Got my First Case Knife in the Mail Today

Knives that unacceptable should be returned to the dealer, and ask them to replace it with a decent one that they hand pick. The squeeky wheel gets the grease. If you put pressure on the dealer, they will eventually put pressure on Case. It's the only way to help remedy the situation.
 
Case is a fine company that makes a fine product by fine people. This however is work of a certain employee who just doesn't give a shit about what they do for a living and in no way would put that in their pocket
 
black mamba said:
Knives that unacceptable should be returned to the dealer, and ask them to replace it with a decent one that they hand pick. The squeeky wheel gets the grease. If you put pressure on the dealer, they will eventually put pressure on Case. It's the only way to help remedy the situation.
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This particular knife was bought directly through Case's website. In their online return form there was no option for "atrociously bad quality," lol. So I just picked "other," and I'm waiting for my free return label.
 
Late model Case's are hit and miss ... I rarely ever buy new as I like to see pictures of what I'm buying, so I can't say - but my entire collection of over 150 minty knives are Cases from the early 70's through late 2010's. I would say 1 out of 5 have defects that I can't fix or just don't live up to expectations and I resell those - explaining what exactly the problem is and take the loss if the buyer doesn't take returns (lousey snap is one, lateral blade wobble is another ... off center blades can be easily fixed, but the first few times I tried crinking a blade, I sure puckered). My only advice is to not give up on Case - there are far more really good ones on the used market than bad ones like you unfortunately got.
 
It's dismal that one like that gets offered for sale :thumbsdown:

Even though I live in Europe, far away, I've been lucky with the CASE knives I've bought and been given, recently, I asked a Forum member to get hold of a Med Stockman for me and it is superb. I don't want to come across as CASE Fanboy as that is an unhealthy piece of ignorance ;) The knife has to go back not for repairs but REPLACEMENT, get a proper one and I'm sure you'll be delighted.

Thanks, Will
 
I've never bought a Case online that had to be returned. Got one with a little easily removed burr. I've used Case repair and they fixed my f-up for free. Least a flaw shows it was made by a human :)
 
This is what worries me about new (non vintage) case knives. That looks terrible. How did that get past the assembler, much less final QC? I've had several bad experiences.

Recently I ordered a Case 032, even asked them to inspect it to which the dealer said, "it's a case, so not GEC quality". I said sure, but hoping for good. I got it and the pen blade was so tight you had to pinch and force it open, the grind was like a sawblade. I wasn't impressed, it seemed very cheap to me. I sent it back for a refund.
I just ordered a Copperhead of the auction site which is a '21 model so hoping it shows up in good shape.

I have some newer ones, a few, and they are good, one of my favorites is a 47 Pattern stockman.

I don't expect GEC quality, although I don't know why I should have to give Case a pass, when GEC can build one for not much more money. I like Case, but much prefer vintage, for one because I like the era, and Case seemed to care more back then. I wish/hope, with the popularity of traditionals that case will step their quality way up and just charge more... I'd pay it.

I'd send the above knife back with no hesitation. Ask for another. If you get another one with similar issues, go vintage. There are some nice examples at auction sites.
 
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brownshoe said:
I've never bought a Case online that had to be returned. Got one with a little easily removed burr. I've used Case repair and they fixed my f-up for free. Least a flaw shows it was made by a human :)
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I've had very few issues with Case knives. Except the factory edges. If a Case knife comes to me with an edge that suits me, I consider it a pleasant surprise.:)
 
This is why I rank them from least to greatest.
Rough Ryder - when they have issues, it's usually ugly and sometimes not even a usable tool.
Case Cutlery - when they have issues, it's usually ugly but still work the way they are supposed to.
Great Eastern Cutlery - when they have issues, it's usually very minor cosmetic stuff or a pull strength issue.
Yes, sometimes you get an absolutely fantastic RR or Case, but it's always a bigger gamble than a GEC.
Your chances of getting a great GEC is really good, a Case is less so, and a Rough Ryder is even less so.
So, I think they are priced accordingly. ;)
 
blade wobble drives me batty, and so does the blade connecting with the liner.
Gaps don't bother me as much, but I'm guessing the gaps that you're seeing and the other issues are all connected.

Machines do the brunt of the work at Case, so I'm not sure how this kind of thing happens. I get that machines aren't perfect, but I feel like they could be better.
 
I have had great luck with Case knives, until last week.

