Case fit and finish

J

jurisprudence

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Jul 17, 2009
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I recently picked up a Case Bose Norfolk and a Sway Back in CV. I love both of them. The quality on both is very good, even outstanding on the Norfolk.

On the Sway Back the wharncliffe blade lightly hits the liner, resulting in small scratches. One this knife, it is not a big deal. I don't mind at all. Could be better, but for the price, I have no complaints.

The Norfolk's blades touch one another, resulting in similar scratches on the blades. This is a much nicer knife and I would be holding back if I didn't say that this issue did not bother me a little. Norfolk owners, is this your experience?

In Case's defense, the blades are on a single spring and the gap is small. I am not sure that this is an avoidable issue. Thoughts?
 
I can see the bladerub on the Sway Back but not on the Norfolk. My Norfolk has no bladerub and the three Sway Back Jacks I have don't exhibit it either.

I'm sure Case would adjust the Norflok for you. I don't think it's reasonable to have that kind of blade alignment at the price point of that knife.
 
Both of the blades on my Swayback are somewhat off center, but neither of them contact the liners.

The blades on my Norfolk are clear of the liners and one another; no rubbing anywhere. I agree with Peregrin; have Case dial it in for you. You'll be happier with the knife in the long run. They're too expensive to settle for less.

Norfolk08.jpg
 
jurisprudence said:
The Norfolk's blades touch one another, resulting in similar scratches on the blades.
Click to expand...

Do you mean the blades touch each other at rest? I would not accept that, or touching the liner either, if this is in fact the case.

Anytime you have two blades that share a spring you can get some contact between them if you push the blade laterally a little too much when opening, as opposed to being careful to just lift it straight out using the nail nick. Sometimes you might have to "pinch" the blade a little just to keep the blades from rubbing, but they definitely should not touch when closing or at rest.
 
FLymon said:
Do you mean the blades touch each other at rest? I would not accept that, or touching the liner either, if this is in fact the case.

Anytime you have two blades that share a spring you can get some contact between them if you push the blade laterally a little too much when opening, as opposed to being careful to just lift it straight out using the nail nick. Sometimes you might have to "pinch" the blade a little just to keep the blades from rubbing, but they definitely should not touch when closing or at rest.
Click to expand...

The blades are not touching at rest, but the gap is very small. I slowly opened the knife, carefully pinching the blade and opened it vertically, and there is some rubbing even when I took precautions.

When looking at the photo Rick posted (and thanks for that, Rick), I can add that the blades on my Norfolk are much closer than on Rick's, and the gap between the wharncliffe blade and the liners is larger.

Thanks for the comments.
 
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No faults at all on either of my Swaybacks, cv & stainless. A truly remarkable production knife.

The Norfolk I have displays no blade rub at all and has a very crisp snap/action.Impressive given the room to spare, I'm much less happy about a slightly raised spring on open, this annoys me a lot. Having had the knife since December I don't really feel I can send it back now.
 
The blades are purposely left with a belt ground finish because they(Case) know the blades may rub each other or the liners at some point. This is per Tony's recommendation to the guys at Case.

Generally speaking, I think the "rub issue" has crossed over from the custom market, for some reason, and people think that it's a problem. I'd say it's a problem if the blades are hard against the liner but if they inadvertantly rub a liner or blade while opening, that is a result of putting multiple blades in as small a package as possible.
 
My norfolk blades are separate at rest. If I open them w/o thought they will sometimes gently rub, but if I pull out with a touch more "straight up" they don't ever rub. I don't consider it a problem.

Send Case an e-mail, they will tell you if it can be readily fixed. I sent in an Arkansas hunter for repair and they returned it in 10 days. I got the knife back one day before the postcard from Case indicating receipt and that it would take 2 weeks. :)
 
My thoughts on the issue are that if we are going to give Case our business and pay them more for their knives than we would pay for Chinese built ones, then we have a right to expect better quality and fit and finish. I for one, will buy US, but I'm not willing to accept poor workmanship when I do. Make them fix it. The Norfolk is an expensive piece and what you describe is just plain unacceptable in my mind. They have a warranty. Use it.

Ed
 
I have never been unhappy with the fit & finish on any of my Case knives, and I have a lot of them. On the Norfolk, I might be unhappy if everything weren't perfect though, because being "perfect" is what that series of knives is about. I agree with the gentlemen above- send it in, Case will make it right.

In general, I think Case does an amazing job with their knives.
 
My chestnut swayback in CV has incredible fit and finish IMO. As good or better than any knife I own. The only criticism was the blades didn't meet my expectations of factory sharp, but that is ok as I am spoiled by Spyderco.

-Freq
 
I have a Case select tiny toothpick on the way to me. I will check it and report the issue -if there is any- in this thread.
 
TLARbb said:
My thoughts on the issue are that if we are going to give Case our business and pay them more for their knives than we would pay for Chinese built ones, then we have a right to expect better quality and fit and finish. I for one, will buy US, but I'm not willing to accept poor workmanship when I do. Make them fix it. The Norfolk is an expensive piece and what you describe is just plain unacceptable in my mind. They have a warranty. Use it.

Ed
Click to expand...

There is no poor workmanship shown in the image provided. It's a pretty darn good image showing the blades and how well they are positioned in the pocket. But, like I said, blade rubs are to be expected on these knives.

Am I going to have to sick Tony on you guys? :D
 
I will say this though, I bought a Norfolk when they first came out and I wasn't satisfied with the spring positions at half-stop (see, I am WAYYYY more pickyer than your average knifeknut) so I sent it back to Case. Actually, I left it with a Case Artisan (that's what they call the assemblers) and he took it to Bradford for service.

Long story short...if you don't like it send it back. Good luck.
 
After talking with Tony about the Norfolk's blade clearence, he reminded me that you should be able to slip a piece of paper(printer paper is good) between the blades and between blade/liners when they are closed. If you can't then they are too close and might need to be "adjusted".

It is easy to push blades(on most multiblade folders) into each other or into the liner when opening.
 
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