Can't open my Vintage Canoe Need Help!!

[joepa150]

I just acquired these two case knives. My father gave them to me and he said he thinks they are probably over 25 years old.
The Canoe is sooooo hard to open. I was able to open the big blade but the small blade cracked my thumbnail. The stockman opens normally.
Any ideas on how to loosen the blades up?

Also any info on the specs of these as far as year, blade material, model, etc?
Canoe is a 62131
Stockman? is a 6392

 

[justchadsmith]

Here you are, this page makes it pretty easy to identify years of production as well as the other information you are looking for.

http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/wr_case/about_case_knives/date_identification.php

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Try oiling the joints a little.

 

[joepa150]

Tried oil and let it sit for maybe 30 minutes. Still hard to open. The one blade I can't even open. I just tried WD-40 and still no luck.

Any other suggestions.

 

[on_the_edge]

A piece of cloth around the blade and then pulling it open with a small pair of pliers is the quick one-time solution. For the longer term, it will need oil and movement back and forth to loosen it up. You do not have to close it all the way; just pinch the blade with your fingers and move it back and forth from fully open to almost closed. It will likely take some time to loosen up, but it will eventually get there. Of course, once you can open it with your thumbnail/fingernail, then you need to use it on a regular basis.

 

[meako]

chuck it in some hot washing up water and soak it for a bit. give it the scrubber brush . one blade open at a time.
plenty of oil and movement.

 

[joepa150]

chuck it in some hot washing up water and soak it for a bit. give it the scrubber brush . one blade open at a time.
plenty of oil and movement.

When my father purchased the knife many many years ago, he said it was really hard to open. He never used it since.
Is it just a really strong spring or design defect?
When I open it it has a really strong/loud snapping sound.

I am assuming the putting it in soapy hot water will clean it out but if it is a strong spring, this wouldn't help, would it??

Any chance in ruining the knife by soaking in hot water?

 

[TLARbb]

Regarding the hot water soak, I don't think you are going to hurt it soaking it, but you will definitely have to get it dried out or things will get worse fast. Liquid dishwashing soap is a good lubricant and will help. You should probably soak the joint with a good penetrant like Break Free and then with the the blade taped (do that before you grab it with the pliers) and pliers break the joint free with a straight pull. Most likely there was some left over grit in the joint from manufacture. Along with some now likely corrosion.

I'm pretty sure that's the only issue rather than a monster spring. Getting it freed up and working shouldn't take long, but lubrication and moving the joint to smooth the surfaces a bit and flushing it with hot soapy water to wash out the crud and relubing it will fix it up. Considering the age of the knife, it may take a bit of extra elbow grease, but that will take care of it.

When you get done with the hot water treatment, shake out/blow out the excess and use some WD-40 to chase any remaining water out of the joints, then put a good lubricant back in the joints when you're finished with the project. There is a thread here about the lubricants of choice and it stretches from one end of the spectrum to the other. Bottom line use something that will lubricate the joint and protect it from corrosion. Many choices out there that work; the key is to use one of them consistently and your knife will last for decades of normal use.

You can fix it!!! and then you will be able to enjoy the canoe pattern to the fullest.

Ed J

 

[joepa150]

Most likely there was some left over grit in the joint from manufacture. Along with some now likely corrosion. A good penetrant/lubricant is going to be necessary to break it loose. I'm pretty sure that's the only issue rather than a monster spring. Getting it freed up and working shouldn't take long, but lubrication and moving the joint to smooth the surfaces a bit and flushing it with hot soapy water to wash out the crud and relubing it will fix it up. That canoe definitely has the CV or carbon steel blades so it likely will have some rust in the joint in addition to grit from manufacturing. You can fix it!!! and then you will be able to enjoy the canoe pattern to the fullest.

Ed J

I am soaking it some water with dawn right now.

What is a good penetrant/lubricant?

I have WD-40, Otters gun oil, Break Free CLP, and Balistol.

