big ole new trapper - great eastern

[jonet143]

just got one of each handle material. this one is the amber horse cut bone. #16 on the bolster. review to follow. the other one, with red diamond back bone is going back to the factory. spey blade is very rough on opening and will not snap open. i'm sure they will make it right. i would have thought better inspection and quality control would be in place this early in the manufacturing process.........

[SFC ADP]

Jonet,
I wrote my quick observations with the Amber Horse Cut, as that is the one I have at the moment. The opening was pretty tough the 1st couple times, and there are some places on the blade that doesnt look like it was polished or buffed enough... not sure.
Would like to have seen the shield set in more, as there is some gap between the shield and part of the deep horse cut pattern.

I do like the knife, and can see some great things from this company, but there is some room for improvement.

[Knifekid]

They will make it right...they were really scrambling to get the first run out the door. I was lucky, my first shipment was only 20 knives but all of them checked out quite well. All were tight and had great fit and finish, some had a better snap than others but overall, were very well constructed. I'm almost sold out and I think Bill Horn is as well. We're both calling them begging for more.

[W5RWU]

i would have thought better inspection and quality control would be in place this early in the manufacturing process.........

Thank you johnnie my thoughts exactly ! I also have one of each and i found the finish polish on the blades to be poor . The 2nd Blade on the amber bone knife i found it to be very dull!!
Kind of a disappointment
Randy

[jonet143]

hey randy, maybe a little more time so they can hone their skills. i sent one back to bill howard for repair or adjustment. not up to canal or queen yet. but made in the usa

[dewman]

Seeing all the off shore knives arrive here with such good quality control, I was hoping to see a new USA made knife company compete with them. I certainly had my hopes up and fully intended to buy at least a couple from the "new kid in town". But, like meeting people, first impressions mean a lot to me and from what I've read here, Great Eastern's first attempts leave a lot to be desired. You'd think the first batch they sent out would be the very best they could produce, wanting to make that "first impression" a good one. Poor fit and finish is unacceptable, regardless of the excuses....such as "they were in a hurry to get the first batch out" or any others that might pop up. Good is good, bad is bad. Simple as that.

For true knife affectionados, fit and finish is first and foremost and if Great Eastern wants to make a name for themselves, they need to back up and take a good long, hard look at their first attempt to elbow their way into the business.

Just my personal opinion mind you, and I'm very new to knife collecting, but my eyes and sense of touch are still quite good. True, I've yet to hold one of Great Eastern's product in my hands, so for now, I'll just have to go by what I read here.

[ea42]

Well I've got one of each and have to say I'm really imressed with these two knives. handles are beautiful and the fit is very tight. Good tight snap to the blades both open and closed, backsprings line up well with the blades in open podition, and liner, backspring scale fit is super tight. I really like them and will definitely buy others. My blades look fine, not a super flawless polish, can still see some very fine grind lines, but they're even and very faint, can only be seen when strong light is bounced off them. Was the intention to make a flawless finish on these blades? I haven't seen the factory specs on the finish. Nonetheless they're definitely keepers (at least these two are )

Eric

[jonet143]

this is the first production run of a new american knife company. model 23 pioneer. 4 1/2" closed. clip and spey. handfull o' knife. the bone handles are amber with "horese cut" jigging. nickle acorn shield is pinned to frame. i think a tad more inletting is needed but it's not too proud. jigging is comfortable and offers good purchase. all brass pins are spun and tight with no damage to the surrounding bone. edges of bone are hafted well and don't have that square look or feel. brass liners. center brass liner is full and blades are centered in their channels when closed. interior of brass liners are clean with no handle or shield pins protruding. nickle bolsters with 016 engraved on mark side. main blade is a clip with a banner etch with trade mark and their logo. etch is even and clear. reading the mark side tang:
GREAT EASTERN
CUTLERY
TITUSVILL, PA
stamp is deep and clear as is the pile side stamp, same blade:
CYCLOPS
STEEL WORKS

secondary blade is a spey. pile tang of spey has the same main stamp as the clip. mark side of spey on tang stamped:
2006
mark side of spey blade is well etched in a circle:
MODEL 23
1 OF
250
PIONEER

both blades walk and talk like one of sunbursts gators. tangs are square cut and on closing are flush with end of knife. you could crush pills with it. that tight. open blades are even out to tips and fit at springs good. blades are same width as springs. both blades are pretty sharp and evenly honed.
all in all a great new knife. i was real picky with this and gave it a lot of thought so, it is my opinion.

i look forward to more from this new company.

questions?

