensive, high quality, and in regular production in US factories. Oh, and I'm not a hunter so I don't have to worry about skinning, but in a pinch the Buck drop point would certainly do.

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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Monk what you say applies to more than hot dusty Texas. Rust on your knife is a big problem for all who live near a coast line and that's a lot of people.
Somewhere and somehow stainless steel got a bad rap by being called 'inferior' to non stainless. This has not been so for a long time but the myth lives on and GEC collectors want the non stainless steel knives. I bet most GEC buyers never use a GEC knife. If they did then the experience that M0nk describes would have them interested in the stainless steel GEC knives.
I have never seen a good comparison test of 1095 vs. 440C, for ease of sharpening and how long a sharp edge is maintained with use. One problem is that heat treatment is very important in how a blade steel will function and each knife manufacturer has there own specs for heat treatment.
A test comparing GEC 1095 with GEC 440C would answer the question of which is the superior cutting steel. My bet is the results would be similar, i.e.not much difference in performance. But, it is a guess until someone with good knife skills does the testing.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Wharnecilff »

M0nk..I agree 100 per cent with you on the stainless steel. The #35 Calf Pen is a great pattern and very robust EXCEPT for that 1095 blade which will rust unless cared for properly. If GEC was making knives for Mass consumption, they would be making them in stainless I'm sure. But GEC is making knives primarily intended to be collectibles..kind of like the Franklin mint of pocket knives ...they are great knives but produced for collectors not the average Joe. I would think they could easily sell anything they produce in stainless. I think I read a post from an aapk member that said machining stainless wears out the equipment faster than carbon steel..dunna about that...jst know I would prefer stainless and usually opt for CASE for that reason...when I want a knife I can use without having to baby it...just my two cents worth
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Some of collector demand for 1095 over stainless is a hang-over from a much earlier time. Stainless began to be used in pocket knives in the 1920's. Improvements in stainless composition have been continuously made right to the present. The early stainless was harder to sharpen so people used to a 1095 type steel which does sharpen easily, did not like or buy knives with stainless blades. Thus began the 'anti-stainless' movement and it continues to pick up new recruits, mostly people just getting into knife collecting.
Most of today's higher end stainless steels out perform 1095 in edge holding and are not difficult to sharpen.
If GEC made more knives with stainless steel, more people would get a chance to buy and use one, and prejudice against stainless would decrease.
kj
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by TwoFlowersLuggage »

I think the "carbon steel is superior" thinking is primarily found in the traditional slipjoint collectors. Modern tactical collectors go for the latest & greatest "super steels" - M390, ZDP-189, S110V, etc. I suspect it is just two different philosophies: 1) a steel that is easy to sharpen, so you sharpen it often and keep it razor sharp; or 2) a steel that holds an edge for a really long time so that you don't have to sharpen it often to keep it razor sharp.

I think the majority of top-tier traditional slipjoint knives are made for collectors, not users. They want a "traditional" to be, well, traditional! :lol:
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Quote: "They want a "traditional" to be, well, traditional!"
Me too. But since stainless steel has been used for pocket knife blades for almost 100 years now, i consider it traditional.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by TwoFlowersLuggage »

kootenay joe wrote:Quote: "They want a "traditional" to be, well, traditional!"
Me too. But since stainless steel has been used for pocket knife blades for almost 100 years now, i consider it traditional.
kj
I agree with you! I don't really understand the people that make a big deal out of how sharp you can get Carbon steel compared to a decent heat-treated stainless like 440C. I've never had any trouble getting stainless plenty sharp enough for anything I need to do (which isn't much!), and stainless is a heck of a lot easier to live with.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

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Life is far too short to carry a bad knife.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

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Carry this 42 every day for several years
Life is far too short to carry a bad knife.
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Mumbleypeg »

As someone who has carried and used knives in hot sweaty Texas for over 60 years (frequently out-of-doors working on a ranch) I'm finding this esoteric discussion on the merits of stainless versus carbon steel entertaining and amusing.

During the summer months (In Texas that's at least May through September) I frequently come to the house in the evening with clothes soaked through with sweat, and undress on the back porch - luckily there's no neighbors within over a mile in that direction. ::facepalm:: Everything I own is wet with sweat. When my wallet dries it has salt powder on it. My knife preference is good quality, properly tempered carbon steel. In my experience a knife that is carried and used regularly and given even modest care will rarely if ever rust.

Not trying to be contrary or talk anyone out of anything - buy and carry what you like and can afford. Or can talk yourself into. :lol: ::handshake::

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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

Ken i know what it is like to come in and clothes are dripping wet and hard to peel off, and i live way North of Texas. So i know your knife gets soaked even if in a belt sheath. Do you apply a light coat of oil every 2-3 days ? (to the knife that is) And wipe with a dry cloth when you come in for the day ?
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Mumbleypeg »

kootenay joe wrote:Ken i know what it is like to come in and clothes are dripping wet and hard to peel off, and i live way North of Texas. So i know your knife gets soaked even if in a belt sheath. Do you apply a light coat of oil every 2-3 days ? (to the knife that is) And wipe with a dry cloth when you come in for the day ?
kj
Nothing that intense. When I think about it, which is probably every couple of weeks, I typically just wipe them down with a cloth saturated with Tuf-Glide. The exception is, if they're really dirty (sand, dirt, grease, blood or ?) I'll flush them out, re-apply Tuf-Glide, and very lightly oil the joints. Otherwise they just dry out overnight with whatever is on them.

I avoid excessive oil and grease - in my experience "dirt" adheres to it, which in turn holds moisture. One reason I like Tuf-Glide is that it dries and leaves its protective coating on and adhering to the metal, so there's nothing there to hold dirt on the metal or in the joints. You can't see the Tuf-Glide on the metal but the results tell you it's there. Once a month or so I gather up all my EDCs, clean as needed (pocket lint, dirt and so forth), touch up the blades as needed, lightly oil the joints and then wipe everything down with the Tuf-Glide cloth.

Probably more than you wanted to know, and off topic for this thread. It amounts to what I consider responsible routine maintenance of frequently used tools. I'd do the same whether carbon or stainless blades.

Ken
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by kootenay joe »

I think it is on topic. I have Tuf Glide cloths stored in the plastic bag. They have been used ++. Do they just keep on working ? or do you replace them every few years ?
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Re: Great Eastern Cutlery Brand

Post by Mumbleypeg »

kootenay joe wrote:I think it is on topic. I have Tuf Glide cloths stored in the plastic bag. They have been used ++. Do they just keep on working ? or do you replace them every few years ?
kj
Until or unless the cloths become worn out you can continue using them. I have never worn one out yet. Effectiveness can be replenished simply by pouring some of the liquid Tuf-Glide into the cloth and re-sealing the cloth in the bag. I buy Tuf-Glide and pour it into a spray bottle, then just spray it onto the cloth, fold the cloth and re-seal it in its bag. You can buy Tuf-Glide in a spray bottle - I bought one several years ago and have been refilling it. A bottle lasts a long time. I use it on anything and everything metal - firearms, fishing tackle, tools and so on, to preserve them and prevent rust from fingerprints, condensation and other moisture.

Ken
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If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.

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