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The 2012 iKC Community Knife Gepetto Whittler
Allright, now before I get into the actual writing of this review. Please keep in mind that I'll try to hit ALL the points that I feel are wrong/right with this knife. This may feel like I'm nitpicking. And to be honest...that's exactly what I'm doing.
On the other hand. Not everything weighs as heavily as it might feel when you're reading the points. Please keep on reading to the end to see how I end up feeling about those points.
But for now: Little Gepetto
Materials:
- Blades: 1095
- Bolsters/liners: Brass
- Springs: Steel
- Scales: Pioneer Jigged Bone (if I remember right)
This is pretty much what I'd expect from a slipjoint. 1095 is a very good steel. However care should be taken when dealing with moisture and such since it's not very corrosion resistant. It's easily sharpened though and will take a KILLER edge with a little effort.
Brass seems to be the standard for production type slipjoints when it comes to bolsters and liners. Same with jigged Bone. The bone on the GEC is somewhat unique though and does make it stand out somewhat. All in all, standard slipjoint materials. Nothing special, but at the same time nothing bad.
Sizes
The gepetto whittler is a short and stout knife. At 3,5 inches it's rather short and fat. The main blade is around 2 1/4" inches. The funny thing is that this makes it quite sturdy (because it's pretty wide) and yet very pocketable. It's what is often referred to in the knife world as a "little big blade" meaning it's small in measurements but could be quite large in the tasks that are done with it. In size it's a perfect addition to a larger folding knife or fixed blade. But in a lighter setting (office/social function) would work quite well on it's own as well.
Build Quality
This is where most of (and my only real) critisism seems to be about on this knife. This knife was made by Great Eastern Cutlery under their Northfield label. Now their northfield label is the high end one. In this case that can be seen in the polished blades and the pinched bolsters as well as the etch on the blade offcourse where the name is in the logo.
So what do we look for in a perfect knife: Simple, no gaps, no scratches, good pressure by the backspring resulting in a smooth opening (also known as "walk") of the knife (or with half stops) a solid half stop and a good resounding SNAP on closing (known as "talk" to afficionados). So how did we do on all that?
Walk, not great. A little gritty. Not very smooth. Good pressure though. Can be easily opened but not too easily. And the talk was pretty good as well. Closing the wharncliffe blade results in a solid SNAP. The grittyness however was a little disappointing. A little of my favourite knife lubrican fixed it easily enough though I kind of feel that it shouldn't be needed.
Gaps, none apart from the short gap near the main blade that's cause by the split backsping coming together there. No room between bolsters and scales and good even liners/backsprings.
Scratches, very disappointingly there seems to be something called "blade rub". Which is where the blades (or the blades and liners) rub together causing scratches. In this case it's the secondairy blades that rub on the main blade causing fairly deep scratches. These were already there the first time I opened my knife. I don't know whether this is true on all examples of this knife or if I got a "lemon" but it should've have happened on GEC's flagship label.
About half an inch from the tip AND about half an inch from where the swedge starts you can see these rubbing marks.
Like I said, a little disappointing. In a knife at a lower pricepoint and under their other labels (like previous year's iKC knife's Tidioute) I might have found this acceptable. In this one though....I'd feel bad if I were the producer of this piece.
Sharpness
1) Initial Sharpness
Initial sharpness was decent. Nothing to write home about. But coupled with the thing blades on a knife like this it should handle just about any task with relative ease.
2) Sharpenability
Very easy steel to get to screaming sharp. Personally I use a DMT aligner set for sharpening and the main blade only took me a couple of minutes to get to shaving sharp. Very good steel for thos who don't feel like taking a lot of time to sharpen a knife.
3) Edge retention.
So far so good. It looses the bleeding sharp edge fairly fast. But stays very sharp for a relatively long time. The plus side of a steel like this is that with something like a loaded leather strop or even a plain leather strop you can get that shaving sharp edge back in no time at all.
