Got my first Case knife and I have some questions!

[Hashishiin]

So, decided to buy my first Case, a very beautiful blue/purple Corleon that looks just like the ocean, Texas Toothpick. I think the blade on there is a California clip blade, according to the encyclopedia of slippie shapes on AG Russell - starting right after the tang. It really is a beautiful and elegant little knife, with the smoothest action of a slipjoint I've had, of which I would classify Winchester and Rough Ryder to be of "good" action, Old Timer (new) to be of "meh" action, and Imperial to be distinctly bad.

It is quite sharp, but with a toothy edge, indeed! (DETOUR: I did receive the sharpest factory knife of my life this week, though, a copper-handled REX45 PM2. It whittled hair. That was the first time I have seen hair being whittled, by Jove! WOW! Is that real? How do you maintain that?!) This thing is toothier than an Opinel. But most of my knives are not, so, this is cool. I was going to get a tougher one like a Sodbuster, but this was just so visually appealing. I noticed it was made by Frost, though. Is that a normal thing, or something that one should be leery of? Still American-made, still Case... I have a Frost doctor's knife that belonged to my fiancee's grandpa that I cleaned up. It seems not so bad, though not ground the best. This one is TruSharp. How is that steel?

Also, these knives are beautiful, useful, and more collectable than Spyderco sprints with all the different colors. I LOVE the yellow Delrin, I LOVE all the different colors of Corleon, I haven't even gotten STARTED into the different wood, horn, bone handles that are amazing and beautiful too. And the different styles of knife. So, I can see myself wanting, like, twenty Caseknives, over a couple years. Thing is, the price - it hurt me. $40-60 dollars for their knives, seems to not make a big difference if they are small or large, have one small blade or three big ones. The price still hurts. What I am asking here is, is it a good idea for someone who is clearly attracted to Case and wants more, to buy 'em all new? I have very little, but very positive experience buying secondhand knives. Do people often sell Case for...cheaper than $40? My collection will take a long time to come together if they don't. Man, I want a saber-ground clip point, and a nice cotton-sampler from Case. So far, Rough Ryder were the only dudes able to deliver on my cotton sampler. Boy, I love the AG Russell slippie blade shape encyclopedia.

So...Frost-made, is that normal/okay? What do you think of Trusharp? Is buying new Case a wise thing? And, do you have a cotton sampler, corn-blade or saber-ground clip-point (or any strange, unusual, or saber-ground slipjoint blade) that you could post a pic of? Love those blades.

 

[EngrSorenson]

40-60 bucks is pretty inexpensive for a knife in my opinion, but it’s all relative to your budget and what else commands your dollars. Before you get super excited about Case, get a couple in your pocket, and use them. After a while you’re going to learn more about what the brand is, and what it isn’t.

Then I recommend saving up some money for a GEC or Lionsteel and you’ll learn a lot more about what’s possible around double the price.

Case makes functional knives, but some people are let down by the quality control.

 

[Hashishiin]

40-60 bucks is pretty inexpensive for a knife in my opinion, but it’s all relative to your budget and what else commands your dollars. Before you get super excited about Case, get a couple in your pocket, and use them. After a while you’re going to learn more about what the brand is, and what it isn’t.

Then I recommend saving up some money for a GEC or Lionsteel and you’ll learn a lot more about what’s possible around double the price.

Case makes functional knives, but some people are let down by the quality control.

You do have a point, there are a lot of old-school brands I have been wanting to carry, and carrying. I don't intend to snap up all the Cases that appeal to me visually all at once, and have been interested in some higher end brands. Heard of a Lionsteel in M390, traditional slipjoint, though. Also saw a beautiful traditional Boker in Cruwear, that was a beautiful melding of old and new.

Yeah, I was a little reluctant to say it, because it is quite the nice knife, but I had to wash a little gunk from the blade, and the toothiness I expect from a 15 dollar Opinel, but a 60 dollar Case, hmm. They are nice, though, I think better can be had with what I'm hearing. Been meaning to take a look at GEC, too, and would love to own something from AG Russell.

