Case 6318 then and now

W

willis

Joined
Apr 14, 2002
Messages
740
I recently bought an amber bone Case stockman with the CV blades.I have a bone handled 6318 I bought 25 years ago that lived in my pocket until 1999,then one day it was not there when I reached for it.I felt as if part of me was gone.Luckily a few months later my girlfriend found it in the couch cushions.I cleaned it up real good and put RIG on the blades and stored it.I have been mostly using either a 8OT or a buck 307.When i saw the new case I bought it and when I got it home noticed it did not "feel" right.I took out the old one and it is hard to believe they came from the same company.The new one is a lot thicker,it seems that instead of trying to fit the parts Case decided to make all the brass liners twice as thick and then just grind it all smooth.Not a square edge on this thing,not even where the back of the blade meets the backspring when opened.I know I should have looked at the thing before I bought it but was in Smoky mnt Knife works on a lunch break and was in a hurry.I was so bummed out that when a buddy asked if I would sell it to him I did,for a dime!Why do the bean counters ruin everything?And is there a special place reserved in Hades for the bastids?
 
There are few products on the market that have not been ruined by the passing of time, and some corperate cogs idea of "improvements" The idea of workmanship is gone, and the new idea seems to be make it look like the old ones, but don't bother trying too hard to do it. Look at an old Smith and Wesson revolver from the 50's and compare it to a new or recent one of the same type. Same thing with knives. Look at a real Remington pocket knife from the 30's and stack it up side by side with those things Camillus was turning out for the collector crowd in the 80's with the Remington name. It will make you weep for shame that the human race can stoop so low.

With Case, I guess they are just trying to stay in buisness against all the companies from other places. Theres just so much time and labor they can put into a item without it going into the red. But I know what you mean about the bulk thing. There's a certain element of trim style that has gone out of favor.
 
I've got a few Case knives from the late 60s and early 70s and they are much thinner in width than the current ones. It is definitely noticeable. I agree that the current models seem to have a high bulk to blade ratio. I wonder if it is a manufacturing cost reduction reason or a marketing reason. Maybe they sell better with more bulk? The one I really noticed was the 6208, the difference in width is amazing.

Dean
 
There's no question, that you have to get an old knife, or a custom to have that slim feel. The Queen Classic Canoes in 1095 steel are pretty nice, though. I carry one on and off, and it's one of the closest to an oldy. But it's hard to beat an 8-10 dot Case!!
 
RDaneel said:
I've got a few Case knives from the late 60s and early 70s and they are much thinner in width than the current ones. It is definitely noticeable. I agree that the current models seem to have a high bulk to blade ratio. I wonder if it is a manufacturing cost reduction reason or a marketing reason. Maybe they sell better with more bulk? The one I really noticed was the 6208, the difference in width is amazing.

Dean
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Scout knives seem to go opposite, strangely enough. A Remington or Ulster from the 20s is significantly heftier than the modern equivalent. Granted, the old ones show off bone and steel liners, but that doesn't account for the quality difference.
 
willis said:
I recently bought an amber bone Case stockman with the CV blades.I have a bone handled 6318 I bought 25 years ago that lived in my pocket until 1999 ... it is hard to believe they came from the same company.
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Man, would I love to see some side-by-side photos.
 
I have a few Case knives from the 70's and the difference between themand new ones can sometimes be saddening. Especially when it comes to the stregnth of the backsprings.
 
I wonder why they used stainless steel for the backsprings.I also dug out a Case 61048 it is from the same year,it has a stainless hollow ground blade but has non stainless backspring.I had forgotten about this knife,when I was young and stupid I used it to open a can of corn to trout fish with and mangled and bent the edge out near the tip.I used my diamond benchstone and ground out all the waves in the edge and it is actually a pretty cool little knife.It is so light in the pocket I have even been carrying it around lately.
 
Hey guys
i,m new in the knife collecting.this may be a stupid question. when people refer to scales. what are they talking about?in reference to knives
 
rick1960 said:
Hey guys
i,m new in the knife collecting.this may be a stupid question. when people refer to scales. what are they talking about?in reference to knives
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The handle materials, on folding knives, the handle is typically 2 pieces of wood, bone, stag or plastic, one piece on either side of the knife.

I'll use this old picture of mine as a guide, this is a Buck 110 and Remington folder.

The wood handle slabs you see on each side of the knives are the scales.

PS, Welcome to blade forums!


Buck-110-Remington-back.jpg
 
rick1960 said:
Hey guys
i,m new in the knife collecting.this may be a stupid question. when people refer to scales. what are they talking about?in reference to knives
Click to expand...

If you don't know and pretend to.... thats stupid. You are not stupid for asking:D Welcome to the BF:thumbup:
 
not much of a photographer but here are some comparisons of 6318's from the XX era on up.
This is pretty much my whole collection of '18s, my favorites have a punch blade. note the different tang stampings.
 
Here are some more pics. the 2 pics on the left are a mid 80's model compared to a xx era 6318 and the 3rd pic is a '74 vintage compared to an amber bone 2001 and yes the older knives are definitely a bit thinner. I guess you could make an argument that the newer ones are built beefier, and maybe they will stand up to more abuse? I like them all and I'm just damn glad case is still building knives at all.
 
Thanks for the pics flylock.They are not beefier,those thick liners make the blades farther apart so no hand fitting is needed.One other thing I have noticed,there is a difference in the way the CV blades color up when you cut vegetables and such,the older ones discolor much quicker.A few years ago I was on an electrical crew that wired the super walmart in Radcliffe Ky.,and met a feller in his 80's who called the old case steel "black steel".
 
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