All About Pocket Knives

Just received my 97 Allegheny Sambar Stag this week from DLT Trading. It’s my new favorite, beautiful thick stag handles!

However, I did notice that one pinhole has a fracture through it. Anyone else have issues with this?

I emailed Chris Tucker at GEC and got this reply: "That is a natural crack in the stag, we have glued it so it should not go any farther."

They should sell these knives discounted as "factory seconds" since it is definitely from drilling the pin holes!

Guess you could return it to DLT and they could take it up with GEC.

True...just sucks

That one would be on the way back to the dealer -- should never have left the GEC factory -- that is a 2cd quality knife ""FOR SURE"" __

BAX229 wrote:Just received my 97 Allegheny Sambar Stag this week from DLT Trading. It’s my new favorite, beautiful thick stag handles!

However, I did notice that one pinhole has a fracture through it. Anyone else have issues with this?

I emailed Chris Tucker at GEC and got this reply: "That is a natural crack in the stag, we have glued it so it should not go any farther."

They should sell these knives discounted as "factory seconds" since it is definitely from drilling the pin holes!

ww3Rhr7 - Imgur.jpg

I agree, send it back. Just try to resell it yourself and see how people react to this crack, that should never have left the factory.
SSk

I agree that knife should go back. I find it hard to believe that GEC would actually ship such a knife. Did you send Chris Tucker a photo of the crack? I would consider even a hairline crack unacceptable in a knife that costs what a GEC costs. That crack would be unacceptable in a $12 China knife!

I can understand GEC wanting to salvage a fine bit of Sambar stag. But to sell it as first quality is shocking.

I'm going to disagree, if you look at that closely looks like natural cracking in the stag which I have seen in other stag knives including other ones not from GEC. Problem is more to how stag is fitted nowadays, instead of run bolster to bolster it is ground down at the bolsters and will expose cracks in the stag.

No matter the source of the crack...I agree with SSK...try to resell and see what happens to the value. With the level of quality in GEC, I think this should be a "second".

The very first GEC i bought, a stag 2006 #73, has a similar crack from front handle pin to bolster, but it is a beautiful knife with excellent stag so there was no way i was going to return it. It remains one of my most treasured GEC's. The pin crack does not detract from my enjoyment of this knife. And it will never create any functional problem.
If that was my GEC stag 97 and i liked the stag on it, i would be happy and keep it. I think we can sometimes become obsessed with minor details and thereby spoil our own enjoyment of a good knife.
I take issues of function, like no snap or blade hitting liner as it closes, etc. as being worthy of return. Minor cosmetic 'blemishes' i tend to accept as just part of life.
kj

kootenay joe wrote:The very first GEC i bought, a stag 2006 #73, has a similar crack from front handle pin to bolster, but it is a beautiful knife with excellent stag so there was no way i was going to return it. It remains one of my most treasured GEC's. The pin crack does not detract from my enjoyment of this knife. And it will never create any functional problem.
If that was my GEC stag 97 and i liked the stag on it, i would be happy and keep it. I think we can sometimes become obsessed with minor details and thereby spoil our own enjoyment of a good knife.
I take issues of function, like no snap or blade hitting liner as it closes, etc. as being worthy of return. Minor cosmetic 'blemishes' i tend to accept as just part of life.
kj

Well said...I plan to keep it.

Here are some examples I have in my collection, the crack in the Queen Farmers Jack is just below the pin, the GEC 25 follows a natural crack in the stag and almost goes pin to pin, and the other GEC has multiple cracks at the bolster. None of these knives do I consider having a fault and it's just what occurs in a natural handle material.

My ivory Whaler arrived with a 'serious' pin crack on the back side. Should i return it ?
kj

KJ:
That looks like an open crack.
I would return that knife, if that option was available to me.
Good luck and let us know the of the outcome.
Best,
Stephen

kootenay joe wrote:My ivory Whaler arrived with a 'serious' pin crack on the back side. Should i return it ?
kj

Yes.

royal0014 wrote:I don't buy safe queens, so I have a hard time understanding some people
being so durn nit picky about natural 'flaws' in natural materials.

It's the character Mother Nature put there. In my opinion, when you
attempt to manipulate what She created to satisfy your own desires,
you get what you get ......

Just my humble opinion. Light your torches, if you must ....

It's not the natural flaws we are talking about...It's the cracks from drilling the pin holes and passing them on at full price.
It must be a coincidence that so many of these "natural" cracks are at the pin holes!

Wow - that Whaler looks like a chip cold easily flake off. If it is a brand new knife then I would return it and hope to get a replacement. If it is something you have been wanting and not easily found, then maybe a repair would be the way to go.

