....and I'm relatively new to the knife collecting thing, but I've been a cabinet maker for many years and I ALWAYS look at almost everything that's hand crafted with an extremely critical eye. I usually look for what's wrong with something LONG before I look at what's right with it.
This is not, in my estimation a personality flaw, it's the fact that I expect a "hand made" item to be damn near flawless, and I personally will not tolerate any product going out of my shop that will in any way cast a bad reflection on my craftsmanship or my personal attention to detail.
Which brings me to the main topic of this post. I've read every single post concerning the "new" Great Eastern knife company and I must say, I'm not impressed with their product thus far. Their quality control leaves one heck of a lot to be desired. If I were in charge of the company, nothing like what I've seen and heard would have taken place. Not once. I don't care if I had to personally sit on a stool and examine each and every knife coming down the belt, if my name were associated with the knives and I expected my future livelyhood to depend on the "first impression" they made on the knife community, I'd do it. End of story.
Now, I know I'll probably get lots of flack as a result of this post. That's fine. I'm a big boy and I can handle it. But, there aren't many gray areas in life for me. It's either on or off, black or white, in or out, yes or no....and GOOD OR BAD. So far, it would seem as if Great Eastern is in a very gray area.
Dewman
O.K. I realize I'm the new kid on the block here....
O.K. I realize I'm the new kid on the block here....
"This ain't Dodge City....and you ain't Bill Hickock!"
Hi Dewman,
I don't think you will get much flack from this group. Your comments are perfectly warrented and you have a right to be unimpressed. I was quite dissapointed in some of the stuff I was seeing in the beginning and it worried me.
I was especially disheartened because of the loss of Schrade, Camillus, and the shrinking options available to US manufactured knife buyers
I want this company to succeed very badly.
I think a lot of us are proud to see them give it a go at providing a knife with the quality we are after. A bit of constructive critisism does no harm in my opinion and I hope they take all that is said and use it to consistantly improve their product.
I don't think we should hold back our comments if we see problems. They need our feedback, and if they are going to be successful, they will not get PO'd about it, they will use it.
From what I'm seeing, they are taking steps to address all issues and making great progress. I'm not sure what happened with some of the first run knives. Many speculate that they jumped the gun on getting the first knives out. It's hard to say how much that will affect their future.
I'm glad to report that the knives I've received look pretty good and overall, they appear to be looking better and better with each new run.
I never did get any of the first 2 diamond cut jigged bone knives to look at, so I can't comment first hand about those. I got in at knife # 3.
GEC, if you read this, you owe me for not getting any of those first runs sent to me
Bryan
I don't think you will get much flack from this group. Your comments are perfectly warrented and you have a right to be unimpressed. I was quite dissapointed in some of the stuff I was seeing in the beginning and it worried me.
I was especially disheartened because of the loss of Schrade, Camillus, and the shrinking options available to US manufactured knife buyers
I want this company to succeed very badly.
I think a lot of us are proud to see them give it a go at providing a knife with the quality we are after. A bit of constructive critisism does no harm in my opinion and I hope they take all that is said and use it to consistantly improve their product.
I don't think we should hold back our comments if we see problems. They need our feedback, and if they are going to be successful, they will not get PO'd about it, they will use it.
From what I'm seeing, they are taking steps to address all issues and making great progress. I'm not sure what happened with some of the first run knives. Many speculate that they jumped the gun on getting the first knives out. It's hard to say how much that will affect their future.
I'm glad to report that the knives I've received look pretty good and overall, they appear to be looking better and better with each new run.
I never did get any of the first 2 diamond cut jigged bone knives to look at, so I can't comment first hand about those. I got in at knife # 3.
GEC, if you read this, you owe me for not getting any of those first runs sent to me
Bryan
Bryan
There are always going to be bumps in the road with a new company with many employees. I don't care who the company is or what the employees have done in the past, change is always hard and things will and do slip by from time to time. Its much easier for me to manage me than it is for me to manage 100 or 500 or 1,000 people. Just a fact.
Singin46
Singin46
Love all Jacks
Dewman “Great Eastern Knife Company and I must say, I'm not impressed with their product thus far. Their quality control leaves one heck of a lot to be desired.”