[knowtracks]

Thank You Johnnie for your complete review.
You obviously received better knives that I did.
First of all I'm confused about what I received, Great Eastern stated they were releasing 3, pattern #23 knives.Then 3 pattern #73 knives (same handles only smaller size)
1. A 1095 steel, Amber Bone Diamond Jig with a Tidioute tang stamp.
2. A 440c SS, Caramel Bone Horse Jig with a Great Eastern tang stamp.
3. A 1095 steel, Sambar Stag, with a Northfield tang stamp.

I don't know about the rest of you but I got 2, 440 SS knives with the Gr. Eastern tang stamp.

Now for the review, The acorn shield (which I like alot) on both knives is very proud, so bad it hangs up on pocket edge or wiping cloth. Sooner or later it will get ripped off.
The jigging on the red diamond bone scale is just awful, there are 5 diamonds on the front (shield) side & 7 on the back. The rest is all straight grooves & one big patch where the jigging tool went across side ways. The jigging on the Horse jig knife is much better. But there's a gap between the bone & the brass liner of about .015 to .020 on the front side near the bolster. On both knives there is dammage to the bone when the pins were put in. Little "starbursts" or explosions of the bone. (blowouts) One place they missed the pin & spun the scale.
Brass liner are clean inside on 1 knife & not on the other. Blades are centered (when closed) on 1 knife & not on the other. Blade rub on 1 knife.
Walk & talk is good on both knives, a little "grind" in the opening but that will go away with use. Both knives "lock up" very well when open & have a strong substantial feel for using.
This is a good "beefy" knife but I'm dissapointed in the fit & finish, the quality control & most of all the lack of the carbon steel blade.
As you can see I'm kinda picky too!

Dave

[singin46]

Johnnie, thanks for the info man, I know it has a few opening and closing issues but she sure is a beauty my friend.

Singin46

[johnnierotten]

I got in touch with them about a month a go,via email,asking if they would take a check..Dude wrote back saying a check would be fine..What he didn't say was,who to make it out to and the total amount...I wrote him back requesting this info and haven't got anything in return.I resent the email twice with no answer.

By the sound of it,maybe its better I wait for the second batch!!
They sure look good in the pics!!!

[Hukk]

I have to agree with knowtracks on this one and for some of this there is no excuse, new company or not. I can see that on both knives, it appears that the jigging was done after the scales were mounted, I can see matching divots in the bolster (checked with magnifying glass, it's not a reflection folks, the bolsters have been cut out, matches the jiging). Fit and finish are poor, on the Red Diamond the jigging appears incomplete. But the blades have walk and talk, close on center for both knives.

The horsecut is rather poorly done, jigging is better, but it has cuts in the bolster that match the jigging, worse on the front than the back. Bad grind marks on the front of the clip blade, especially on the tip, all other blades on both knives are far better. I can feel it easily with my fingernail.The spey blade has a severe grind when opening/closing that is not going to go away, all others are OK.

If I were to grade the fit/finish it would be:
Red Diamond C-
Horsecut F
I don't feel I'm being picky at all, I'm just describing whats there. I'll try to get some pictures later. IMO, Chinese Steel Warriors have better fit/finish than this, I'm really sorry to say that, but these are disappointing. I think anyone will feel the same.

[Hukk]

just got one of each handle material. this one is the amber horse cut bone. #16 on the bolster. review to follow. the other one, with red diamond back bone is going back to the factory. spey blade is very rough on opening and will not snap open. i'm sure they will make it right. i would have thought better inspection and quality control would be in place this early in the manufacturing process.........

If you click on the picture of johhnie's knife, you can see the small cuts in the bolster, as if the jigging was done with the scales attached. I have some that are more severe than that and some that are the same.

EDIT: The bolsters are actually dented in line with the jigging.

[jonet143]

i see these indentions on a lot of knives including case, shatt, etc. are they from hafting? i don't think they are jigged after instalation. while there are problems and i sent one back to the factory. i hope these problems are addressed so future runs are better. i'm willing to work with great eastern to produce an american knife we can be proud of.....or we can get pissed off and buy chinese.

[Hukk]

I'm willing to work with them also. I merely used your photo, because it was available and I have not taken any yet. But, what concerns me is these "dents" at the bolster go from not there to very deep on my 2 knives and I don't really know what causes that, but i would think it should be the same look on each knife, or at least the same on each side. I may send both back for repairs. 1 blade should never have been used on the horsecut and the other sticks like they did not use a shim when putting in the blade, that rough.

[jonet143]

my diamond cut was way beyond acceptance. the horse cut was much better, thiugh there are concerns. the jigging is incomplete at the rear of the knife. will go back when i get my other 23 back from the factory. the rush to get these knives out caused good intentions out the door and could harm future sales. quality control is the problem. someone said they were ready to sell......they were not. hopefully these problems will be addressed and corrected.