Great Eastern #12 Toothpick Test & Opinion
Over the last two years, I've taken it upon myself to actually take some of the Great Eastern knives out of the tube and actually cut stuff up with them!! I use the knives I sell and it's important to me to be familiar with as many of them as possible to be able to actually tell folks about the knives I sell based on personal experience.
In fact, here's a picture of my current stable of Great Easterns that go through 'rotation'. Right now, the Congress is most frequently in my pocket while the 73 Lockback ranks pretty high as an EDC of second choice. Nothing wrong with the others, but that's my personal preference so far.
When the Toothpicks came out this year, it took me a while, but I finally grabbed a Northfield in Blood Red Jigged bone. That deep red was just too much to resist.
When you first open it up and let it lay in your hand.... it feels right. The Toothpick design just feels like it was made to mold to your palm and it does! It's slim contour fits nicely in your pocket and the blade is more then capable of most 'normal' pocket knife tasks. It's not a screwdriver, hammer, chisel or pry bar and it wasn't designed to be! That being said, it will hold it's own quite well.
It's a rare situation that I find a pocket knife with an edge I'm satisfied with and the Toothpick was no exception. I'm sure it's my imagination, but it seemed like this knife had some of the hardest steel I've seen on a GEC. (As I recall, the Great Eastern Muskrat was hard stuff also). It took several weeks before I finally got frustrated and put the Toothpick on the grinding wheel to change the grind angle to my satisfaction. Problem solved!
One of the primary jobs I use a pocket knife for is opening boxes of more Great Eastern Knives. Tape will gunk up a blade and there's not much that's harder on an edge then cardboard.
This is one of the first things I noticed was the high 'angle of attack' necessary to make the above cut. I've been used to using either the Congress or the Barlow with the Sheepsfoot blade. That is definitely the blade of choice for opening boxes. Before I got the edge ground at the angle I preferred, I really had to use an almost vertical hold to make the cut.
Not my first choice as a whittler, but it did a fine job working on a bit of scrap fir. Not designed to be a whittler to begin with, I'm confident it would do just fine doing some final fitting or trimming on a woodworking project if a chisel or plane wasn't handy. While I was experimenting with the wood shaving, it was pretty clear you wouldn't want to spend a lot of time 'pulling' the blade towards you.
The butt has a tendency to dig into the palm of your hand in a really serious way. I don't look at this so much as fault with the the knife as just part of the nature of the beast. Unless you've got really small hands or a really big Toothpick, this is just the way it's gonna be!
The blade doesn't have a half stop and it's not a big deal on a knife like this. The blade opens and closes smoothly with a nice balance on the spring for the size of the knife. When the blade hits the open position, it has a nice solid snap letting you know the blade is fully deployed without breaking your thumbnail in the process. While it's not a lockback, I had a secure feeling that the blade wasn't going to close on it's own.
While it's not my personal preference in a EDC, it's a fine looking knife, pocket friendly and a great example of the Toothpick design. The handle shape is my biggest complaint. While it's comfortable laying in my hand, the angle just doesn't feel quite right in all cutting situations. About .8 oz lighter then the #73 Lockback and just .2 oz lighter then the Congress, closed it's longer then both of them but felt less obtrusive in my pants pocket.
Just a general observation about the Great Easterns I've used so far, none of them has shown any tendency for the blades to develop any side play in spite of some fairly hard use particularly on the #73 Linerlock. It may take a bit to get the blade angle the way you like (or not) but I've yet to snap a tip or seriously ding a blade even though I've run into an occasional finishing nail and your stray electrical wire. In short, nothin's busted, bent or quit and that's not all bad!!! I may not care for every pattern, but I sure can't fault the quality. For now, the Congress remains my personal choice.
greg
In fact, here's a picture of my current stable of Great Easterns that go through 'rotation'. Right now, the Congress is most frequently in my pocket while the 73 Lockback ranks pretty high as an EDC of second choice. Nothing wrong with the others, but that's my personal preference so far.
When the Toothpicks came out this year, it took me a while, but I finally grabbed a Northfield in Blood Red Jigged bone. That deep red was just too much to resist.
When you first open it up and let it lay in your hand.... it feels right. The Toothpick design just feels like it was made to mold to your palm and it does! It's slim contour fits nicely in your pocket and the blade is more then capable of most 'normal' pocket knife tasks. It's not a screwdriver, hammer, chisel or pry bar and it wasn't designed to be! That being said, it will hold it's own quite well.
It's a rare situation that I find a pocket knife with an edge I'm satisfied with and the Toothpick was no exception. I'm sure it's my imagination, but it seemed like this knife had some of the hardest steel I've seen on a GEC. (As I recall, the Great Eastern Muskrat was hard stuff also). It took several weeks before I finally got frustrated and put the Toothpick on the grinding wheel to change the grind angle to my satisfaction. Problem solved!
One of the primary jobs I use a pocket knife for is opening boxes of more Great Eastern Knives. Tape will gunk up a blade and there's not much that's harder on an edge then cardboard.
This is one of the first things I noticed was the high 'angle of attack' necessary to make the above cut. I've been used to using either the Congress or the Barlow with the Sheepsfoot blade. That is definitely the blade of choice for opening boxes. Before I got the edge ground at the angle I preferred, I really had to use an almost vertical hold to make the cut.
Not my first choice as a whittler, but it did a fine job working on a bit of scrap fir. Not designed to be a whittler to begin with, I'm confident it would do just fine doing some final fitting or trimming on a woodworking project if a chisel or plane wasn't handy. While I was experimenting with the wood shaving, it was pretty clear you wouldn't want to spend a lot of time 'pulling' the blade towards you.
The butt has a tendency to dig into the palm of your hand in a really serious way. I don't look at this so much as fault with the the knife as just part of the nature of the beast. Unless you've got really small hands or a really big Toothpick, this is just the way it's gonna be!
The blade doesn't have a half stop and it's not a big deal on a knife like this. The blade opens and closes smoothly with a nice balance on the spring for the size of the knife. When the blade hits the open position, it has a nice solid snap letting you know the blade is fully deployed without breaking your thumbnail in the process. While it's not a lockback, I had a secure feeling that the blade wasn't going to close on it's own.
While it's not my personal preference in a EDC, it's a fine looking knife, pocket friendly and a great example of the Toothpick design. The handle shape is my biggest complaint. While it's comfortable laying in my hand, the angle just doesn't feel quite right in all cutting situations. About .8 oz lighter then the #73 Lockback and just .2 oz lighter then the Congress, closed it's longer then both of them but felt less obtrusive in my pants pocket.
Just a general observation about the Great Easterns I've used so far, none of them has shown any tendency for the blades to develop any side play in spite of some fairly hard use particularly on the #73 Linerlock. It may take a bit to get the blade angle the way you like (or not) but I've yet to snap a tip or seriously ding a blade even though I've run into an occasional finishing nail and your stray electrical wire. In short, nothin's busted, bent or quit and that's not all bad!!! I may not care for every pattern, but I sure can't fault the quality. For now, the Congress remains my personal choice.
greg
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