Bose/Case yearly releases

[brownshoe]

Tongueriver That's some very bad luck with your Doglegs, to lose one and find the other breaks up on you However, I recall hearing about broken backsprings on these knives before, I think Duncan in NZ had the same issue. What with broken springs and reports of blade-play this is concerning, considering the very high price of these knives. They are not really that 'limited' in output being 100-300 per scale, which is huge compared to GEC's limited runs, it might be difficult to maintain QC and inspection on such large volumes then?

I bought all but the Yukon Jack sight unseen off the internet but there was only one Yukon to buy. Not one of my Case/Bose had a problem in my opinion. They were not "perfect" but they were better than some customs I own and many customs I have coon fingered.

My only "problem" would never have been seen by someone who does not use their knives hard. My AK hunter's ebony cover lifted up off the liner after sitting in standing water on the kitchen counter for about an hour. Shouldn't drink martinis and cook with expensive knives at the same time Case fixed it up real quick. I have used my ebony Tribal Spear just as hard with no problem. My Yukon Jack is a tank. Being smaller, my Norfolk gets a little better treatment, but is often used as a bar knife as well.

The only systematic "problem" with these knives is that the stainless steel bolsters gets scratches that are not as easy to remove as with nickel silver. I find that light use of 600 grit paper restores the original finish. They all sharpen up quite nicely and hold an edge as expected for ATS34 or 154CM.

 

[Joe58]

I'd like to see Case do some other collabs with perhaps "lesser" known makers at about half the price of the Bose models. It'd put more knives in folks hands I think, as well as get some well deserved recognition for other talented makers.

The price on the Bose collabs put it out of reach for many I'm assuming. But they may be more likely to take the plunge on something maybe around $200. Dunno. Just a thought.

 

[blades&grace]

I don't think it's the name of the maker that brings the price up. It's the amount of time and craftsmanship put into the builds by the case finishing department! They give great attention to the details on these knives for such a large manufacturer!

 

[Biggie_Robs]

I don't think it's the name of the maker that brings the price up. It's the amount of time and craftsmanship put into the builds by the case finishing department! They give great attention to the details on these knives for such a large manufacturer!

Yeah, well, the TB name means Case has to really pay attention to QC. The TB knives are Case's "Halo" knives. Without them, the public would eventually realize that their knives aren't what they used to be. They are occasionally what they used to be, but the company makes too many knives for them to all be awesome. I could be wrong, but I feel like Case is capitalizing on their name/reputation while putting out a certain percentage of "nice" knives to keep the demand up.

 

[Joe58]

Yeah, well, the TB name means Case has to really pay attention to QC. The TB knives are Case's "Halo" knives. Without them, the public would eventually realize that their knives aren't what they used to be. They are occasionally what they used to be, but the company makes too many knives for them to all be awesome. I could be wrong, but I feel like Case is capitalizing on their name/reputation while putting out a certain percentage of "nice" knives to keep the demand up.

+1. People (myself included) find this route to be the only option to getting close to owning a TB knife, than models from their shop which run north of 2k with a long waiting list, I'm guessing.

Case could easily produce a "custom" run of their own patterns using the same care in manufacture and, not that I'd know for certain, I just don't see them selling as well as the TB runs do.

Due to the hit or miss on Case QC now days, I don't even consider buying a regular production model. Just aren't the same anymore. That may be just my perception, but a couple years back, the few samples I tried, I just didn't care for. I think Case needs to narrow their field, tighten up QC, and quite worrying about all these little runs for the collectors that'll never see use anyway. Just my opinion which allowed me to venture off topic. Sorry about that mods. I'm done venting now. Lol.

 

[snippy]

I must be one darned lucky Case customer. All of my Case knives are online purchases and all have great fit and finish. I bought a GEC and, while it too is nice, it ain't no Case/Bose. Not by a long shot.

Eric

 

[Gary W. Graley]

That's a pretty one there Eric!
G2

 

[Tony Bose]

I'd like to see Case do some other collabs with perhaps "lesser" known makers at about half the price of the Bose models. It'd put more knives in folks hands I think, as well as get some well deserved recognition for other talented makers.

The price on the Bose collabs put it out of reach for many I'm assuming. But they may be more likely to take the plunge on something maybe around $200. Dunno. Just a thought.

It's not me that runs the cost up on these. It's the edm wire cut and choice of materials that does it. A lesser known maker design would likely cost the same.

 

[knarfeng]

It's not me that runs the cost up on these. It's the edm wire cut and choice of materials that does it. A lesser known maker design would likely cost the same.

Bingo.

 

[snippy]

Is edm wire cut used for all of the hardware and blade on a Case/Bose? I'd like to learn more about this!

Eric

 

[knarfeng]

Is edm wire cut used for all of the hardware and blade on a Case/Bose? I'd like to learn more about this!

Eric

Just the blade, I would think. There would be no reason to cut other materials with it.

http://www.xactedm.com/edm-capabilities/how-edm-works/

edited to add an excerpt from the above article:

A skim pass can remove as much as 0.002" of material or a as little as 0.0001".

And that is why wire EDM is used for these.
Normal tolerance for a large machined part is 0.030"
Normal tolerance for a smaller machined part is 0.010".
Normal tolerance for a precision machined part is ~0.002
EDM can achieve 0.0001" Which is an order of magnitude more precise.