 

[PirateSeulb]

This is a first hearing that a Case was made by anyone besides Case for me and from a brand I recall usually having a bad rep of late and IIRC most Frost stuff was made in China but maybe they offshored their own line and are a state side manufacturer for higher quality brand like Case. I personally don't have any Case knives as they don't harden their steel to high enough for me and dull too easy.

 

[Hashishiin]

This is a first hearing that a Case was made by anyone besides Case for me and from a brand I recall usually having a bad rep of late and IIRC most Frost stuff was made in China but maybe they offshored their own line and are a state side manufacturer for higher quality brand like Case. I personally don't have any Case knives as they don't harden their steel to high enough for me and dull too easy.

You know what, I think it is just the handle now that I am reading the back of the box closer. "Genuine Corleon handle produced by Frost Cutlery Co with sublicense from W.R Case and Sons", but the way it was written was like
Genuine Corleon Handle
Produced by Frost Cutlery

So I thought they were separate statements at first. Yeah, the action of the knife is great and snappy like a little Douk-Douk, but the edge, while sharp, is super toothy, seems hastily ground. I have a Winchester that I'd have expected to be much cheaper (in quality) than this Case with quite good action and even grinds.

 

[Knives&Lint]

Many of us have a love/hate relationship with Case in recent years. On one hand they are a brand with a great heritage that our daddies and grandaddies carried, and they make some nice looking knives as well; but on the other hand it seems as if they are resting on those laurels and have no problem churning out high numbers of knives with quality control issues. While I personally for the most have had good luck with QC on the knives I've purchased from them, loads of guys have had enough bad experiences to swear them off of the brand entirely, and I think we can all agree that this reflects poorly on the brand as a whole.

Still, I personally quite enjoy collecting and carrying Case knives. To me they are fun knives, offered in a variety of interesting and great looking covers. They (along with SAK's) are like the candy of the knife hobby for me. They satiate my hunger in between my larger modern knife purchases.

TruSharp? It's Ok I reckon. It will work fine for most. Most enthusiasts as far as I can tell (myself included) would prefer they put more knives out in their CV steel.

When buying new, don't hesitate to drop the seller a note and ask them to check the knife over for you for any possible issues. I'm not sure if this has helped me, but I typically do it, and as I said I have been happy with most of my Case purchases.

As far as buying them used, I haven't searched much on the Bay, but I have seen them sold here in the classifieds. I think the problem you'll run into there, is that as prices get lower, the hassle of selling becomes less attractive, and alot of guys would just as soon gift them to someone or throw them in drawer than deal with selling them.

 

[Dergyll]

"Candy of the knife hobby", wow...that pretty much sums up case for me. And they know it, hence why they aren't interested in graduating from TruSharp. At least they have their market share down.

I'll keep my spyderco benchmade civivi etc. Main courses lol.

Bought 6 cases all my life. Only one that came with good QC was a case hobo, everything else was uneven grind, dents in the bolster, really off centered (not sure how to DIY fix it on a traditional)...etc

 

[Arathol]

You know what, I think it is just the handle now that I am reading the back of the box closer. "Genuine Corleon handle produced by Frost Cutlery Co with sublicense from W.R Case and Sons", but the way it was written was like
Genuine Corleon Handle
Produced by Frost Cutlery

So I thought they were separate statements at first. Yeah, the action of the knife is great and snappy like a little Douk-Douk, but the edge, while sharp, is super toothy, seems hastily ground. I have a Winchester that I'd have expected to be much cheaper (in quality) than this Case with quite good action and even grinds.

As I remember, Case made the knives, then sent them to Frost to have the covers installed.

 

[kvaughn]

Look into some vintage Case, Schrade, Camillus, etc for some reasonably priced quality. Flea markets and garage sales can turn up some good finds. Some of my nicest vintage traditonals have come from garage sale where I ask the seller specifically if they had any old knives. Sometimes they will be stuck in a box of junk. Most I had to clean up to some degree.

 

[brownshoe]

I’ve been buying Case for awhile, even tho they were mostly bought mail order, sight unseen, never had a”QC” problem. I’ve never had a warranty repair on a Case, but have for Spyderco, BM, William Henry, CRK, Lonewolf and Buck.

