- Joined
- Nov 27, 1998
- Messages
- 2,602
I have a thing for Wharnies and Whittlers, so it's no surprise that I've been eyeballin' Case's shapely Seahorse pattern for a while now, but I tend to avoid stainless factory slippies as a general rule of thumb, and Tru-Sharp has never really grabbed me, performance wise. Like many of you, I'd be all over a SeaVeeHorse, but Rob Thomas' pattern-welded 1075/nickel will have to do.
F&F is good for Case; the action is snappy and smooth all around now that the grungy black mystery compound has been cleaned out of the joints with the help of a few drops of oil. The blade points are well-seated when closed, pulls are an average firm '5', nailnicks are well-placed, and the double springs are more or less flush both open and closed with no halfstops. The design employs a tiny catch bit rather than the more labor-intensive wedged center divider used in true split-backspring whittlers, but the parallel double-spring arrangement sure beats a bulky three-spring faux-whittler design.
I had the dealer hand-select a sample with decent stag scales, and I'm reasonably happy with the result, especially given Case's so-so burnt stag quality these days. There are few tight, stable-looking cracks on the front scale, but I can live with that. The nondescript Case shield is glued, rather than pinned, as usual.
The blades have a smooth as-ground finish with nice crisp swedges that are much more comfortable and refined than the rough, sharp-edged as-ground G-10 Case knives, and the grinds have far better definition than the blurred lines of their tumbled blades. All blade came sharp but wire-edged; a quick and easy fix.
The knife weighs-in at 2.5oz, and it's just a CH short of 4" closed with a thick (0.15"!) and stubby 2.4" master blade. The 1.5" coping and pen blades are thin, flexible and somewhat delicate. The long, tapering handle is a 1/2" thick at its widest point. It feels great in use with any of the three blades, and offers plenty of finger room and better-than-average leverage over the angled edge of that stout Wharncliffe blade.
F&F is good for Case; the action is snappy and smooth all around now that the grungy black mystery compound has been cleaned out of the joints with the help of a few drops of oil. The blade points are well-seated when closed, pulls are an average firm '5', nailnicks are well-placed, and the double springs are more or less flush both open and closed with no halfstops. The design employs a tiny catch bit rather than the more labor-intensive wedged center divider used in true split-backspring whittlers, but the parallel double-spring arrangement sure beats a bulky three-spring faux-whittler design.
I had the dealer hand-select a sample with decent stag scales, and I'm reasonably happy with the result, especially given Case's so-so burnt stag quality these days. There are few tight, stable-looking cracks on the front scale, but I can live with that. The nondescript Case shield is glued, rather than pinned, as usual.
The blades have a smooth as-ground finish with nice crisp swedges that are much more comfortable and refined than the rough, sharp-edged as-ground G-10 Case knives, and the grinds have far better definition than the blurred lines of their tumbled blades. All blade came sharp but wire-edged; a quick and easy fix.
The knife weighs-in at 2.5oz, and it's just a CH short of 4" closed with a thick (0.15"!) and stubby 2.4" master blade. The 1.5" coping and pen blades are thin, flexible and somewhat delicate. The long, tapering handle is a 1/2" thick at its widest point. It feels great in use with any of the three blades, and offers plenty of finger room and better-than-average leverage over the angled edge of that stout Wharncliffe blade.
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