 

[TLARbb]

I am soaking it some water with dawn right now.

What is a good penetrant/lubricant?

I have WD-40, Otters gun oil, Break Free CLP, and Balistol.

Of the ones you mention, WD-40 will get the water out of the nooks and crannies. A blow dryer will help with that as well. I use Break Free CLP when I have this problem. I have tried Kroil and it works well, but it is not a pleasant material to work with and I don't like the red color because I'm afraid it will stain. I edited my earlier post a bit.

Let us know how you progress with the project. Just be careful and don't rush the project and be diligent and you will get it done.

Ed J

 

[Seals]

Soaking wont really help you much.Tape the blade or wrap it so you wont get cut and work the action open and closed under running hot water with liberal amount of dawn right in the pivot.Other than taking the thing apart to remove some meat from the backspring,that's about the best you can do.Some of those 70's knives had really hard snap and that was something that was desirable more so than now.I love that 92 pattern.

 

[joepa150]

I soaked the Canoe for 5 minutes in dish soap water, rinsed out while opening and closeing blades, soaked again 5 minutes, rinsed out while opening and closing blades.
Dried a little with hair dryer to get out the excess water.

Liberly applied CLP to all moving areas such as back spring and pivots. Hard to tell if any better. I have opened and half way closed about 40 times per blade. Still nothing.

I just applied some CLP to the stockman that opened up normally. Instantly the stockman is opening noticably easier. Canoe not so much

 

[joepa150]

Ok I reoiled with Break Free, wrapped the blades in electrical tape, and moved them back and forth (open and almost close) several hundred times each. I noticed that some of the oil is that I put in there is blackish now when I wipe with paper towel. Maybe that is metal wear or dirt coming off.

Bottom line is that it isn't noticeably easier to open. I still cannot open when fully closed without assistance, (screwdriver, pliers, etc).

Any other ideas?

Would Case fix this for free if I send it to them?

I personally think that it came from the factory being super hard to open and time made it a bit worse.
Its so hard to open my thumb nails are sore.

 

[jackknife]

Ok I reoiled with Break Free, wrapped the blades in electrical tape, and moved them back and forth (open and almost close) several hundred times each. I noticed that some of the oil is that I put in there is blackish now when I wipe with paper towel. Maybe that is metal wear or dirt coming off.

Bottom line is that it isn't noticeably easier to open. I still cannot open when fully closed without assistance, (screwdriver, pliers, etc).

Any other ideas?

Would Case fix this for free if I send it to them?

I personally think that it came from the factory being super hard to open and time made it a bit worse.
Its so hard to open my thumb nails are sore.

At this point you've done all that can be done. If it's hasn't loosened up by now, it ain't gonna. It needs to go back to Case. Should never have left the factory like that.

Carl.

 

[joepa150]

At this point you've done all that can be done. If it's hasn't loosened up by now, it ain't gonna. It needs to go back to Case. Should never have left the factory like that.

Carl.

I wonder if they would consider it a manufacturing defect since it is about 35 years old. It does have some rusting/corrosion on the brass liners but my father said it was always this hard when he bought it a long time ago (I don't know if he bought new but he bought over 25 years ago.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Case was very good about redoing a knife for me that was very old. It came out great.

 

[TLARbb]

With the blade in the fully open position look at the tang and ramp on the end of the blade. See if there is a burr there that needs to be taken off. If there is, get some 180-220 grit wet/dry paper and glue grit side out to the edge of a craft stick (these were popsicle sticks before they becam craft sticks) with some superglue. Trim the sandpaper flush with the faces of the stick; the idea is to make a thin sandpaper file that cuts on the side and not the face. You can polish off the burr if there is one. Be sure to go back through the cleanout and relubing program if you do this.

I don't think I have one of these home made tools to show as I write this, but if you want me to I'll make one and post up a picture.