Case knives for $35 are worth $35 and those for $350 are worth $350. Trusharp is a good steel, tough enough to bend and hard enough to hold an edge

People may compare a $40-60 Case to a GEC, but you can find and buy a Case, not so a GEC and certainly not for $40-60.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I've never seen a Case that was properly sharpened and had a point straight from the factory.

They are one of the worst large scale manufacturers when it comes to this.

I'd rather spend a bit more and get a GEC or just make my own.

 

[Bastler]

About every three weeks, somebody starts a thread about Case and the comments about fit and finish start up again. It's really not that hard to sort; for about $60 you get a pretty nice knife that is actually available to purchase. For twice that amount, there is GEC with immaculate finish, but largely unavailable for purchase. If you want flawless pocket jewelry, you're going to have to pay for the effort that goes into it and possibly wait a long time to find what you want.

I've gotten some good deals on used Case knives. They're not perfect, but they're worth every bit of the $30-$40 I paid.

I think I paid 40 some odd bucks for this a few years ago. It came like-new, without a box. I don't use it all that much, but I like it.

This one was less than $30, if my memory serves me. The shield is a little proud in one spot, but I had it a few years before I noticed.

I guess it's all a matter of what makes you happy. I'm not thrilled with the TruSharp steel, that's for sure, but I still get enjoyment from Case knives.

 

[Centermass]

I enjoy Case traditional folders, having had an unexplained nostalgic penchant for them since I was a boy. I think they offer a decent variety, and, more importantly, they work just fine for the types of things anyone should really expect a traditional folder to do. The fit and finish has never been a disappointment for me at their price point, even with new production ones, though lately I’ve been buying older ones (20 yrs or more) for no real logical reason.

All that said, I don’t expect them to have the same level of fit and finish of the small batch makers like GEC. I certainly appreciate the high quality of GEC, and would love to have many more of them. With Case, though, I can feed my occasional traditional jones without dealing with the insane release hysteria followed by the subsequent flipper markups.

 

[midnight flyer]

I personally think that since CASE was purchased by ZIPPO, they have been more into generating collectable items than quality cutlery. Back in the 60s to the very first of the 80s, I was a "CASE only" fan. Not a fan boy, but literally CASE or nothing for my folders. I agree with Mitchell Knives , as long as I have purchased CASE knives I never saw one that had a great edge or if multibladed, all blades with good edges. I planned on sharpening my new CASE knives, which back when I was a youngster didn't happen much since I was pretty much broke all the time. But later, unhappy with CASE quality, I switched to Queen and bought some excellent knives from a good vendor here that specializes in traditional folders. But... as they struggled, so did their quality.

Tried other brands; Canal Street, Buck, and a few of the Pennsylvania crowd, but nothing I bought was 100% consistent in quality. I got a GEC that rubbed so bad on the liner to blade near the bolster I sent a video to the vendor I purchased it from
and he immediately sent me a return envelope with a check (classy guy!). I purchased a couple of Queen knives, and the Railsplitter knife had a blade that literally would not open. I gave up on buying traditional knives online and will pay full retail if I can buy what I want with the quality I like.

All that being said, I had a friend of mine that was in a small town adjoining our large metropolitan area, and he stopped in an old fashioned hardware store. Of all things, there was a CASE display, and he still had a few knives left. By chance, buy buddy was looking for a "peanut", and the hardware store had two left. It was like a trip back to the 60s (he is my age) when they let you put the knives on the counter to compare them and pick the one you want. He picked a beautiful traditional bone covered peanut and the workmanship, the fit/finish and materials were the best I have seen in decades. It looks like a little Swiss watch and the action (walk/talk) is perfect. It has perfectly matched India stag scales, polished to perfection. With tax, it was about $125 (India stag and no online pricing!). Worth every penny to me and to him as well. The bonus? It had a pretty fair edge on it!

CASE can still make a good knife if the conditions are right, but for the OP, if the intent of buying CASE knives is to buy into the traditional end of the pool, used knives or less expensive knives can be a great starting point to help you decide if it is a knife model you want to carry. If so, I think you can then feel fine with spending the money to buy a model you like. As far as buying used knives, they show up at pawn shops, flea markets, estate sales, and gun shows around here. I would be very careful about buying in Ebay. You can occasionally get some deals on good users, but stories are everywhere about people that got screwed by Ebay sellers. If you bite on an online seller, auction site or not, make sure they have a good reputation and will accept returns.