But achieving that precision is pricey.

 

[Joe58]

It's not me that runs the cost up on these. It's the edm wire cut and choice of materials that does it. A lesser known maker design would likely cost the same.

I'm sure you're likely correct on this Mr. Bose as I know next to nothing about the actual nut and bolts of the production that goes into these.

I'm just mentioning it as an Indian River Jack, with decent f & f, 154CM blade, is under $200, and sells like crazy. With a much smaller production run.

I'd like to see Case get into this neighborhood is all, since they have a much bigger manufacturing utility, and can buy materials in larger bulk.

No disrespect intended towards you at all. Your successes are well earned and deserved.

 

[jc57]

Case did a run back in 2007 or so of some "exotic steels" in a number of their patterns, by which I think they meant ATS-34, 154CM and BG42. They did end up being at around the $150 - $200 price point or so. One of my local Case dealers still had one of them in stock last time I was there, a Case Brothers Trapper in ATS-34. Pretty knife, but at the $200 price point.

I am pretty sure the recession nearly shut them down and made them change a lot of their business practices. I was just talking to Katie Shonts-Saar yesterday at a Case event about the shrinking number of patterns and the retirement of their "Vault" program where they would rotate patterns in and out of production. It seems they are wanting to focus on a specific number of patterns and blade variations within those patterns.

I did get to see the beautiful Bose collab stockman knives in person at that same event. Very nice looking knives. Definitely out of my price range, but there are plenty of knife collectors with deeper pockets than mine that will be quite happy to buy them.

 

[snippy]

Just the blade, I would think. There would be no reason to cut other materials with it.

http://www.xactedm.com/edm-capabilities/how-edm-works/

edited to add an excerpt from the above article:


And that is why wire EDM is used for these.
Normal tolerance for a large machined part is 0.030"
Normal tolerance for a smaller machined part is 0.010".
Normal tolerance for a precision machined part is ~0.002
EDM can achieve 0.0001" Which is an order of magnitude more precise.

But achieving that precision is pricey.

I'm wondering because I marvel at how close the tolerances are on the springs/liners. 5 pieces of steel stacked up here, and looks like one. (sorry, Cell Phone pic is all I got!)

Seems to me the blade does not need to be as precise? Still, I'm intrigued that they use it at all!

Thanks for the info.

Eric

(sorry for all the lint on it - It hangs in my pocket every day lately)

 

[snippy]

Here is a straight on shot:

You can also see the mill relief on the liners - maybe wire cut???

Eric

 

[brownshoe]

To me half the appeal of the knife is the design, not every designer has the same level of skill as Tony Bose. For example, the Tribal Spear to me screams Bose

One factory/designer collaboration that is pretty sweet are the Lake CAS Iberia interframe knives. I have not seen the current production, but the first knives were very nice. IIRC, Ron Lake worked with the factory on production methods, similar to Tony and Case.

 

[knarfeng]

I'm wondering because I marvel at how close the tolerances are on the springs/liners. 5 pieces of steel stacked up here, and looks like one. (sorry, Cell Phone pic is all I got!)

Seems to me the blade does not need to be as precise? Still, I'm intrigued that they use it at all!

Thanks for the info.

Eric

(sorry for all the lint on it - It hangs in my pocket every day lately)

Point taken, you may be right about the springs and liners.

 

[supratentorial]

Case did a run back in 2007 or so of some "exotic steels" in a number of their patterns, by which I think they meant ATS-34, 154CM and BG42. They did end up being at around the $150 - $200 price point or so. One of my local Case dealers still had one of them in stock last time I was there, a Case Brothers Trapper in ATS-34. Pretty knife, but at the $200 price point.

I am pretty sure the recession nearly shut them down and made them change a lot of their business practices. I was just talking to Katie Shonts-Saar yesterday at a Case event about the shrinking number of patterns and the retirement of their "Vault" program where they would rotate patterns in and out of production. It seems they are wanting to focus on a specific number of patterns and blade variations within those patterns.

I did get to see the beautiful Bose collab stockman knives in person at that same event. Very nice looking knives. Definitely out of my price range, but there are plenty of knife collectors with deeper pockets than mine that will be quite happy to buy them.

Good info.

There's been some prior discussion about those "exotic steels" knives. IMO the steel was the only real difference between those knives and regular production knives. I previously owned the trapper. They are not in the same league as Case/Bose knives.

 

[blades&grace]

Without precision on that blade tang the knife is either a fixed blade or a friction folder!

I'm wondering because I marvel at how close the tolerances are on the springs/liners. 5 pieces of steel stacked up here, and looks like one. (sorry, Cell Phone pic is all I got!)

Seems to me the blade does not need to be as precise? Still, I'm intrigued that they use it at all!

Thanks for the info.

Eric

(sorry for all the lint on it - It hangs in my pocket every day lately)

 

[Tony Bose]

The regular production knives like the trapper and BackPocket they are doing now only the blade is EDM wire cut. On the yearly collab I do with them all the parts are wire cut including the shield and bolsters, liners, blades and springs. I take no offence to this. I know that most people don't understand what goes in to these yearly knives. The cost of producing them is much higher than a regular production knife. It gives somebody a chance to get a piece of me at a fraction of what one from me would cost. These are very good knives, the best Case ever made I think.