I got my first case and have a question

IH8U

IH8U

Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
779
Hello all, first time posting here and i'm proud to say that my first Case arrived yesterday. :thumbup: Its a 80-89, jigged bone 3 blade CV stockman (pattern 63032). I gave it a makeover yesterday and from fondling it, I must say that this is one well built knife. All blades snap nice and clean with no blade play what so ever. It has replaced my SAK champ+ for my EDC and I absolutely love it. I think I am now cursed and have started looking into other patterns to pick up. I will post up some before and after pictures of the cleaning once im done.

I have a quick question though, is there an easy way to tell if the bone handles are real bone or synthetic? From close inspection I think they are real bone because (1)one scale is slightly darker than the other and (2)if you look really close there are some fine texture lines on the non-jigged area. Am I on the right track or is there a guaranteed way to find out?
 
Pick up another knife and try to shave off a bit of the handle edge with it. On a bone knife this will feel like whittling on, well, bone. And on a delrin handle it'll feel like cutting into softer plastic.

Do it lightly so you don't take a chunk out of it. Of course if it's real bone you won't be able to take a chunk out of it anyway.
 
Bob W said:
Based on your pattern number, it's bone.
Click to expand...

From looking at the Case website the "6" in the pattern number could either be Jigged Bone, Jigged Synthetic, Jigged Laminate, but i'm pretty sure that it is bone.

Thanks for your responses
 
Sounds like bone,synthetic would be pretty much the exact color on each side
-Vince
 
Yes you are now cursed LOL..... Congrats on your first Case. There so many configurations to choose from. You can never have to many slippies :D
 
The specific question has been answered, but on telling Delrin from bone in general.... One sure way is it to carry it -- as Delrin gets pocket worn it gets duller, bone gets shinier (or stays shiny). Also, look for pores in the smooth areas - Delrin doesn't have any of course (though bone sometimes doesn't either - not large enough to see easily anyway). Often the "jigging" patterns are identical on both scales in Delrin since they're molded, not jigged. Sometimes you can see a sort of fine melting/tearing around the spun heads of the pins if you look closely in Delrin. If the "jigging" is deeper, in bone the bottom of the cuts will be dull or matte - only the high points get buffed, in Delrin the bottoms will be shiny (though they'll often use black to try to disguise the shiny). Older Case knives with the "plain" oval pinned Case shield (no stamped oval around CASE) are Delrin.
 
How about giving it an oil dip?

Bone usually darkens and gets more lustre, Delrin would just get slippery but not change in colour or sheen I suspect.
 
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