Case Slimline Trapper problem, Yes or No? Opinions welcome.

The marks on the back of the Tang are shear marks left from the blade stamping process. There are two methods used in modern knife manufacturing to make a blade blank. One is water jet cutting. The other is stamping. Most companies use either/or process depending on certain variables such as blade type, steel type, number of blades blanks to be made etc..... A youtube video of the Case Factory Tour shows their stamping machine. It stamps MANY blade blanks at once, I'm guessing 100. This area of a knife blade, on most production knives, is not finished simply because there is no need to.
 
I've got a few Case knives and they all look comparable. Now if the spring is proud when the blade is open or shut, then that would give me cause to send it in. Otherwise, great looking knife. My boy's favorite color is purple, so I may have to get him one in that handle color. Looks really sharp.
 
Most of my case knives that that issue with the tang. On a $40 knife I tend to accept a knife with a few flaws. None of the ones listed are deal breakers for me personally although YMMV.

I'm holding a Case 6992 in my hand and it has the issue with the tang, two off center blades (neither rub) and a cracked scale on the back. I don't know if Case shipped it with a cracked scale or if did it later but it seems stable. I'll send it back to them one day if a chunk ever falls off.
 
Thanks for all of the responses guys! I guess what I thought was a flaw is not necessarily so. I incorrectly assumed that the tangs were milled, so I thought maybe they had broken an end mill while cutting this one. Since the blade is stamped (I'll have to check out the video), I guess the roughness can be considered "normal". Case fans may assume that I was being too critical of the knife, but I was trying not to be. I didn't know what I should have expected, which is why I asked you guys. (And the responses seemed to be pretty evenly divided.)

(By the way, I checked on returns, and I would have to pay to ship it back either to Case or the Dealer and, if the tangs are all pretty much the same, there is no point.)

Also, judging by the some of the responses, Case must have improved their customer service. The only other slip-joint folder I own is a Case Masonic Stockman that I bought some years ago. When I received it, I noticed that the main blade's spine is not in line with the back of the knife when fully open. It is actually angled downward when open. I emailed Case a couple of times to ask them if that was normal, and I never got any response at all. (That bothered me more than the possibility of a problem.) Since I already have this thread open, can you guys tell me whether it's normal for a Stockman's main blade to look like this when open? (See below) It's the only Stockman I have, so I have nothing to compare it too.







 
^^I think that's typical for the current 6347 pattern stockman from Case (I'm seeing 3 springs on yours, so assuming it's the '47). I have an orange G10-handled version of the same pattern, and the clip blade looks to have the same 'slant' to it; virtually identical, in fact.

It's possible to file/grind down the back of the tang a bit (where it contacts the spring end), in order to straighten the lines. But, if doing so, there's also a chance that the backspring will lower below flush to the liners in the process. I've done this to a 6220 CV Peanut of mine, and the spring sunk a bit.


David
 
Thanks David. I keep the knife in a display cabinet, so I won't try to adjust it. The alignment looked a bit odd to me, so I just wanted to know if that was normal.
 
Chris Meyer said:
Thanks David. I keep the knife in a display cabinet, so I won't try to adjust it. The alignment looked a bit odd to me, so I just wanted to know if that was normal.
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I think you might be inspecting these knives too closely. Many times, if you look for a flaw, you will indeed find one or more, but, you might be expecting too much from a mid priced production knife. Things like a perfectly centered blade, flush backsprings in all positions, and extremely tight tolerances are normally found in custom knives or high end production knives!

All of those quality things, which we all like to see, take added time and add to the cost of production. Sometimes you will get that in a mid priced production, other times not.

I will lend you some advice, since you asked for opinions:

This has been said before by myself and many others, but, especially with a Case knife, buy the knife in person and inspect it before you buy. I have gone through a dozen boxes of the same knife to get the Case knife I want, which includes the higher end Case/Bose knives. I have ordered a few online and was disappointed almost every time, but, never with a store purchase. I have often wondered if the dealers mail out the lesser quality knives and keep the better ones for their in person customers. If you are talking a bone handle, then all the more reason to see the actual knife before purchasing. ;)

Most of the customers of a standard production knife would not even know to look for these things you are noticing. A nice fit of cover material to bolster, a non-rubbing blade(s), and a nicely working knife is about all most people ever look for.

Get you some old antique knives and try to work them into shape. You will learn a lot and understand that cosmetics can be tricky. When you go back to fooling with your new knives, they will seem different and you most likely will not be as critical. As long as the knife has a nice overall appearance and works properly, that is about all that one should expect from a standard production pocket knife.