Bryan “Many speculate that they jumped the gun on getting the first knives out.”
singin46 “There are always going to be bumps in the road with a new company with many employees.”
What I read here makes me think….
Is it that GM & Ford car co. has made us all to think this is ok its USA made?
So what if you car has to go back to the dealer to get fixed 5 or 10 times the first year. It’s a new model.
This got so bad that I did not want a car built on a Monday.
Then comes Honda car co. since 1972 I have yet to take my New Honda back to the dealer to fix one thing.
Starting with the first year Honda made Accord’s in USA. I still have never had to have any thing fixed.
I have had 2 recalls in 35 years to replace things that were still working on my car (like 2 years later). I even bought 3 Hondas out of the state I live in to get the lowest price. Yet the dealer in my town serviced them all with out a bad word. I was treated just as if a got it from them.
I have heard that Honda rewards people on the assembly line with instant cash if they find errors. Then they stop the line and find out why and who made the error. This way every person on the line is a quality inspector and not looked at as a rat by fellow workers.
Still to day GM and Ford have to have the new cars fixed by the dealers.
It’s the Company’s lack of quality control thing not USA or Japan issue.
This can be applied to Knife Company’s too. Some one in the Great Eastern Knife Company should pay for these errors. He or she did not do their job right. Way to many errors came out of their doors. I am talking about the quality control boss not the workers. Push, push, push we have to get it done JUST move it now BS.
Well that’s my opion....
Bryan “Many speculate that they jumped the gun on getting the first knives out.”
singin46 “There are always going to be bumps in the road with a new company with many employees.”
What I read here makes me think….
Is it that GM & Ford car co. has made us all to think this is ok its USA made?
So what if you car has to go back to the dealer to get fixed 5 or 10 times the first year. It’s a new model.
This got so bad that I did not want a car built on a Monday.
Then comes Honda car co. since 1972 I have yet to take my New Honda back to the dealer to fix one thing.
Starting with the first year Honda made Accord’s in USA. I still have never had to have any thing fixed.
I have had 2 recalls in 35 years to replace things that were still working on my car (like 2 years later). I even bought 3 Hondas out of the state I live in to get the lowest price. Yet the dealer in my town serviced them all with out a bad word. I was treated just as if a got it from them.
I have heard that Honda rewards people on the assembly line with instant cash if they find errors. Then they stop the line and find out why and who made the error. This way every person on the line is a quality inspector and not looked at as a rat by fellow workers.
Still to day GM and Ford have to have the new cars fixed by the dealers.
It’s the Company’s lack of quality control thing not USA or Japan issue.
This can be applied to Knife Company’s too. Some one in the Great Eastern Knife Company should pay for these errors. He or she did not do their job right. Way to many errors came out of their doors. I am talking about the quality control boss not the workers.
Push, push, push we have to get it done JUST move it now BS.Well that’s my opion....
A sign In a Chinese Pet Store: 'Buy one dog, get one flea.'
i'm looking forward to a different pattern. i have four so far, two 73, and two 23. i expected a lot more quality control to be in place as well. but for the sake of american cutlery i'll keep supporting great eastern. beats the hell out of most other production knives.
johnnie f 1949
on the cutting edge is sometimes not the place to be.
please support our troops - past and present
if not a member...join the NKCA! they're on our side.
on the cutting edge is sometimes not the place to be.
please support our troops - past and present
if not a member...join the NKCA! they're on our side.
Interesting thread... 
What's the consensus on collectability of these knives?? If Schatt & Morgans first run reproduction knives of 1991 are hard to come by and quite collectable will Great Eastern fall into that same catagory...How do these compare in quality with those first S&M knives..??
Of course I know that no one knows but I wonder..
Sunburst
What's the consensus on collectability of these knives?? If Schatt & Morgans first run reproduction knives of 1991 are hard to come by and quite collectable will Great Eastern fall into that same catagory...How do these compare in quality with those first S&M knives..??
Of course I know that no one knows but I wonder..
Sunburst
“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways”
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justin hosier
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:58 pm
- Location: Corry PA
Quality is always a huge issue with any manufacturing process. I was involved in the automotive aftermarket for a number of years so the subject is a bit familiar to me. Truth is, that in a production line situation, your quality is only as good as your worst employee. Dewman, while you are completely entitled to your opinion, also remember that it is a lot different turning out one product at a time as a craftsman than monitoring a multishift factory! Remember one other thing- Quality is not inspected into a part, it is built into every part one process at a time. The reason "Japanese" built cars are such high quality is because each individual takes full responsibility for his or her own work. Until that philosophy penetrates the MANAGEMENT of US companies, they will still get their tails hannded to them on a regular basis!!!