Comfort
The size of this knife makes it very comfortable to keep in a watch pocket for a pair of jeans. Even the bottom pocket on a pair of slacks will work fairly well since there isn't all that much weight in the knife.
Working with it will work fairly well on lighter duty tasks. If you need to put a lot of force on it when gripping it heavily though the secondairy blades (or the primairy if you're using the smaller blades) will not feel great in the hand and will cause hotspots and eventually blisters. This is why I said earlier that this knife would be great for a backup or lighter carry but not for a camping knife or heavy duty cutter.
Design
An old pattern made for carving (whittling) wood with. What can be said...you either like it or you don't. The combination of brass with polished steel and bone handles always appeals to me. So I quite like the design.
Price
Like I said, this is the flagship line for GEC. This knife came in at around $130, to which for me another $10 or so were added for shipping, and another $40 for import taxes and duty. I understand that those lasts costs are at my own risk. But it DOES raise the price above what's reasonable for me. basically this knife is too expensive for what it is in my eyes. And when looking at the blade rub and the scratches that are caused by that, and the gritty opening of the knife...that's just unacceptable. If living in the US perhaps and not paying extra for shipping and for import duties and such. Then the normal price is very reasonable (if the flaws aren't there). But for me as a person living in Europe and with the flaws....it's just not worth the cost.
Conclusion
A lovely little knife. At an overinflated price. I love the size, the materials and the design. But the fit and finish as well as the price are just disappointing. I was expecting a knife close to perfect from GEC at this price. Much as the Pearl Powderhown I owned for a while. (And that was a EDC or "second quality"). But the flaws in it combined with the cost of importing it into Europe make this my last GEC for a while I think.
Some of you may wonder "why don't you send it back?"
The answer is "because it's not worth it". If I ship it back I'll have to pay for postage as well (most likely) for duties and taxes that it will incur importing it into the Netherlands for a second time. I like the little knife....but it's not worth it spending another $30 or so on it just to get the scratches removed. Basically....I'm done with it. I'll carry it and enjoy it for what it is...a lesson learned.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on
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Thanks Alexander, it is a good knife. And many things to enjoy with it. I think you were fair in your assessment and as a reviewer it is required.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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Alexander,
That is a good review and I agree that you were fair in the assesment of the knife you received. Some lessons learned for myself and what we offer going forward but I will share those thoughts at another time
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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on
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Great review Alex.
I thought I was the only one who experienced the "gritty" walk of the main blade. But the main blade on my knife also has no opening snap and a weak closing snap.
But I only experienced this with the club knife. My Gambler and Josh's Traveling Maverick are excellent in both of the aforementioned categories. It may just be an issue with the builders of the Club knife job order..
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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on -
Good review! Very thorough!
Well I'd hate to say it, but, as much as I like my GECs, and let me be clear, I WILL buy more, three quarters of my GECs are "gritty"! My Case, Queen, RR, etc. are not! Why can't GEC get that right? Also I find that "double end" knives are a bit of a problem for them. My Conductors have scratches where the main blade hits the tang of the pen blade. And my White Owl main blade is actually "wedged" between the pen tang and liner when closed.
I'm not trying to pile on, just being honest. I also read on other forums that many collectors are finding that GEC is not "perfect".....but what is. Are they worth a premium price? Maybe. To some. And like I say I WILL buy more sometime. I've had to send several back right after receiving them for repairs. Sooo, like you Alexexander, I'm taking a break from buying GECs.
And the question must be asked....are GECs worth that much more than Queen or Case? Are they THAT much better? Some say yes. With the Queen and Case I just bought, I'm not so sure.
But I do like GEC, and I haven't given up on them. Just having a temporary seperation. I really wish they'd straighten out their niggly stuff, and drop their prices a bit........and bring out a Peanut.
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on
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Well that's pretty much it. Thing is for me.....for that amount of money I can almost get one of A.G. Russell's premium slipjoints. Yeah they're not made in the US but that has never bothered me.