I have very few GECs, none bone or stag. Maybe cracks are more common than I realized, but I would not be happy at all to find one on a brand new knife.

Drilling something rarely causes cracks, especially if drilled using a sharp drill bit. In fact the reason you drill in the first place is usually to prevent cracking during pin, nail, or screw placement. Not gonna say drilling never creates cracks - “never” is a pretty strong word. But preventing splitting/cracking is one of the main reasons for drilling in the first place.

We know cracks can develop with age. Stag, bone, wood, MOP, all natural materials and all can develop cracks. I tend to agree it probably should have been caught at the factory. But I’m also wondering if the scarcity of Sambar stag could be changing the criteria by which imperfections are deemed acceptable in current-day operations. What would have been culled in the old days may be acceptable today just because it’s more difficult to obtain the raw material.

Case has severely cut production of knives having MOP and stag covers, reportedly because they can’t obtain sufficient quantities of either material that meet their quality standards. That may be the future we face. Is cracked Sambar stag better than no Sambar stag?

Ken

Yes the crack in the ivory is serious because if it extends the chip of ivory will fall off. Returning the knife would just result in a refund. There is no replacement for this knife. I knew it had this crack when i bought it and this crack likely happened with the last tap of the brass hammer on the handle pin. It is a rare knife, one of five, so i am quite happy, actually very happy to own it just as it is. As long as i don't drop it, the crack will probably not extend based on my experience with antique ivory carvings with cracks that have not changed in my 70 years.
The crack in O.P. stag is different. I see it as stable and it will not result in a piece of stag falling off.
I would like to see a picture of entire O.P. knife, both sides. We have seen the crack, but what is the rest of the stag like ?
kj

kootenay joe wrote:Yes the crack in the ivory is serious because if it extends the chip of ivory will fall off. Returning the knife would just result in a refund. There is no replacement for this knife. I knew it had this crack when i bought it and this crack likely happened with the last tap of the brass hammer on the handle pin. It is a rare knife, one of five, so i am quite happy, actually very happy to own it just as it is. As long as i don't drop it, the crack will probably not extend based on my experience with antique ivory carvings with cracks that have not changed in my 70 years.
The crack in O.P. stag is different. I see it as stable and it will not result in a piece of stag falling off.
I would like to see a picture of entire O.P. knife, both sides. We have seen the crack, but what is the rest of the stag like ?
kj

Like I stated in the original post, the rest of this knife is perfect. Beautiful thick stag with a palm swell...except for a fracture at the pin hole (natural or not)

I now realize how common this is and decided to keep and use it, like all my knives. Sorry for sounding petty.

Everyone has there own limits when it come to what is acceptable. Any crack that runs to or through a pin is a flaw in my book and hard to argue as a natural flaw as far as I'm concerned. Given that I won't pay first quality price for a knife that has such a crack. I would not be happy with the OP knife or the explanation given for the crack.

kootenay joe wrote:My ivory Whaler arrived with a 'serious' pin crack on the back side. Should i return it ?
kj

I wouldn't sneeze too hard around it.
That piece might fall off.

kootenay joe wrote:My ivory Whaler arrived with a 'serious' pin crack on the back side. Should i return it ?
kj

Roland, Yes, I would return it. I know that had to cost a pretty penny and I would be heartbroken to spend as much as you had to spend on that and have it arrive w/ that crack in it. It really isn’t about functionality or being nit picky, I understand how hard it is to set those pins and not crack the material or there might be natural cracks like that in the material. In the case of that ivory knife, that isn’t a naturally occurring crack, that’s from the pin cracking the ivory. It is up to the craftsman to replace that when this happens.
If you hired someone to replace a window and they cracked it putting it in, what would you do? If I send my car to a body shop and it comes back w/ flaws in the paint, you can bet I’m taking it back to have it corrected at his expense. By the way, that happened to me and that’s what the body shop owner did. However I will not use his shop anymore because he returned the car to me w/ flaws and he knew it, he just hoped I wouldn’t notice or complain.
Sorry to be such a hard ass about it, but quality and reputation matter to me, whether it’s a service or a product or both.
Mark

I find it wrong for any person from a business to give this answer: "That is a natural crack in the stag, we have glued it so it should not go any farther."
Did they glue it before they fitted to the knife or poured glue on afterwards.
Why would you send a knife out knowing it had a defect.

Does GEC think that their knives have a good resale value they can just pass of any knife ?

Or is their quality control slipping and instead of offering a repair make a excuse ?

I have a few GEC knives and I am happy with them.


Grant