Great eastern cutlery

[flynbulldog]

flynbulldog your take on Chinese knives is not accurate. Yes there are very low end poorly made novelty type knives coming out of China, but there are also a great many exceptionally well made Chinese knives. If you know A.G. Russell knives many of his best folders are made in China and the fit and finish exceeds all other production knives, anywhere, worldwide. HanWei is one manufacturer that makes exquisite folding knives and they have their own proprietory steels (HS-1 & HS-2). Even at the 'low' end like Rough Rider knives, the F&F is very good and very rarely does a RR knife have any significant 'issues'. I fully field dressed a whitetail with an RR Trapper and it did the slickest job ever, better than my FB customs costing 10-25 times as much, and was still shaving sharp when done. It is not crap steel. On the more tactical side, SanRenMu makes folders as low priced as $10 that are well made, strong, sharp and hold up like a Sebenza.
If you have never experienced this for yourself it seems impossible, defies all logic. Well it does defy all logic but it is possible because great Chinese knives for as low as $10 exist and are Great. I do not see them as having much collector value but are fun to own and are top notch users.
kj

KJ sorry about that, I did not mean to imply that anything made in China is crap. I just meant that crap that is built purely for profit is not meaningful to me. But I think you may have missed the point here, I know that cheap tools can work and be perfectly useful but they do not touch my soul - and that is what collecting knives does for me and means to me. I actually received a give-away Chinese knife with one of my US knives and I was quite impressed with it. But for some reason I just cant bring myself to enjoy or cherish a knife made in china no matter how good it is... Maybe that will change with time

[flynbulldog]

I think we have a pretty good list (If not 100% accurate) of GEC brands
Anyone care to add to it? or maybe start a list of knives made by Queen?

If you're talking about the list I posted, that list is Queen, not GEC.

To me Queen is a conundrum. The knives Queen makes for other stamps feel different to me than do the ones they make for their own brand. I can't put my finger on it but they just "feel" like a better made knife and a more attractive pattern. Kind of like the girl in class that was a little bit better than average looking. The girl you wanted to date vs the gal that wasn't ugly or even homely but just plain looking, didn't stand out and blended into the background. Crazy, eh?

Oh shoot, I guess I didn't reread before I posted Thanks for the correction and sorry for my mistake.
It is surprising to me that the same factory can put out knives that have such a different feel. To me the Schatt & Morgan and the Queen that I just bought do have the same essence so I'm not personally sensing that difference so far with the knives I have.


OK how about a list of knives made by GEC? Here's what I know right now, I'm sure you guys can add to this list:
Great eastern
Northwoods
Northfield UnXled
Tidioute

[big monk]

This will give you a few ""HOURS"" of good reading ( with photos* ) - and as you learn about GEC;s - please up-date this list ( I done got too old to fool with it !!!! ) _______have fun,Monk !!!!!

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 56&t=26974

[flynbulldog]

This will give you a few ""HOURS"" of good reading ( with photos* ) - and as you learn about GEC;s - please up-date this list ( I done got too old to fool with it !!!! ) _______have fun,Monk !!!!!

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 56&t=26974

That's perfect! Thats the info that I was looking for and probably means I have no need to repeat it here - people can just go to that thread.
Thanks very much for posting that big monk . I'll probably record some of it for my own files as a reference.

[kootenay joe]

fly, it's interesting to read that you received a China knife as a gift with a USA knife you were buying. That is what started me on China made knives. I bought a never used Small Sebenza and the seller included a new SanRenMu 710 as a gift. The 710 is framelock and sized similar to the Small Sebenza and sold for about $10.
I decided to reserve the Sebbie for 'special occasions' and began to carry/use the SRM. It turned out to be so amazingly good that i sold the Small Sebenza and my full sized Sebenza as well. That was about 7 years ago. I still have & use the SRM 710 and i don't miss the Sebenzas one bit.
kj

[flynbulldog]

KJ here's a pic of the gift knife. Its a Trapper Jack with a 3d Shield (probably molded plastic) That Says: "OVB our very best". On the tang is a stamp that is both fine and even that reads: HSB Hibbard Spencer Bartlet Chicago, IL On the opposite side is a very light almost hard to see computer dot stamped "CHINA". The blades are razor sharp, the walk is very smooth and the talk is a crisp and solid click! - better than most of my $200 knives built in the US. The bolsters are grooved and look to be solid brass or perhaps another metal but they are not stamped There are no gaps or irregularities between the springs and liners and the knife has a solid feel of quality. The handles look like plastic but they are pinned and the finish is smooth and glossy. (Im not a fan of man-made handle materials - even on the vintage knives) Over all its a really good knife that should last somebody a lifetime - and it was a giveaway
But I don't carry it or use it. It sits with my other every-day knives and I just don't have a desire to tote it around or use it.