GREAT EASTERN CUTLERY Update
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 9:48 pm
Well gang I got a rare treat yesterday. I visited the new Great Eastern Cutlery Company in Titusville Pennsylvania. One of the owners (Bill Howard) gave me a couple of hours of his valuable time to explain to me about his goals and objectives in the cutlery business. Bill is a wonderful guy and VERY knowledgeable about cutlery construction and its history. After all, he worked for Queen for thirty years. His passion is the old time quality construction that knives use to have. His disappointment has been the desire of the big companies to forego the quality for that of price and marketing. His operation came into being in August of last year right in Titusville. The building he is now in is utterly fantastic for a cutlery operation. You can literally walk around the entire process and never bother worker. You will have a great view from start to finish. You will see this in the photo’s that I have attached to this post. CARBON steel and Stainless will be the primary components. Yes I told him you guys would really appreciate the carbon. No gluing on the shields and guess what, Bone, pearl, and stag handles. Some wood, but only of high quality production. He wants this to be the best.
Interestingly he is starting out with three names. Great Eastern, Tidioute Cutlery, and Northfield, two OLD names and then his own. He hopes to have some available within a few weeks. If you want to get one of the first 250 made of each name, you need to contact them ASAP. They are going fast. I found it interesting that some of the machines came from the Schrade factory. The buffers in particular came from that plant.
Bill is just like us when it comes to knives. He had some great old papers and related info for me to photograph for my book. Of course his Tidioute will be a welcome addition to the book it self. Many hand operations and of the highest quality. When you have a chance, I highly recommend you take a trip to the Mecca of knife making and visit this operation. User friendly and super nice people.
I did ask about them doing a knife for AAPK and he would be delighted. “That’s the kind of thing we enjoy most” knives for those that appreciate high quality products.
The back of the blades is stamp Titusville Iron works and the other secondary blades will have the year date on them. We talked about counterfeit and he was making sure to tell me and the rest of the world that he was not interested in that happening and wanted the knife to be recognized for its own merit and not that of the history behind the name. If you love the style of the old Remington folding hunters, YOU”LL love what he is producing first.
This was another great cutlery day for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and look forward to many fine knives from this location. I put my order it already and you guys know that I am not much for new knives. This will be a first for me.
Great Eastern, GREAT JOB
Interestingly he is starting out with three names. Great Eastern, Tidioute Cutlery, and Northfield, two OLD names and then his own. He hopes to have some available within a few weeks. If you want to get one of the first 250 made of each name, you need to contact them ASAP. They are going fast. I found it interesting that some of the machines came from the Schrade factory. The buffers in particular came from that plant.
Bill is just like us when it comes to knives. He had some great old papers and related info for me to photograph for my book. Of course his Tidioute will be a welcome addition to the book it self. Many hand operations and of the highest quality. When you have a chance, I highly recommend you take a trip to the Mecca of knife making and visit this operation. User friendly and super nice people.
I did ask about them doing a knife for AAPK and he would be delighted. “That’s the kind of thing we enjoy most” knives for those that appreciate high quality products.
The back of the blades is stamp Titusville Iron works and the other secondary blades will have the year date on them. We talked about counterfeit and he was making sure to tell me and the rest of the world that he was not interested in that happening and wanted the knife to be recognized for its own merit and not that of the history behind the name. If you love the style of the old Remington folding hunters, YOU”LL love what he is producing first.
This was another great cutlery day for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and look forward to many fine knives from this location. I put my order it already and you guys know that I am not much for new knives. This will be a first for me.
Great Eastern, GREAT JOB
....Thanks for the post & factory photos PA, they were great!!! 