I ordered a Case mini trapper, and when it arrived it had blade wobble, and one blade when opened was set at a ridiculous angle to the back spring. Also had spring gaps.

I had to return to the seller. The knife was marked on the box as a 2017 build.

I will probably stick with GEc for now.
 
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Elgatodeacero said:
I have had great luck with Case knives, until last week.

I ordered a Case mini trapper, and when it arrived it had blade wobble, and one blade when opened was set at a ridiculous angle to the back spring. Also had spring gaps.

I had to return to the seller. The knife was marked on the box as a 2017 build.

I will probably stick with GEac for now.
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Well, that should cut down your knife expenditure..... unless you're faster than the flippers, the odds of even finding a GEC to buy are becoming smaller every day.
The current protocol..... buy a GEC. Wait two days, then post it on the exchange for at least double the selling price. Lather, rinse, repeat....:)

I've actually had pretty good luck with Case knives. Most of mine have been good to excellent in quality. I'm sort of a lesser light, when it comes to collecting 'em.... I probably only have 20-30 of them, so my data base isn't as broad as what many of you have.
 
Ironbut said:
I've had very few issues with Case knives. Except the factory edges. If a Case knife comes to me with an edge that suits me, I consider it a pleasant surprise.:)
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Well one edge with a burr out of about fifteen (counting the ones I gave away) ain't too bad :)

Better than Queen's obtuse edges, they're the reason I bought a diamond hone. I still luv Queen tho...

I've only returned 2 brand new knives. A Spyderco (twice for the same knife) and a William Henry, I've bought their knives since despite the problems out-of-the-box. Flaws I live with or fix.
 
JohnDF said:
This is why I rank them from least to greatest.
Rough Ryder - when they have issues, it's usually ugly and sometimes not even a usable tool.
Case Cutlery - when they have issues, it's usually ugly but still work the way they are supposed to.
Great Eastern Cutlery - when they have issues, it's usually very minor cosmetic stuff or a pull strength issue.
Yes, sometimes you get an absolutely fantastic RR or Case, but it's always a bigger gamble than a GEC.
Your chances of getting a great GEC is really good, a Case is less so, and a Rough Ryder is even less so.
So, I think they are priced accordingly. ;)
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And on the other hand, my list is almost the exact opposite of that. :) I go worst to best GEC, RR, Case.

I'm sorry you had such poor luck with Case, and I wish I'd had closer to yours with GEC.

My one and only foray into GEC was less than a stelar experience. Its a nice knife, but not what GEC was touted as being.

I refuse to try again because anything I see others post as the perfect nicest ever GEC ever is still only the quality of the other brands... I don't see anything worth the prices they demand, new, let alone on the secondary market.

RRiders are usually cosmetic issues only, light gaps, un even finishes etc, or light pulls in my experience. Almost always usable. I've had one unusable in 20 years, too much spring, couldn't be opened.

I've never had a problem with a Case knife.

Always bought blind online(as far as fit/finish, I have seen the exact color of a couple first) . At least a knife a year for almost 18, and no difference in quality over the time span, some made as far back as the 90s too, they've all been great. Sure some have a hairline gap, or might not be laser sharp, but no worse than any other brand I've had. Better than some.

I've always figured there were bad knives out there, I've just never seen one from Case, Rare from RR. Any company that puts out any quantity will have lemons.

I've found Case and RR to be about average on their quality compared to other brands too, Queen, Boker, Bulldog, Henckels(German), Schrade(USA OR China cant tell the difference), Camillus...

All have been about the same. Gap here and there, little dull here and there.

Maybe I've been extremely lucky, I dunno, but thats how its been.


Just like anything involving opinions, consumer feedback is a wash, IMO. 50/50, 90 skewed somewhere. The average Joe will only ever say anything if something is bad, you rarely hear about what folks like anymore.

On the other hand, those of us that are online giving rare praise to these companies good work, are the obsessive perfectionists/collectors/knife nuts that never see the whole good, and nit pick the crap out of everything.

Your Milage May Vary. ;)
 
My new 6208 is at the post office and will be in pocket this afternoon, I will see how this new 6208 compares to my other two.
So far and from every 6208 I've seen in pictures here on BF's, the 6208 is one pattern that case rehashed down right.

One of mine has slightly better W&T than the other but overall F&F is great on both of them, I don't count the edges though because they get used and sharpened.
 
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