Robert

 

[Ourorboros]

I'd be surprised if TruSharp is more than 420HC.
I'm unimpressed with the quality - nothing terrible, but nothing great either. I've had better luck with budget moderns like CJRB.
Unfortunately they put out the largest array of patterns.

 

[JPD1998]

Seeing some of prices used Case knives sell for, I'd be more inclined to just buy new.

You can find good deals on Case knives if you subscribe to some of the large Case dealer's sites.
Case gives dealers MAP holidays a few times a year on certain models.

I picked this one up around Christmas for $40 and it's very nice.
Perfectly made, blades are ground well, no issues.

As far as QC , I've gotten stinkers from both Case and GEC. But Case makes a lot mores knives than GEC.

 

[redoxmusic]

Thought I'd chime in and add my $.02.

I'll mirror what others have said - you sort of get what you pay for. Do I wish every Case knife has superior grinds and absolutely no backspring gaps? Yes! And I'm sure they could deliver on that - but not for the price they charge currently. More importantly, I'm not sure they would stay in business if they did.

As far as QC expectations: I really haven't had that many issues with Case knives in terms of QC. But for the price I'm not looking for perfection, mainly I want one with minimal blade play, and decent centering. They're sharpening could use improvement, but even if it were to improve, I'd still put my own edge on it. I do wish they wouldn't tumble their blades which is what takes off the point, but I can grind the point back in without much issue. In the end, you can get a good quality knife with (often) excellent jigging, and other nice materials for a decent price. I can usually find someone nearby that sells them as well, so that's nice.

I do really enjoy GEC knives which have great QC overall, but as others have said it can be difficult to obtain them. And even for GEC's current market prices, I don't expect perfection. I've had quite a few with blade play and off-center blades. But we are talking about production knives.

At the end of the day, I enjoy collecting knives and that includes Case knives. But one must temper their expectations I think. That might just be me being an apologist however.

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

I didn't read through all of the comments, so this may have already been said, but Frost Cutlery owns the trademark on Corelon, and Case makes the knives sans covers and sends them to Frost who adds their bit.

 

[cutchu]

I agree with much of what Knives&Lint says for both Case and SAK. I personally like them both for various reasons, as well as more expensive knives. Consider all aspects of what you want when you buy a knife. What are the pros and cons? How much are you willing to spend? You could have a large collection of knives and find flaws in many if you look hard enough. Nothing is perfect right?

Many of us have a love/hate relationship with Case in recent years. On one hand they are a brand with a great heritage that our daddies and grandaddies carried, and they make some nice looking knives as well; but on the other hand it seems as if they are resting on those laurels and have no problem churning out high numbers of knives with quality control issues. While I personally for the most have had good luck with QC on the knives I've purchased from them, loads of guys have had enough bad experiences to swear them off of the brand entirely, and I think we can all agree that this reflects poorly on the brand as a whole.

Still, I personally quite enjoy collecting and carrying Case knives. To me they are fun knives, offered in a variety of interesting and great looking covers. They (along with SAK's) are like the candy of the knife hobby for me. They satiate my hunger in between my larger modern knife purchases.

TruSharp? It's Ok I reckon. It will work fine for most. Most enthusiasts as far as I can tell (myself included) would prefer they put more knives out in their CV steel.

When buying new, don't hesitate to drop the seller a note and ask them to check the knife over for you for any possible issues. I'm not sure if this has helped me, but I typically do it, and as I said I have been happy with most of my Case purchases.

As far as buying them used, I haven't searched much on the Bay, but I have seen them sold here in the classifieds. I think the problem you'll run into there, is that as prices get lower, the hassle of selling becomes less attractive, and alot of guys would just as soon gift them to someone or throw them in drawer than deal with selling them.

 

[Oldtoolmaker]

I have loved Case knives all my life! But I do have to admit that they a few issues with QC. I bought 3 Sodbusters, 2 full size and one junior last year. All of them had off center blades, surprisingly the worst was the jigged bone junior