Case Tru-sharp

It's been a while since I posted to this thread, indeed since anybody posted to it, but in my original post I allowed as how I would drop a Tru-sharp knife in my pocket and carry it for a while to get an opinion of the steel.

Well, not long after making that post, I purchased a wharncliffe mini copperhead at the urging, or prodding by enabler Mack (protourist). This knife has become my favorite EDC and is more likely than anything else to be in my pocket. And many times it will be there even if I am carrying something else as well. As soon as I got it, I took it to the hones and reprofiled the bevel and sharpened it. It took a great edge.

Last Friday, I was looking at the loose assemblage of EDC knives sitting here under my monitor and decided that I would carry my Remington R14 whittler as EDC yesterday, but it needed to be sharpened so I picked it up and carried it to my workshop/junkshop (lately more junk than work) to sharpen it up. When I had it ready to go, I reached in my RF pocket and pulled out the mini copperhead so that I could touch up the edge while I was at the hones. As I tested the edge with my thumb, a smile came to my face, as it was very useably sharp. I proceeded to hit a few licks on the Norton fine india stone and then a few strops on the leather hone and it was hair popping sharp again. Tru-sharp may not be a "super steel", but it has been perfectly adequate for the things I do with my mini copperhead. I rate it "fine for my use".

Life is good with a wharncliffe mini copperhead in Tru-sharp.

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Ed
 
If the knife suits me I can live with tru sharp just fine. I do love the character a good carbon steel develops and have noticed tru sharp doesn't hold an edge as long as some steels but it's far from junk steel.
 
Nothing wrong with the Tru Sharp. It gets the job done, that's all that matters to me.
 
I have been going through some dilemmas lately as well regarding the Tru-Sharp SS and the CV Carbon.

I have been tending to go with the Carbon though as a throwback.

Its more me believing what I read around here and whatever the general thoughts are within everyone that I talk to.

I guess its also a throwback to what men carried during more simple times. I know that I can get by without a multitool and would like to carry less in my pockets.

Well, whats more of a throwback to those times than carrying a knife made of a similar steel.

Although, back then, vehicles only pretty much had manual transmissions in them, everyone knew how to drive stick, even women.

I can operate a manual transmission vehicle, but my truck has an auto.

I can ramble and rant all day about this vs. that and old ideas vs. new, but I think you guys get the idea of whats going on in my head.

I own more knives in stainless than I do in carbon steel, but whats in my pocket right now?

A large Case Stockman in CV. I just put in an order for two Case Medium Stockmans in CV, one to give to my grandfather.

His current knife is in SS (Uncle Henry Schrade). I am still kicking myself in the butt over whether that was a good idea or not. I know he'll love the knife, but hes not one to maintain things.

I am going to have to stress to him to keep the knife really sharp and to further stress that he'll need to oil the thing, but I dont know if he'll care enough about the knife to comply.
 
Nuthin at all wrong with true sharp. It's a decent steel that cuts well, holds an edge for a very resonable amount of time, and it can be touched up on any coffee cup bottom or car window in just a minute or two. It's just as good as my sak's steel, whatever Victorinox uses, and I find that good enough for day to day use. For quite a long time, my edc was my stag bone Case peanut, and it handled cutting chores quite well. :thumbup:

Carl.
 
AG Russell lists Tru-Sharp and CV with the same hardness, in the range of 54-57. It sounds like Case could up the hardness for both just a tad.
 
Im no steel expert, but I would think that if they change much in the manufacturing process (of a steel that sells really well, no less), then they would probably have to advertise it as a better steel somehow (and I don't know how).

I would think that if they went through this process, then they would have to charge a bit more per knife then they do now.

Most people don't pay attention to steel hardness and those kinds of things anyway. Most people just go on eBay or walk into a hardware store and purchase a knife that either they really like, or they think the person that they are going to gift it to will like.

Why fix what 'aint broke? They obviously sell enough knives to keep the company going and even innovating already.

Guys on this forum even still keep buying Case knives with either steel, although most here have a preference.
 
I've been pleased with my CASE knives in Tru Sharp. They work well as EDC pocket knives and give no trouble. I like cv for the patina reasons too. One thing I also approve of is the matte or brushed effect stainless, they're very useful.
 
A lot of people buy and collect Case knives without ever actually even using them. Using better steel would increase the cost and decrease the appeal to those kind of people. A lot of others who buy Case knives are hardly hardcore users like many of us are. They don't have fancy sharpening systems like Edge Pros or Sharpmakers. They don't know about steels like Elmax or S125V. They don't touch them up every night back to hair-popping sharpness. Tru-Sharp is intended to be easily sharpened by anybody, as is their CV.
 
I've grown to really like Case's Tru-Sharp. For a long while, before I found the means/skill to put a decent edge on knives, I didn't really know what to think about it. But, once my 'sharpening-challenged' issues were resolved, I found these blades can actually take and hold a very fine edge. For pure slicing tasks, as opposed to the 'sharpened prybar' type of work, they are excellent. In particular, the high hollow grind found on most of their blades (such as the clip on a stockman), makes for a fantastic steak knife.

Some will knock these blades because they feel they're too soft. But, the more I use 'em, the more I like the balance between scalpel sharpness, and the ability to maintain and restore that sharpness (very easy). Tru-Sharp does remind me of 420HC, in it's ability to take a very fine edge (as in Buck's steel of choice), albeit at a couple points lower in hardness. I can live with that, quite happily.

The ONE thing I've noticed, that some might find somewhat difficult to deal with, is the Tru-Sharp can come from the factory with some fairly significant & stubborn burrs on the edge. But, a tiny bit of TLC on a ceramic stone or rod will quickly take care of that.
 
Only my med. stockman and Mule are SS, but yes I like it a lot! Sharpens almost as easy and keeps an edge almost as long as CV; good stuff to me! Queen and Case have my favorite 420HC steels!
 
And a lady in the repair department told me that TruSharp is 420HC. I have a medium stockman in blue bone that was a birthday present from my wife so I was curious. The knife is sharp and stays sharp for a long time. So I guess I am pretty happy with TruSharp. Besides it's a Case knife made here in PA and I love that about them.

Stan
 
Spill said:
And a lady in the repair department told me that TruSharp is 420HC. I have a medium stockman in blue bone that was a birthday present from my wife so I was curious. The knife is sharp and stays sharp for a long time. So I guess I am pretty happy with TruSharp. Besides it's a Case knife made here in PA and I love that about them.

Stan
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That's been figured for a while, nice to confirm. My problem is that they run it so soft. Granted, it sharpens easily, but one point on the Rockwell wouldn't change that but could make a big difference in edge holding.
 
My little red Cheetah Cub has been getting some carry time as of late. I haven't found it lacking. Sharpens up nicely (even with my remedial sharpening skills) and holds an edge for a week or two or cubicle drone work. I like the way carbon looks with a nice patina but there really isn't anything wrong with Tru-Sharp.

Frank
 
TLARbb said:
I think if you survey the Case catalog, you will find that Tru-Sharp is used in about 2/3 of their available catalog knives. Now they wouldn't be making that many if they weren't selling and they wouldn't be selling that many if it wasn't more popular amoung users.

I like stainless steel, if it is a good steel. I'm betting that Case is not using junk on their knives and that if it is not as good as the CV, then it is pretty darn close.
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I'm glad I found this thread. I feel much better about ordering a SS Case now. I had been avoiding it, but the logic here, and the feedback from everyone else has really swayed me.

I think I'll make my first Peanut a SS in Rough Black.
 
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