Enough of my ranting!!
Enough of my ranting!!
jmh
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thebuzzardsloft
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:02 pm
- Location: Cumberland Plateau
I'll talk about it
I have not collected any of the Great Eastern's as of yet, mainly because of the feedback off this forum and my first glimpse of the knives.
I like the look of the jigging on the handles and I had an opportunity to talk with the two gentleman from the factory at the NKCA North Georgia Show. They were very excited about their product and from the conversations I picked up were trying to do everything in their power to use quality materials, superior production, and create a product that everyone would be proud of. They wanted the packaging, the label, the oil paper wrap, and everything to be as knives were made in the old days. I was impressed with all of that, but the blades on the knives at the show turned me off. I thought they were horrible. Just my opinion. It's not that they were not mirror polished, they just looked horrible. Did not think I would have brought those knives to the show myself.
That said, let's talk about some of our favorites, the Schatt & Morgan's. I bought several Schatt & Morgan Mountain Man's from a very reputable dealer that I have done a lot of business with. What I like about his knives is when I open the box, usually the paper wrap has never been removed from the knife since the original wrap in the factory. He (the seller) said he does not open them because he does not want his customers to think he "cherry picks" through his inventory and his customers like the fact they are the first to see the knife since it left the factory. I opened two of the four knives I bought from him recently and found that the bolsters and shield were scratched like someone had skidded the knife across the floor or table before wrapping them up. I was shocked to say the least, the seller sent me two more knives, and all was fine. But the issue was that these two knives left the factory with heavy scratches all over the metal parts. Another dealer I use for knives, said he sent about 30 knives of one pattern back to the S&M (Queen) factory because each one had blade wobble after you opened the knife.
I bought a set of Nascar 1991 Anniversary set Case Saddlehorns, which at the time they were made, were suppose to be the best knives they ever made. Cherry display box, beautiful etchings, great handles, a shield or two installed upside down, more than a few shields fell out of the scales.
My point is that every manufacturer has problems. It is important to know that you can return a knife that you purchase and carefully review the pictures on eBay before buying. I have bought a couple that I was not pleased with and when I reviewed the pictures on eBay, the flaw was clearly exposed in the picture. (Those I EAT, because I should have known better) Someone else made a point a while back that out of focus pictures are not just an accident most times.
I believe the Great Eastern guy's are trying from the conversations I listened to at the show. As a business man for many years, I can tell you that you do not know your problems until you bring it to the market.
As far as collectible? No one will know that for years to come.
The old adage of "buy what you like and not what you think will be collectible" goes a long way in this hobby.
Buzzard ::blah:: ::blah:: ::blah::
I like the look of the jigging on the handles and I had an opportunity to talk with the two gentleman from the factory at the NKCA North Georgia Show. They were very excited about their product and from the conversations I picked up were trying to do everything in their power to use quality materials, superior production, and create a product that everyone would be proud of. They wanted the packaging, the label, the oil paper wrap, and everything to be as knives were made in the old days. I was impressed with all of that, but the blades on the knives at the show turned me off. I thought they were horrible. Just my opinion. It's not that they were not mirror polished, they just looked horrible. Did not think I would have brought those knives to the show myself.
That said, let's talk about some of our favorites, the Schatt & Morgan's. I bought several Schatt & Morgan Mountain Man's from a very reputable dealer that I have done a lot of business with. What I like about his knives is when I open the box, usually the paper wrap has never been removed from the knife since the original wrap in the factory. He (the seller) said he does not open them because he does not want his customers to think he "cherry picks" through his inventory and his customers like the fact they are the first to see the knife since it left the factory. I opened two of the four knives I bought from him recently and found that the bolsters and shield were scratched like someone had skidded the knife across the floor or table before wrapping them up. I was shocked to say the least, the seller sent me two more knives, and all was fine. But the issue was that these two knives left the factory with heavy scratches all over the metal parts. Another dealer I use for knives, said he sent about 30 knives of one pattern back to the S&M (Queen) factory because each one had blade wobble after you opened the knife.