If you decide to send it to Case, don't let them try to replace the knife. If they don't want to go into it to fix the problem, we have several guys on this forum that can fix it. I'd never let Case swap out that jewel. It's worth more than a new one just like it is.

Ed J

 

[Woodrow F Call]

With the blade in the fully open position look at the tang and ramp on the end of the blade. See if there is a burr there that needs to be taken off. If there is, get some 180-220 grit wet/dry paper and glue grit side out to the edge of a craft stick (these were popsicle sticks before they becam craft sticks) with some superglue. Trim the sandpaper flush with the faces of the stick; the idea is to make a thin sandpaper file that cuts on the side and not the face. You can polish off the burr if there is one. Be sure to go back through the cleanout and relubing program if you do this.

I don't think I have one of these home made tools to show as I write this, but if you want me to I'll make one and post up a picture.

If you decide to send it to Case, don't let them try to replace the knife. If they don't want to go into it to fix the problem, we have several guys on this forum that can fix it. I'd never let Case swap out that jewel. It's worth more than a new one just like it is.

Ed J

The knife I sent in needed new scales and cleanup. I figure they more or less had to disassemble the knife to put new one on since you have to peen the scales on and the old ones would have been mushroomed. I told them of the sentimental value and they just put new scales on it, it cleaned it up, sharpened it and sent it back. Very good experience.

 

[joepa150]

With the blade in the fully open position look at the tang and ramp on the end of the blade. See if there is a burr there that needs to be taken off. If there is, get some 180-220 grit wet/dry paper and glue grit side out to the edge of a craft stick (these were popsicle sticks before they becam craft sticks) with some superglue. Trim the sandpaper flush with the faces of the stick; the idea is to make a thin sandpaper file that cuts on the side and not the face. You can polish off the burr if there is one. Be sure to go back through the cleanout and relubing program if you do this.

I don't think I have one of these home made tools to show as I write this, but if you want me to I'll make one and post up a picture.

If you decide to send it to Case, don't let them try to replace the knife. If they don't want to go into it to fix the problem, we have several guys on this forum that can fix it. I'd never let Case swap out that jewel. It's worth more than a new one just like it is.

Ed J

I will look to see if there is any burrs. I will try and take a photo see an area that could be making the one side hard to open.

I will definitely not let them replace it. Thanks for the heads up.

The knife I sent in needed new scales and cleanup. I figure they more or less had to disassemble the knife to put new one on since you have to peen the scales on and the old ones would have been mushroomed. I told them of the sentimental value and they just put new scales on it, it cleaned it up, sharpened it and sent it back. Very good experience.

Did you just have to pay to ship it to them?

 

[joepa150]

With the blade in the fully open position look at the tang and ramp on the end of the blade. See if there is a burr there that needs to be taken off. If there is, get some 180-220 grit wet/dry paper and glue grit side out to the edge of a craft stick (these were popsicle sticks before they becam craft sticks) with some superglue. Trim the sandpaper flush with the faces of the stick; the idea is to make a thin sandpaper file that cuts on the side and not the face. You can polish off the burr if there is one. Be sure to go back through the cleanout and relubing program if you do this.

I don't think I have one of these home made tools to show as I write this, but if you want me to I'll make one and post up a picture.

If you decide to send it to Case, don't let them try to replace the knife. If they don't want to go into it to fix the problem, we have several guys on this forum that can fix it. I'd never let Case swap out that jewel. It's worth more than a new one just like it is.

Ed J

I will look to see if there is any burrs. I will try and take a photo see an area that could be making the one side hard to open.

I will definitely not let them replace it. Thanks for the heads up.

The knife I sent in needed new scales and cleanup. I figure they more or less had to disassemble the knife to put new one on since you have to peen the scales on and the old ones would have been mushroomed. I told them of the sentimental value and they just put new scales on it, it cleaned it up, sharpened it and sent it back. Very good experience.

Did you just have to pay to ship it to them?