Best regards,
Primble
 
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I have bought case knives sight unseen for a number of years with no problems. I do not expect perfection, on low priced models I don't even expect a centered blade, just one that doesn't rub. I do expect it to be useable, and for case/bose pretty :). Not yet been disappointed.
 
brownshoe said:
I have bought case knives sight unseen for a number of years with no problems. I do not expect perfection, on low priced models I don't even expect a centered blade, just one that doesn't rub. I do expect it to be useable, and for case/bose pretty :). Not yet been disappointed.
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+1 This is my experience also.
 
The two identical slim line trappers I have have similar defects as the OP with gaps etc. but the blades are centered. One I have used for 38 years the other for about half as long. Cosmetics aside, this Case model is one of the most useful. For the price you can't get a better work knife. That said, I'm not impressed with the fit and finish of most of Case's low to mid-range offerings.
 
Unfortunately, being able to inspect/handle a Case knife in person isn't always an option for everyone. Case knives are not always easy to find in brick and mortar stores. They are easier to find in stores in some parts of the country than in others. Even as a kid in the '70s, I had never heard of a Case knife; around where I grew up, it was Schrade, Ka-Bar, Buck, Colonial, and some Camillus...not to mention Vic and Wenger SAKs. I never even heard of Case knives until the '90s. And non-SAK slipjoints in general are not sold everywhere.

My advice: If for some reason you can't handle/inspect a Case knife in person, try to order from a reputable online seller who understands knives and will check it for you beforehand. Often that means a phone call before you order. Have a short list beforehand of things you want them to check for you while on the phone. I've done that, and have ordered 3 Case knives online with no problems. Besides a medium stockman with a high-sitting sheepsfoot when closed, which is more of a design issue than an actual flaw, which can be remedied very gradually myself (thanks to advice from arizonaranchman and others here on the forum).

Jim
 
It looks pretty identical to my yellow cv slimline trapper.

Are these things flaws? I say some are. The real question it how much you're willing to tolerate. The remnant from the blanking process on the inner tang is no big deal... fairly common. That being said, $15 SAKs offer cleaned up tangs on all the implements. The line from the handle is not contiguous with the spine of the blade when opened. AFAIK, that's the way this design is. Kinda clumsy looking IMO, perhaps a design flaw, but not a manufacturing flaw. Spring is slightly proud when opened. Yeah, that's a flaw, though I can live with it. Off center blade, ditto.

Case breaks my heart sometimes. It's galling to know an $8 Rough Rider can outclass a Case costing several times as much, yet nobody would tolerate the fit & finish of Rough Rider knives if they exhibited the same flaws. Case QC is indifferent. They (usually... don't get me started...) can be counted on to get functional knives out the door. But that's about all. Why do you do me like that, Case? It's not so much that these things are or are not flaws. It's that we know now, with budget level overseas competition carving out a reputation for itself, that Case can do so much better. It's like they think we're all a bunch of chumps, and will continue buying the Beany Baby knives because USA! USA! or something. They are the way they are because they don't have to be better.
 
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I have those shear marks on many of my traditional knives including Italian autos of good quality like "Othello" and others. Stamping out blades is less expensive and time consuming than water jet, or laser cutting. I don't know where the cutoff is but there are steels that can't be stamped out due to toughness or wear resistance. I don't think you are going to see any CPM M4 blades stamped out but steels like 420HC, as well as 420j, the sandvik razor steels etc. all seem to get stamped.

I read that one company ( non traditional) who is a vendor for a company was asked to make some ZDP 189 blades. They didn't have water jet or laser cutter so they had to go to a 420 clad zdp blade to get it to stamp out. The other ones the company released in ZDP that were not clad were made by a vendor who didn't rely on stamping and used a laser or water jet.

The gouges and burrs look like tearing of the steel to me. Burrs can be cleaned up pretty easy by grinding but a gouge in the steel pretty much can only have sharp edges knocked off. The ones in the picture of the OP's Case would need a lot of removing of steel to grind that out. So much it would make it useless for fitting in the knife.

I have some that have been like that for a couple decades. They smooth up a bit but don't change all that much.

Joe
 
I have been told by a very successful Cutler that D2 Tool Steel must be Water Jet Cut as it is somewhat brittle.
 
FWIW - I checked my yellow cv slimline trapper last nite and it is quite smooth in that area.....
 
For a $40 knife, I just expect that it's mechanically sound, is fairly clean, and no blade rub..... the imperfections noted are pretty normal for that knife. You are looking at it like it's a custom knife that you paid 10 times as much.

IMO, if you don't like the knife, send it back for a refund and don't buy another without first inspecting.
 
Please don't misunderstand me, I have nothing against Case Knives. They are an American Made product, which is a good thing. Good Jobs for American Workers! Having said that....Modern Case Knives are mass produced by the thousands. Mostly by automated machinery. They are what they are. This is not the Case Knife of the 1930's.
 
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