I bought a set of Nascar 1991 Anniversary set Case Saddlehorns, which at the time they were made, were suppose to be the best knives they ever made. Cherry display box, beautiful etchings, great handles, a shield or two installed upside down, more than a few shields fell out of the scales.
My point is that every manufacturer has problems. It is important to know that you can return a knife that you purchase and carefully review the pictures on eBay before buying. I have bought a couple that I was not pleased with and when I reviewed the pictures on eBay, the flaw was clearly exposed in the picture. (Those I EAT, because I should have known better) Someone else made a point a while back that out of focus pictures are not just an accident most times.
I believe the Great Eastern guy's are trying from the conversations I listened to at the show. As a business man for many years, I can tell you that you do not know your problems until you bring it to the market.
As far as collectible? No one will know that for years to come.
The old adage of "buy what you like and not what you think will be collectible" goes a long way in this hobby.
Buzzard ::blah:: ::blah:: ::blah::
Bein' an Old Buzzard ain't so bad... I git to pick at whatever I want!
O.K.....I'll stop now.
" I was impressed with all of that, but the blades on the knives at the show turned me off. I thought they were horrible. Just my opinion. It's not that they were not mirror polished, they just looked horrible. Did not think I would have brought those knives to the show myself. "
Perhaps this post explains my position on the quality of the Great Eastern knife debate. If I were to be a participant in a Home Improvement Show and was invited to bring samples of my cabinets, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'd go over them with the finest of toothed combs before presenting them to the public. NOTHING would be presented that did not exemplify my highest quality workmanship and standards. It would seem as if that isn't the approach of Great Eastern.
To my way of thinking, there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON under the sun for the owners to present a flawed product to the general public a knife show. What in the world were they thinking? I personally don't own Great Eastern knife. I've never seen one nor held one in my hands, so I'm strictly going by what I've seen and read here....but I trust the opinions offered here and will take them to the bank any day. I pointed this site out to an old curmudgeonly friend of mine and he had the unmitigated gall to call some of you "totally anal" about knives. I assured him that was so....and one of the reasond I enjoyed the site so much. You guys hold nothing back, be it good or bad, when it comes to evaluating a knife.
I need to get off this subject, because I can tell it's starting to get under lots of folks skin. I was just exercising my opinions, which I assume are STILL welcome here.
Dewman
Perhaps this post explains my position on the quality of the Great Eastern knife debate. If I were to be a participant in a Home Improvement Show and was invited to bring samples of my cabinets, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'd go over them with the finest of toothed combs before presenting them to the public. NOTHING would be presented that did not exemplify my highest quality workmanship and standards.
It would seem as if that isn't the approach of Great Eastern.To my way of thinking, there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON under the sun for the owners to present a flawed product to the general public a knife show. What in the world were they thinking? I personally don't own Great Eastern knife. I've never seen one nor held one in my hands, so I'm strictly going by what I've seen and read here....but I trust the opinions offered here and will take them to the bank any day. I pointed this site out to an old curmudgeonly friend of mine and he had the unmitigated gall to call some of you "totally anal" about knives. I assured him that was so....and one of the reasond I enjoyed the site so much.
You guys hold nothing back, be it good or bad, when it comes to evaluating a knife.I need to get off this subject, because I can tell it's starting to get under lots of folks skin. I was just exercising my opinions, which I assume are STILL welcome here.
Dewman
"This ain't Dodge City....and you ain't Bill Hickock!"
post your opinions dewman. most of us read and evaluate and make up our own minds. it's ok not to agree on everything. you make some valid points and hopefully the ones in charge will read them and take yours(potential buyer) and ours(buyers) coments to heart. and fire their qc guy. or at least give him some instructions. i've seen improvment in their second run and hopefully the reasons for these posts will no longer exist.
johnnie f 1949
on the cutting edge is sometimes not the place to be.
please support our troops - past and present
if not a member...join the NKCA! they're on our side.
on the cutting edge is sometimes not the place to be.
please support our troops - past and present
if not a member...join the NKCA! they're on our side.
-
johnnierotten
- Posts: 9303
- Joined: Sun Jul 23, 2006 3:29 am
- Location: Tucson AZ.
