Case Slimlock QC Fiasco

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I bought a Slimlock in smooth ebony online. Upon arrival I immediately discovered several problems:
1. Sharp protruding edge on bolster. The design seems kind of prone to this problem, I could fix it myself if I had to.

2. The liner lock is extremely loose; the locking side goes completely across and touches the other liner. This causes some pretty serious vertical blade play.

3. The tip of the blade contacts the rear spacer when closed.

4. The blade is not completely sharpened. There is 1/4" to 3/8" at the base that has a flat edge.

I've heard good things about Case customer service, so I immediately sent it in with the card explaining each problem.
They returned it about two months later without a single modification.

I am going to call customer service tomorrow. They may still redeem themselves on this knife, but I am done with Case.

So it goes.
 
Hate it, but I stopped buying Case knives a while ago, unless it's in person and I handle and inspect it first, over similar reasons. Not gonna pay those prices for knives I can see daylight between the liners and backsprings and lots of other little flaws.
 
I can't believe they've got BG-42 blades. That's kinda an odd selection of blade steel in the scheme of things today. Not that it's bad steel or anything, it's just not that common these days on a production knife.
 
Bear Claw Chris Lappe said:
Hate it, but I stopped buying Case knives a while ago, unless it's in person and I handle and inspect it first, over similar reasons. Not gonna pay those prices for knives I can see daylight between the liners and backsprings and lots of other little flaws.
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Same here. If I can't handle a Case knife then I don't want it.

Made in the USA doesn't mean a thing if Americans are being lazy at what they do. I thought the QC from Case was getting better, but after my last three tries, I gave up. The first was a stockman with a punch blade that I had to force closed. The second was a Trapperlock that when I squeeze the handle to cut anything the liner lock disengages because the indent is cut too deep. Thirdly, a russlock with a half dyed scale. I have also had multiple uneven grinds, the same bolster problem as the op, weak springs with little or no snap, blade play and space between liners. I'd take GEC any day if I want an affordable US made slippie.
 
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iamtoast said:
Who is gec?
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Great Eastern Cutlery. Good stuff.

I had a similar issue with a Boker Double Tree trapperliner. It seemed that everything was polished too much. The blade opened past full open. Perhaps it has something to do with adding all the new-fangled options onto old patterns.
 
Great Eastern does a great job, some people say it's because of their small output from the shop. Buck and Case have let some stinkers out, I would think more care would be given to their higher end Slimlocks. BG42 and higher end handle materials, along with a liner lock, would be higher tolerances.

Unfortunately, if you look at a certain catalog, well, this is TGBU, Smoky Mtn, most of the offerings from Case are stylized handles and SS blades. A lot of their current production is meant to be displayed on a shelf. I am still buying their Bose annual collaborations. However, I got rid of a lot of my regular line Bose collaborations, because of the SS steel. Great designs, that I am currently looking for with CV blades. Seems like their CV models are produced to use, rather than put on a shelf. Just my opinion, I still like Case, but if I want a using knife, I go for a GEC.
 
The issues you list are absolutely inexcusable for a knife in the price range of the Case Slimlock.
I am interested t see how this plays out.
 
Last time I bought Case (late last year or early this year), I spent some money on a pair of Doctor's knives. They came to me so loose that they rattled when folded.

When I discussed it here, some people tried to convince me that I bought counterfeits. No. I purchased shoddy products that Case should never have allowed into a Customer's hands.

Won't be buying Case for a long time, if ever again.
 
I am sorry to hear this. They can make some great knives, but sounds like there is a QC issue in effect, with low morale.
 
This is the first time I've heard of someone sending a knife back to Case, and them not taking care of it. They are great at taking care of their customers. I'm thinking it was a human error mistake, and got sent back without getting looked at.

I've only had a problem with 1 Case, out of over 100, and it came back perfect.

What did they say when you called ?
 
From what i've seen,that slimlock is either great or crap.It's a fairly new design i like,but they seem to have trouble getting it out correctly consistently.It seems they are more interested in production numbers than quality which is not good.
 
With the holidays and my hectic schedule, I just now got around to calling Case. They were appologetic and asked me to send the knife back. Supposedly I will go to the front of the line and not have to wait 8 weeks.

We'll see if they make it good, I have high hopes.
 
They sent it back within 2 weeks with the major issues fixed. I re-profiled the blade and deburred the bolster myself.
But now the lock is getting loose again and the blade can touch the back spacer if you push just a little bit.
That's it, I am not buying any (new) Case knives ever again. They were awful nice on the phone, and I'm sure they would let me send it in again, but three strikes is it.

I am happy with the blade steel, it holds a great edge.
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Unfortunately, if you look at a certain catalog, well, this is TGBU, Smoky Mtn, most of the offerings from Case are stylized handles and SS blades. A lot of their current production is meant to be displayed on a shelf. I am still buying their Bose annual collaborations. However, I got rid of a lot of my regular line Bose collaborations, because of the SS steel. Great designs, that I am currently looking for with CV blades. Seems like their CV models are produced to use, rather than put on a shelf. Just my opinion, I still like Case, but if I want a using knife, I go for a GEC.
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Interesting you mention that. I happened to be viewing SMKW a few days ago and it seems to me that they're offering a lot more Case knives in CV (and a lot more traditional pocket knives in 1095 overall) than they have for a long time. I'm not sure what that's all about nor do I know if it means that Case's QC has improved. Case knives aren't really my thing. But I did buy a stainless Copperlock a few years back just to have a Case knife in my collection and it's F&F is OK.
 
I have several case knives. Quality control has been hit or miss for me. What I have noticed is that their more traditional models like the trapper's, stockman, and some of the other slippies seem to have good qc. But any model that has a liner lock has very poor qc. I have two mid folding hunters, a russlock, and have had several trapper locks that all had issues witheir lockup and bad blade play. I have sent a few case knives in for repair and case has always come through and fixed them. But it was definitely annoying to have to send the knives in. I also agree that their cv models seem to be better. I have several and each one was great.
 
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