Case 6279 Help

Maverick299

Maverick299

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Apr 12, 2014
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I recently found this Case 6279 in an old tool box of my father in laws. Can someone help me determine the scale material? I've found several jigged red bone examples but not any with smooth covers like this. Did they make a smooth red bone? The dots are mostly hidden under the bolster but it looks to me to be a 10 dot, so 1970? Can. Anyone more knowledgeable confirm? Thanks for looking.


6279 https://imgur.com/gallery/IMTSPLh
https://imgur.com/a/kEj9jYd
 
I get a "Hmmmm ... Can't reach this page" error/oops message when I click the link.
It might be because it is to a gallery, instead of a single image.

The "6" is the handle material.
To quote AAPK:
"6 = Jigged Bone (Bone Stag), Imitation Jigged Bone (Delrin), or laminated wood"
 
From the pics it certainly doesn't look like any kind of delrin, and it doesn't look like any kind of laminated wood I've ever seen.... so, my vote is for smooth reddish bone. The grain structure seems to support that, as well....
 
The '6' in the pattern# would imply any bone (either smooth OR jigged), and any other jigged material, such as jigged delrin/synthetic or jigged laminate (what Case has called 'Staminawood' in the past). Since these covers are smooth and ID'd with the '6' in the pattern#, that would strongly suggest it's bone, either smooth or very worn jigged bone (edited).

Ten dots could imply 1970 or 1980. To narrow that further, the 1980 stamping would have a different, more angular font/character set, with the so-called 'lightning S' in the 'CASE' stamping. Seeing more pics in the OP now, it looks like the character set used in the 1970s-era stampings. So, if 10 dots, it would be a 1970 stamping.
 
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I greatly appreciate all the help. You guys never let me down! I was confused because every picture I've been able to track down so far was of a jigged bone.
 
Might have a point there.^ Can (maybe, just maybe) see the shadows of the original jigging in that bone.

The 'smooth' look of it might just be decades of pocket wear working the jigging away, which is the sort of long-used, real-life character these knives were born for. Very cool, if so. :thumbsup:
 
Not hard to do if you actually EDC a knife and put it in your pocket with keys and change. Rotating knives and using knife purses won't wear the covers nearly as much.
 
Or perhaps the previous owner was like me, and sanded the jigging off.... I personally don't see how normal pocket wear could turn it that smooth. Look at all the old, old knives people post pics of here on this forum... hundred year old knives that still have the jigging pretty visible. Smooth-ER, but not smooth.

"Field modification" would be my vote.... although, I do reserve the right to be wrong..... as Ricky Van Shelton used to sing....
 
hornetguy said:
Or perhaps the previous owner was like me, and sanded the jigging off.... I personally don't see how normal pocket wear could turn it that smooth. Look at all the old, old knives people post pics of here on this forum... hundred year old knives that still have the jigging pretty visible. Smooth-ER, but not smooth.

"Field modification" would be my vote.... although, I do reserve the right to be wrong..... as Ricky Van Shelton used to sing....
Click to expand...
Could be. Neither of the knives linked below are that smooth but I don't know if they were carried in the same pocket with other items.

Here's one that Mark mnblade mnblade carried for 10 years. Possibly longer by now. (See Mark's latest update on the last page)

The life of a Case peanut from Day 1

I just received a chestnut bone Case peanut with CV steel in the mail. I purchased it off a popular online auction site and couldn't be happier. Fit and finish is quite solid (especially for a $30 knife), and the blades are damn sharp. I thought as a little experiment, I'd post photos of it here...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com

And here's one that was carried for 38 years.

sad: Old Worn out Knife/ Replaced with New Old Knife

Just wanted to share an old 6217 knife that I've carred since 1973. Used on a diary farm for about 12 years, castrating, cuting thousands of bales of hay, and every thing else associated in farming. Then in the construction industry for about another 20 years that I owned, used for sharpening...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com
 
Here's the knife of Chief's dad.

Dad's knife / pocket watch / fob / switch key / railroad lantern. Dad was slightly superstitious, hence the four-leaf clover and horseshoes on the fob. He was always concerned a large truck would collide with the train ... guess it would be scary to see a gasoline or propane truck barreling down perpendicular to the train you are riding on and supposedly in charge of. He bought the watch used from a local jewelry store, made payments. Was a requirement of the conductor's job to have a certified accurate timepiece or he never could have afforded such a lavish item otherwise. If fascinated me as a child. The 40-64 Case XX is the only knife I ever saw him carry, and never saw him without it. Gave him a couple of new knives, but he never would carry them. One knife man. Lantern still works, both bulbs. Still remember the signals from working in the roundhouse.

dadstuff.jpg
Click to expand...

People didn't prematurely wear out their possessions for appearance's sake. That's a modern affectation.
 
Railsplitter said:
Could be. Neither of the knives linked below are that smooth but I don't know if they were carried in the same pocket with other items.
Click to expand...
Wow.... I didn't know they could wear that smooth in that amount of time... I'm surprised. I figured they would get smoother, but not to that extent.... learn something every day! Thanks for the pics of those examples! Now, a couple of choruses of "Don't We All Have the Right to be Wrong Now and Then"..... :D
 
hornetguy said:
Wow.... I didn't know they could wear that smooth in that amount of time... I'm surprised. I figured they would get smoother, but not to that extent.... learn something every day! Thanks for the pics of those examples! Now, a couple of choruses of "Don't We All Have the Right to be Wrong Now and Then"..... :D
Click to expand...
I was actually trying to show that you might be right.:) The knife in my second link isn't as smooth as the original poster's knife even after being carried for 38 years.
 
Handle material="beyond pocket worn"

That is Case "pocket smoothed" jigged bone.

Or Case "many pants pockets worn through" jigged bone.
 
If the particular pants worn over the lifetime of that knife were also as hard-working as the knife and the user, with the dirt, grit & grime to show for it, the effect on the bone covers of that knife would be similar to that of silica grit-infused fine sandpaper or emery cloth. Not hard to imagine how the jigging could be worn or polished away at an accelerated rate, in that scenario. Throw in some keys, pocket change, etc., and you'd also get the 'tumbled' polish effect on the finish as well.

Being that the knife was found in a toolbox in the first place suggests it was likely rattling around against a lot of other hard stuff, maybe for a very long time.
 
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