Well guys the way I see it,these knives will be collectible no matter if the company goes under or not....Reason being,if they go under,these will be the only ones made.That will make them highly sought after.....If they make it,they will be collectible because there first production runs...Call me crazy, but thats how I look at it.. ::tu::I don't think you can go wrong by buying these knives...Plus there made in the good Ole USA!!! Yeah Baby,Yeah!!!
johnnierotten
So far,So good...So What!!
So far,So good...So What!!
Yes and aside from the few bad apples early on, they are different, unique and I think like Johnnie will be sought after in the future. Who knows but
considering their competition, it is a very high mark to hit IMO and I think
they are on their way. I had an early issue Schatt Winterbottom Railsplitter a few years ago and wound up giving it to a friend because it never opened or closed smoothly. Now I wish I still owned it, only because they are getting harder to find. I look at this as GEC's grace period.
Singin46
considering their competition, it is a very high mark to hit IMO and I think
they are on their way. I had an early issue Schatt Winterbottom Railsplitter a few years ago and wound up giving it to a friend because it never opened or closed smoothly. Now I wish I still owned it, only because they are getting harder to find. I look at this as GEC's grace period.
Singin46
Love all Jacks
i dont own a great eastern knife and know very little about them, except what ive seen and read in the postings and pictures of them on here and ebay and they look like very nice knives but my question is, are they and if so, when are they going to come out with any new patterns? all the knives ive seen so far are the same pattern but with many different handles.
Hey Steve, here is what the Great Eastern Techman said about that very question.steve wrote:i dont own a great eastern knife and know very little about them, except what ive seen and read in the postings and pictures of them on here and ebay and they look like very nice knives but my question is, are they and if so, when are they going to come out with any new patterns? all the knives ive seen so far are the same pattern but with many different handles.
First you might see the small trapper in The Great Eastern 440C. You might see some fixed blade knives later on too.
_________________
GECTECHMAN
“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways”
Re: O.K.....I'll stop now.
To be perfectly honest, Bill Horn and Bill Howard were both apologetic about the blades that were on my knife. Bill Horn was the seller of the first 2 I received and he was very apologetic AND surprised. I think Bill Howard (1 co-owner and President of GEC) was also disapointed with what he saw. I spoke with him and he did see the problems in the knives I sent to him. (They are being repaired). Very shortly after he did hire a couple of experienced finishers. My take on that is that he saw a flaw in his workforce and quickly moved to fix the problem. So, he is on top of things and motivated to produce a quality product, I think we can count on it.dewman wrote:" I was impressed with all of that, but the blades on the knives at the show turned me off. I thought they were horrible. Just my opinion. It's not that they were not mirror polished, they just looked horrible. Did not think I would have brought those knives to the show myself. "
Perhaps this post explains my position on the quality of the Great Eastern knife debate. If I were to be a participant in a Home Improvement Show and was invited to bring samples of my cabinets, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'd go over them with the finest of toothed combs before presenting them to the public. NOTHING would be presented that did not exemplify my highest quality workmanship and standards.
To my way of thinking, there was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON under the sun for the owners to present a flawed product to the general public a knife show. What in the world were they thinking? I personally don't own Great Eastern knife. I've never seen one nor held one in my hands, so I'm strictly going by what I've seen and read here....but I trust the opinions offered here and will take them to the bank any day. I pointed this site out to an old curmudgeonly friend of mine and he had the unmitigated gall to call some of you "totally anal" about knives. I assured him that was so....and one of the reasond I enjoyed the site so much.
I need to get off this subject, because I can tell it's starting to get under lots of folks skin. I was just exercising my opinions, which I assume are STILL welcome here.
Dewman
I can tell you that every knife I have received since then has been either average to near custom as far as quality goes. With that said, QC is still not consistant but they are moving in the correct direction.
I think we can expect them to get much better at producing a consistant high quality knife. I believe they are looking to be around for the long term and I believe that they will make it.
They do have a lot of people just learning the craft and I believe they will do well in the future. I'm told Bill Howard will do the right thing, it looks like he is doing that now.
With all that ::blah:: I can't disagree with anything you've said, I do see the potential they have as well as the moves they are making towards the correct direction, IMHO.
Hukk