case questions

[SpartanSaint]

i'm seeing a Case knife on knifeworks that has me intrigued. i know they used to be a brand of quality, can the same be said of today?? it doesn't list the steel used i don't think and am slightly worried that it'll be chinese alphabet or 440abc...

anywho, its the 2011 st patty's day knife on the knifeworks homepage if you'd like to take a gander. well priced and quite the looker. just wondering what kinda steel they use and general quality

 

[yablanowitz]

The steel is either Case TruSharp stainless or Case CV carbon steel. Case has always been rather tight-lipped on what that means out here in the real world, but best guesses seem to be 1095 CroVan and 420HC respectively. My own experience has been that either is quite sufficient for what I do with this type of knife.

Overall, I've been quite pleased with Case quality over the past few years. The factory edges are still a bit hit-or-miss, but that has never really bothered me much.

 

[Planterz]

The stainless steel is pretty soft, 55-57 Rc. I think it might be 420HC, but I'm not sure of that. Sharpens easily and to a fine edge. But it definitely won't win any cardboard cutting competitions. It's really not intended to. A Case is an everyman's pocketknife, and not everybody is able to sharpen supersteels.

A stainless steel Case will always be marked SS or SSP (older) Newer knives that are in their Chrome Vanadium steel will be marked CV. Older knives that aren't marked will be in CV steel.

If edge retention is a high priority for you a Queen in D2 steel is worth looking at.