Case - Mod Question

[Old Hunter]

Over my years of collecting the 18 pattern Case (smaller Medium Stockman version of the 63047) I have noted a lot of variation in the blade cant. Top photo shows various examples while the bottom photo shows the two extremes in my collection at the time I took the photo (newer examples are almost always straighter than older ones and the older ones have wider main blades as well). Visually I like it a bit straighter, but in cutting I find the canted blade seems to move right into the cut easier. I'm thinking some cant was designed into the pattern, especially the Spey blade - never seen one align with the spine. OH

 

[Slice-and-dice]

I love the '47! Great knife.... but the only feature I would change is described in this post. The excessive blade cant. Now, if I use the long blade, the clip, to cut some types of food, like bread or cooked meat, its actually great to have the angle. For other cuts that rely on the length of the blade I have to slightly dip my wrist, so that the plane of my hand is bent back to compensate for the angle of the blade. Its a weird feeling, and occasionally in delicate work makes me select another blade. No big deal. The obvious concern of a forward tilting blade it that you never get comfortable stabbing with it as it feels like it will close on your hand - Cutting yes, stabbing to puncture something, not so much.

 

[JM2]

That's how they look, but shouldn't , it is not a " feature " that most blades should have, and it's something I cannot stand or remotely live with.
It's just how Case makes them, but it's not intentional, and there is conscious a change they need to make to eliminate this.

There is a limit to what can be done without taking the knife apart , but it can be adressed to some degree.
You will end up with a sunken spring when open , and on a knife this canted it will be significant if you take out as much cant as you can, but it sure beats the hell out of an atrociously canted blade.


What I do is carefully hold the blade open at an angle, and use the flat face of a dremel cutting disk ( usually the fine thin little wafer disks ) to take the corner off the spine like this.
View attachment 2952656

This knife needed a decent amount so the spring is quite sunken.
View attachment 2952659
View attachment 2952660
But the blade is perfectly parallel now and it was more than worth it.
View attachment 2952661

This one only needed a tiny bit and the spring barely sunk at all, I don't even notice it.
View attachment 2952663
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Just be careful if you take too much the blade will have up and down play.

I do this mod too. I use the small sanding discs, though. I use 2 discs to give the one I'm using some backing, and by reversing the bottom disc, so that there is grit on both top and bottom, I have a different angle to work with if need be.

I don't mind a sunken spring (I can't stand a proud spring though). I take some very fine sandpaper and ease the edges of the liners so it's not uncomfortable when using the knife.

I tape the bolsters to try to avoid hitting them with the sanding discs. Then, I sand and polish the bolsters to remove any marks if need be.