Case recent quality examples & ordering unseen

Will Power said:
Good post Buzz. I agree on the thin grinds, fine slicers but they don't hold an edge too well, I actually find RR's stainless superior in retention. CASE could improve steel quality, GEC is besotted by 1095 and seems to ignore other carbons and stainless these days, not good for the future I'd say.

Some of the cheaper CASE knives are still real bargains, the Big Stockman in Amber Bone cv comes to mind and the as ground Slimline Trapper and the Pen bladed Stockman and Penknife.

Some say blade rub is inherent on multi blades, don't agree it's due to assembly precision/design. Most of my GEC knives are free of it, most of my CASE knives exhibit it but it doesn't impact on W&T, doesn't matter on carbon or as ground stainless as you hardly see it, mirror polished blades look nasty with it. But then, GEC costs a load more than CASE and has small numbers so one expects better build. I'm interested by what you observed on patina/rust. CASE cv patinas evenly and a nice dark grey comes along quite quickly, similar to Böker Germany c75 carbon. GEC really can show red rust spots, uneven patina and even pitting so their steel is requiring more care&attention than the CASE equivalent in my experience. I also like the fact that CASE uses stainless backsprings on their carbon knives, you can get a lot of internal corrosion from brass/carbon springs. GEC's all steel construction springs whilst being corrosion prone are really impressively tight in construction and gap free and I prefer them to the brass carbon cocktail.

So many variables, fortunately!
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Good post agree on the above. They make good knives but there are some great ones mixed in as well. With some that sometimes slip through QC. As for the blade rub the only Multi blade I've had that has no blade rub is the Queen you've saw. It's find doesn't bother me especially on case knives bc you only see it when the light hits it
 
I'd recommend the Deep Canyon burnt bone if anyone wanting a new Case it's a new model and looks sweet and I like the XX stamped on the bolster with no shield. Only come in SS I much prefer their CV but the SS is fine. A lot of patterns of it too. They are :
Cheetah
Mini trapper
Medium stockman
Panama (next case buy )
Trapper Peanut
Doctor's Knife
Peanut
 
The best thing about the ones I checked out were nice sharp pointy tips imo. Did they change their blade tumbling process or was it just my case knives that always had near blunt tips
 
Interesting that people cite blade-rub with GEC,

I'm very fond of single-spring two blade knives, and here I can find no blade rub fault with any of my GEC 33 Conductors (3) 68 White Owls (5) 57 Half Whitt, 79 Workhorse, 13 Clerk and a Northwoods Norfolk I used to own. I don't like GEC Stockmans, too bloated for my taste except the 82 Dixie for its exceptional blade-selection and low riding blades but these rub! The 38 three blade Whittlers don't. But then, nor do my Queen D2 Whittlers or 26 Stockman. Whereas, most of my CASE Stockmen do, all the Penknives, Half Whittlers /single-spring) and even the CASE/Bose Norfolk rubs and that cost me a mint....

However, most CASE knives are reasonable and you certainly do get very good ones, ones you're likely to like for life too!
 
I have purchased quite a few Case knives in the past 6 months as gifts. All ordered over the web sight unseen, all new.

All have been Chrome Vanadium models, and super sharp. No gaps, with well fitted covers. Jigging very nice.

A Case trapper in amber jig bone, a sodbuster jr. In Chestnut, and 4 peanuts in both yellow delrin and chestnut bone.

The action on the trapper is a little weak, maybe a 3-4 on pull, the sod jr. Is a 4, and all the peanuts have had nice pulls like a 6. The peanuts are proud at half stop a bit, but very nice. I feel liek knives with half stop always have nicer action then ones without half stop.

The sodbuster jr. Has one cover that is dark brown, and one that is almost red. Its weird, but i couldnt decide between red bone and chestnut bone when ordered, so the knife trolls sent me a knife with one cover in each color! I think I like it, but very mismached color wise.

