Finish on Case Peanut buffalo horn

A

addylo

Joined
Oct 28, 2009
Messages
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Just took delivery of a Case Peanut today in buffalo horn and I am thoroughly underwhelmed with the finish.

I would not expect the grooves and pits in the horn to be polished but should they really look this rough? I was looking forward to my first buffalo horn hoping it would be attractive but this does not meet expectations.

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Also, the blade is nowhere near centered but I'm starting to expect that from Case since none of the three I own are centered. Here it is shown with another Peanut. I guess this is common and bugs me less than the finish.

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Are the grooves and pits you are talking about jigging?
I like it. Perhaps it is different in person.
 
Looks bad to me. However, from looking at some other pics online, the handles do seem to look like that. The blade centering and the scratches on the blade on a new knife would be enough for me to send it back.
 
I don't care for the handles. But it doesn't look much different than the promotional photos, which I don't like either.

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Not sure why they would jig buffalo horn, especially in such an uneven manner and on such a small knife. Guess they thought someone would like it.
 
Not sure what I can do with this one other than chalk it up as a lesson learned. It came from the Bay as a "final, no return" so I get what I deserve. I'll use it either way.
 
At first I thought your buffalo knife had a bit of 'bark' on it, which would have been cool. I was dismayed to read that the 'treatment' was deliberate.
 
Case is a great idea on "paper" but a less satisfying reality. For the money I get more out of old used knives or Rough Riders.
Good steel, fun patterns, but "OK" workmanship and NOT "OK" prices.
 
I have a Back Pocket with that same jigging on buffalo horn. It's a sort of "random straight" wormgroove jigging. The Back Pocket's scales have enough surface to make it look good. However, the knife new out of the box had that yellowish crud sticking in the grooves. Took some patience, tooth picks and mineral oil to get it fairly clean (it is a residue of some sort). Looks much better now. IMO, they should have left out that jigging on the Peanut... Smooth shiny black buffalo horn scales would have been a treat !
 
Buffalo Horn can have streaks of white in the black , photo of polished buffalo horn on GEC #85

 
Nothing much to do about the handle slabs (I like it) but send it to case and they will center the blades and polish out the scratches.
 
addylo said:
Just took delivery of a Case Peanut today in buffalo horn and I am thoroughly underwhelmed with the finish.

I would not expect the grooves and pits in the horn to be polished but should they really look this rough? I was looking forward to my first buffalo horn hoping it would be attractive but this does not meet expectations.

i-w93PwwC-X2.jpg


i-96Zzfx8-X2.jpg


i-WCgqjWG-X2.jpg


Also, the blade is nowhere near centered but I'm starting to expect that from Case since none of the three I own are centered. Here it is shown with another Peanut. I guess this is common and bugs me less than the finish.

i-RVCgsdW-X2.jpg
Click to expand...


From what I can see, it appears to be a used knife, given the fine scratches on the bolsters; that said, I returned a Seahorse Whittler in buffalo horn because the jigging was sparse on one side, and except for a small crease down the middle, absent of any jigging. It most certainly is not a good choice for a knife unless it is finished in a smooth and flat finish. Unfortunately, you bought on eBay with a no return "guarantee", and that should have told you something from the start. Insofar as Case' warranty, they will center your blade, and quite possibly do something about that finish. That's why I buy Case knives, because they have never faultered in their commitment to the customer and their satisfaction. For the record, problems such as this exist in all brand knives, even the pricier USA made knives, and even more so in the non-USA manaufactured knives. If one was to never buy a knife because of issues like this, then you may very well be left to buying only 4 figure custom knives.
 
That off centre aspect is extreme, and very off-putting. I would not be able to like a knife like that.

Don't mind the 'jigged' horn so much, but horn unless high quality and well seasoned can be troublesome stuff.
 
My only other Case (before today) is a Toothpick and its blade is centered just as badly as the two above. That's three out of three. And yes, it's off-putting for the brand.

But a funny side note to this story...

Today I received a new yellow delrin CV Peanut. It is the cheapest of the three Peanuts I now own and it's beautiful. Perfect F&F, centered blade... nice. I love it.
 
You know, that's often been my experience of CASE, the cheaper the knife the better put together!
 
My yellow Delrin Case peanut is just a hair off towards the shield side. The only Buffalo horn scales I have seen and liked are the smooth ones. Case can be hit an miss on their scales. I prefer to see them before buying. I've got a Case Copperlock with some of the ugliest stag scales I've ever seen. If not for sentimental reasons, I'd of gotten rid of it a while ago.
 
I sent an email to Case just to see what they would say. Their response:

"Yes…the photos are typical of what jigged buffalo horn looks like. The jigging is rough looking as compared to bone…which is because of the fibrous protein fibers in the horn. I too was a little surprised the first time I saw buffalo horn, but not because of the fibrous jigging. I was more surprised about how the polished outer surface looks like plastic…in my opinion."

I'll not worry about it and just use the knife. It's only a Peanut, after all, and not some high dollar knife. But my suggestion to Case would be to never jig buffalo horn again.
 
I also have a yellow Delrin peanut that is flawless. It may be anecdotal, but it seems that the CV steel Case knives have overall better average fit and finish than the SS ones, at least based on my purchase history. Though I have some great ones in both categories and some average ones in both categories. Perhaps I have loose standards, but I have never purchased a new Case knife with problems that needed it to go back to the factory, or that weren't just fine for using.
 
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