Case Curly Maple

[AFAustin]

I’'ve long admired the Case knives in curly maple but have never owned one. Seems that the ones I take a fancy to are usually a little high priced for my budget. The other day, though, I lucked into a couple of curly maple trappers—---a full size and a Slimline— which I got for a bargain price, likely due to all the grunge they had accumulated over the years. The full size is a 1991 model and the Slimline a 1990, and although they still had their factory edges and appeared little used, just sitting around for 25-26 years with no TLC will definitely take a toll.

So I got the knives for a song and set to work —beginning with lots of cleaning and polishing. While most Case slipjoints are tumble polished and have mirror finishes on the blades, these knives had very sharp spines and tangs, and satin finished ("as ground" in Case terminology) blades. The sharp corners were too much for my tastes so I smoothed out the spines and tangs a bit, but I really like the "as ground" blade finish (and it sure helps with the fingerprints!). The blades are deeply hollow ground and quite thin behind the edge, and they sharpened up nicely.

I’'m really pleased with these two and glad I finally got a chance to own some Case curly maple. I’d love to see pics if anyone has some curly maple they’d like to share, so please post ‘em.

Thanks for reading and looking.

Andrew

 

[bt93]

Those are nice, look like they're fresh out of the box.

 

[HWS]

I really like the curly maple look also. I picked up this green died curly maple Case peanut. It is hard to show in a picture but when held in the sun and moved back and forth, the contrasting grain patterns light up and flash back and forth like they are irridescent.

 

[AlwaysTomboy]

I really like the curly maple look also. I picked up this green died curly maple Case peanut. It is hard to show in a picture but when held in the sun and moved back and forth, the contrasting grain patterns light up and flash back and forth like they are irridescent.

I'm a sucker for anything green and/or striped and have been wondering if the green curly maple is as stripey looking as it is in retailer product photos. Good to know it is. Now just need to decide between the peanut and teardrop...

(Sent from iPod)

 

[Wurrwulf]

Beautiful examples you have there, AFAustin.

I find it to be a bit bland when you're looking at it indoors. It does "pop" a little more in the sunlight, though. I initially planned to get all of the Green Curly Maples, but I'm not completely sold on the covers.

 

[AlwaysTomboy]

Thanks for the extra photo and info. If I'm being honest, I'd be okay with it if it was plain solid green. Stripes are a bonus. :thumbup:

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I like the looks of those dyed curly maples, both those pretty greens and also the blues I've seen pics of.

Andrew

 

[Cory Hess]

I don't know that I've seen the curly maple Case knives before this. Those look great! Congrats on all of them, natural and green alike, and thanks for sharing.