These case knives seem a bargain, solidly made, and all were around 30-35 dollars each. Not as nice as a GEC, but a 12 year old kid doesnt need a GEC. Maybe when they are 40!
 
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I give Case and GEC a pass on multi blade rub since it is pretty common with two blades on one spring. I have a couple large stockman from Case and Queen that do not suffer from rub, I guess there’s more room to fit the blades? Oh and my Case Bose cattle knife so far seems immune.

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A few fresh pics.

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Without doubt they are a great company that brings forth a great and well made product. I particularly enjoy their stockmans since GEC won't make any.

I have got one amber stockman without handling and it has really soft back springs. Other than that it's perfectly fine.
 
I have a 70 yo Schrade premium stockman with very worn bone and beat blades, so it's seen a lot of use, but excellent walk and talk and no blade rub. I don't think it's the pattern, but the the specific design or it's execution. Case in point being the Bose design/build having no problems.
 
I've bought a number of Case knives over the past nine months and I've been quite pleased with all of them. They range from 2013 to 2017 production, plus one from 1988 (brought from a local store who acquired it from a collector). I wouldn't say that any of them are perfect (my 2013 Case Select mini trapper is indistinguishable from perfect though, and my TB-designed swaybacks aren't far off either), but they are darn good! All but one was bought in person and I've yet to inspect one in a store and identify any serious issues. My two stockmans have blade rub, my seahorse whittler has blade rub, and my mini copperhead has blade rub, but I'm not going to let it bother me. Out of the box I've found blades usually to have a bit of a bur and grinds aren't always even, but that's all fixable and sharpening is part of the fun of knife ownership. Cover to bolster fit-up is typically very good. I'm convinced that mismatched cover dye jobs is "a feature, not a bug" for Case. :p
 
It's no secret that I'm a fan of Case they've been a part of my life for decades. That said for several years they just plain had poor QC and it was a shot in the dark getting a good one at least that was my experience however in the last few years to me it seems they have really stepped up their game. I still see gaps in the liners, poor dye jobs, blade play and I agree with Buzz the wire edge is a problem and even when I sharpen one they tend to roll up a wire edge rather than a burr. You can find them however that are near perfect. I think that some if not all of the problems stem from the shear volume of knives they produce and workers trying to reach production numbers. I do support them with purchases because I may be wrong but it seems that the traditional pattern knife market is shrinking and the fact they still make their knives in the good old USA is important to me and yes it does make me cringe a bit when I see an iconic USA knife maker like Buck sporting a foreign country's name stamped on the tang. In the last couple of years we've saw the demise of Canal Street and Queen and we all know what has happened to other iconic USA makers like Schrade, Camillus and so on. I have learned to live with their dyeing and also like Buzz I've learned to tighten, adjust and otherwise compensate for things I just can't live with and just live with the things I can overlook. I do like GEC's offerings and this may not be popular but they also have their problem even though I feel they are making the most consistently least flawed US made traditional patterns today. I would love for more traditional USA makers to open up production companies so we could have more choices but I don't really think that's going to happen so I will continue to buy Case knives and mumble about how much better they could be.
 
r redden said:
and this may not be popular but they also have their problem even though I feel they are making the most consistently least flawed US made traditional patterns today.
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Agreed. GEC is at the top of the game right now, but they do indeed have their issues. Every Case knife I've bought, over the last few years, has come much sharper than your average GEC, and none of them have had any problems with proud tips or blade rap, which frequently afflict GECs. In those respects, Case is light years ahead. Those differences shouldn't be minimized either, as they are real world functional knife issues. If you're planning on putting your new knife in your pocket and using it, and not just placing it in your pretty collector's case, all three of these problems will effect you.
 