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Looking forward to your thoughts on it all Jan.
Jan Carter said:Alexander,
That is a good review and I agree that you were fair in the assesment of the knife you received. Some lessons learned for myself and what we offer going forward but I will share those thoughts at another time
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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on -
Well Alex, I have just gone over my 2012 IKC, GEC club knife and I have found none of the imperfections, you spoke of. I don't doubt that the one you have is not as good as expected but I don't believe the majority of these knives have all the problems you mentioned. I am sure that with the amount of knives, Mr. A.G. has made in factories all over the planet, there is some that don't measure up. When a person gives a review on a particular knife and finds it of less quality than expected, I don't think you should degrade the whole brand. I think you will find that some of the brands, you are boasting about, have far more complaints, than GEC. Thanks for your time, to enter a review, all though, I disagree.
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Robert, you misunderstand. I'm not degrading the whole brand at all. I'm merely adjusting my expectations. If flaws like this would have happened to one of A.G.'s knives he'd be falling over himself to try and make it right. But yes, he'd be the first to admit that something COULD slip through the cracks.
On the other hand I'm not the only one that has flaws like this on his iKC knife. Doesn't mean that they all do. Just that at least 2 (mine and Ivars') had serious flaws and I've heard mentioned from other people that they are imperfect but that they don't mind.
Also, like I said, the only reason it's not worth it shipping it back and letting them fix it for me is the prohibitive transport costs since I live outside of the US. That's not their fault and I don't think they're responsible for that. But it IS a fact for me that I need to take into consideration. Sending it back and paying VAT and import duties over it once again woul probably drive the cost of the knife up another $30 or so driving it up to nearly $200 for me. That's just insane......if I were not living outside of the US then I probably would just shrug and say "meh, it's probably just a lemon I'll send it back for them to fix". But living abroad means I have to take this into account for future purchases.
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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on
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Great review Alexander. Its a pity about the blade rub but I think that is an occupational hazard of Whittlers and Stockmans. Anytime you have opposing blades, it seems you get the blade rub. I know they put the split backspring in a lot of whittlers but still you get the blade rub.
As for the gritty blade. This might be an inherent problem with the knife. I had a similar problem with a Bear & Son knife. When I complained to them they said it was because the knife was made used an old Camilluis tool set using "Pancake Tooling" instead of "Progressive Tooling". They told me the blades need to work in. Its been about six months or so now and they are correct, the grittiness is going away. (Of course six months of opening and closing is also going to do wonders for the blade rub line!)
Anyway not making excuses for GEC, They can defend themselves, Just giving some thoughts on why these problems are there. It never ceases to amaze me that Victorinox can put 12 blades in a knife and have zero blade rub but some American patterns have inherent blade rub with just two!
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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on -
You know you're right Alex, I bought a knife from England the other day and the shipping cost more than the knife. I'm not defending GEC or USA made knives. I just believe, that there is gonna be some flaws in anything man made. Just because a knife is made in a certain country, doesn't make it good or bad. Stop and think of your own country [Whatever] is everything there made great? Is everything made flawed? No, of course not. It's a shame about the shipping cost and that a flawed knife was sent to ya'll. Quality control, is something that has brought down great companies. I am sure everyone is learning, a little something with your review, GEC too. Thanks again, Alex, for a truthful review, not a "White Wash".
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I'm curious is the grinding could be due to heat treating. I say this because I know at one time Camillus would apply different heat treatments to the spine and tang of its folding blades, making them much softer than the cutting edge. (from what I recall the cutting edge was in the 54-56 HRC whereas the tanf and spine were in the 47-49 HRC range. They did this to reduce the chance of the blade breaking while providing a good cutting edge. I'm sure this was done by many other knife makers as well. I think the softer tang would grind less than a harder tang and break in more quickly. I wonder if knife companies are still doing this with small folder.
Another possible reason for the grinding could be the tang wasn't polished as well as it should have been.
Anyone else have thoughts on why a blade would grind?
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