I’ve got only two Case knives, mini copperlock clip point in cv, and a large copperlock wharncliffe in ss. F&F on both is good, not as clean and tight as on GEC but still good. Both have smoother action and better lock up than my Lockback GEC’s, no wiggle either. I bought both online as in Winnipeg there’s pretty much no knife dealers that carry traditional knives and not much in the way of moderns either. The red dyed bone on my mini had pink sections and got an extra red dye job from me and looks great now. I haven’t used the Large enough to comment much on the ss, but so far so good. Factory edge was good, touched it up once back to shave sharp. The mini in CV has seen more action, bought it to carry on a trip, (convinced myself I needed a new knife for it, lol!) it was the only knife I had for the week out on the west coast. Went out with nothing more than a touched up factory edge that lasted the trip. No corrosion issues being near saltwater but I wasn’t using it on the beach for much either, just usual edc stuff. Since then, it has been properly sharpened and seems to be a little more corrosion resistant than GEC’s 1095 but sacrificing a bit of edge retention. One of these days I plan to pick up another Case, slippy this time rather than another lockback. Just waiting for one to really catch my eye.
 
I can't speak to GEC as I have never owned on (too expensive as I am a knife user, not a collector). That said I currently own about 30 Case knives of various types types and the only ones with blade rub are the 6318 & 63032 medium Stockman. I have CV and stainless and all will take a hair popping razor edge that's easy to keep sharp. Edge retention has never been an issue. How much edge retention do you really need in a pocket knife that mostly is used to open mail, packages and other generally light duty. The hardest work mine do is some wood carving and again no issues. The only non-American made knives I own are Victorinox SAK's because there are no US made SAKs.
 
supratentorial said:
There's a difference between accepting that Rough Rider knives have faults and denying the existence of the faults. It is also not a fair representation when Rough Rider gets recommended without concern and prospective buyers are warned against buying Case knives. Unless the goal is to put another US manufacturer out of business, I don't see any purpose in it.

Here's a photo of the pearl.
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I'm not surprised, you get what you pay for. With a Case you generally get what you pay for too, better than an RR (apparently, I don't own one), a bit below a GEC. I've been satisfied with my online purchases.
 
Will Power said:
Interesting that people cite blade-rub with GEC,

I'm very fond of single-spring two blade knives, and here I can find no blade rub fault with any of my GEC 33 Conductors (3) 68 White Owls (5) 57 Half Whitt, 79 Workhorse, 13 Clerk and a Northwoods Norfolk I used to own. I don't like GEC Stockmans, too bloated for my taste except the 82 Dixie for its exceptional blade-selection and low riding blades but these rub! The 38 three blade Whittlers don't. But then, nor do my Queen D2 Whittlers or 26 Stockman. Whereas, most of my CASE Stockmen do, all the Penknives, Half Whittlers /single-spring) and even the CASE/Bose Norfolk rubs and that cost me a mint....

However, most CASE knives are reasonable and you certainly do get very good ones, ones you're likely to like for life too!
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Just remembered I have one of the 373 Buck Chinese small trios and it has no blade rub at all. If a $20 Chinese knife has no rub other more expensive USA knives shouldn't either
 
Elgatodeacero said:
I have purchased quite a few Case knives in the past 6 months as gifts. All ordered over the web sight unseen, all new.

All have been Chrome Vanadium models, and super sharp. No gaps, with well fitted covers. Jigging very nice.

A Case trapper in amber jig bone, a sodbuster jr. In Chestnut, and 4 peanuts in both yellow delrin and chestnut bone.

The action on the trapper is a little weak, maybe a 3-4 on pull, the sod jr. Is a 4, and all the peanuts have had nice pulls like a 6. The peanuts are proud at half stop a bit, but very nice. I feel liek knives with half stop always have nicer action then ones without half stop.

The sodbuster jr. Has one cover that is dark brown, and one that is almost red. Its weird, but i couldnt decide between red bone and chestnut bone when ordered, so the knife trolls sent me a knife with one cover in each color! I think I like it, but very mismached color wise.

These case knives seem a bargain, solidly made, and all were around 30-35 dollars each. Not as nice as a GEC, but a 12 year old kid doesnt need a GEC. Maybe when they are 40!
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Most people it seems have had very good experience over the last few years seems pretty telling that they've Stepped up their game
 
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