Is quality control at CASE going down?

T

Thaddeus McQuakenbush

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Mar 12, 2024
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I have had a few Case knives over the years. I received a Navy blue bone mini trapper for Christmas.
Last month the RED SHIELD fell off!

Has anyone noticed any recent quality issues with Case or is this an abberation?

I posted a note on the forum on the Case site; have not heard back yet.
 
The shields are glued in to natural materials, sometimes they fall out. Pretty rare and its an easy fix but its annoying. Been going on for years but they just dont pin them in.
 
Shall I? OK you convinced me. I once bought a small bone stockman about a year ago from a reputable dealer. One blade had massive play, the second was misaligned so badly that the third knife couldn't even seat inside the handle. It was a critical failure in every aspect and I ran from case. Now I have a congress, small stockman, peanut, and Texas jack coming so --- ah, enough people have nothing but good things to say about case. I will say that I have heard about fluctuating quality issues my experience aside. I'm sure my specimens will be ok, I asked about snap and wiggle before hand, if this thread is still up I will update
 
Yeah, this is a whole… thing…
You’ll see some folks claim Case is all it’s ever been and what’s changed were our expectations; increasing with competition.
Other folks, myself included, think that Case has lost a step. I have some examples from Case that I still get peeved about.

There’s another contingent out there that believes their QC is in flux. Some indications point towards Case on the QC upswing.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Yeah, this is a whole… thing…
You’ll see some folks claim Case is all it’s ever been and what’s changed were our expectations; increasing with competition.
Other folks, myself included, think that Case has lost a step. I have some examples from Case that I still get peeved about.

There’s another contingent out there that believes their QC is in flux. Some indications point towards Case on the QC upswing.
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Might be another 'how wet is water' argument
It's too much to hope for that case will mirror gec or victorinox with consistency in home runs but let's hope they steer back on track.
A while ago I spent too much on a bunch of case knives (400$^) and I felt I had enough to gain a perspective on QC patterns, I ordered about 6 or 7 and just under half showed up with troubling play and some soft snaps. Not like swiss army where every knife I ever bought had the same great finished quality
 
The Case knives I have purchased in the past several years have been superior in fit and finish to those I bought 15 years ago. And I'm told that those I bought 15 years ago were better than the ones made towards the end of the last century. Case had major struggles in that time period.

A high production rate coupled with a lot of hand work and a lot of natural materials means there's a lot of room for variability. Overall, I think they are worth what they are charging.

As has been mentioned, Case has glued their shields for years. Trying to use glue on an uneven surface can be a challenge, especially when the production rate is high. A drop of instant adhesive or 10 minute epoxy and you will be good to go.
 
knarfeng said:
The Case knives I have purchased in the past several years have been superior in fit and finish to those I bought 15 years ago. And I'm told that those I bought 15 years ago were better than the ones made towards the end of the last century. Case had major struggles in that time period.

A high production rate coupled with a lot of hand work and a lot of natural materials means there's a lot of room for variability. Overall, I think they are worth what they are charging.

As has been mentioned, Case has glued their shields for years. Trying to use glue on an uneven surface can be a challenge, especially when the production rate is high. A drop of instant adhesive or 10 minute epoxy and you will be good to go.
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Thanks for the knowledge drop
 
I buy a lot of Case knives, overall they do a good job and IMO certain patterns are consistently good (like the regular size trapper and the barlow).

But over the years, I've gotten a few other patterns that have had issues. Case customer service is really good, the one time I sent a knife back they were very interested in seeing the flaws.
It seemed they were more interested in how it got past QC than anything else (it was poor jigging on horn scales). They replaced it and sent some swag back with the knife.

However, the glued shields have always been a negative for me. I know it cost more to pin them, but I wish they did.
I've had shields fall off sitting in the box too.
 
I have a Case Sodbuster Jr. that I received as a gift in the early '70s, and it's getting "short in the tooth" from 50 years of sharpening, so I recently bought another. I was disappointed to find that the blade was not etched (like the original) but rather engraved with the name, and those crevices seem to be a great place for crud, critters and corrosion to collect (as well as being a stress riser, but I don't use my knife as a crowbar)... That said, the steel seems to be better on the new Sodbuster Jr. than the older one -- takes and holds an edge better.

On the other hand, I also have a full-size Sodbuster in chrome-vanadium steel that I got maybe 20 years ago, and tried to duplicate that with a new one. Case doesn't sell knives in chrome-vanadium steel anymore, and they claim their (1095) "carbon steel" jobbies are just as good, but I own both versions and I think the CV steel is superior -- it's fairly easy to get it "push through paper" sharp, and deburring is no big deal, whereas deburring the 1095 (at least on my Sodbuster) was a major undertaking (it just flopped repeatedly from side to side).

I've been a fan of Case knives since I got my first one back when Nixon was president, and I'll stick with them...
 
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Last one I ordered had to be replaced. Stockman. No shield, one blade had terrible play and had a pretty significant scratch (well more than a scratch) in the blade. If I still have pictures I’ll post them up.

Won’t stop me from buying case, I own hundreds and one bad apple won’t ruin it for me. I’ve read the problems with grinds and so on and so forth but I’ve never really had any problems until this last knife. I’ve had to strop a few upon arrival to clean up a bit but nothing terrible.
 
I have the highest rate of poor samples from Case out of all brands I buy, I'm sorry to say. I do love many of their designs, but I have been avoiding them of late. Try to buy from a retailer that will check them over before sending them out. Several vendors will do that if you leave a note in the order. So, I do recommend them, but it is a cautious and qualified recommendation.
 
I don't expect a lot of a traditional knife under the $100 mark these days in terms of perfection. That said, I haven't tried a Case in years. I have them on my wish list, but I have just felt so underwhelmed with what I got. Rubbing blades, glued shields, a kick ground down so much that the edge would snap into the back spring hard enough to cut a groove (and blunt the edge of course).

I stopped chasing GEC. I would pay their prices, but I'm not playing games trying to get my hands on a knife. For several years, I have just made due with the Chinese offerings. Not just Rough Ryder, but there are a few really well put together brands like Brother that offer a decent VG-10 blade with great walk and talk and fit and finish. I didn't buy it BECAUSE it was $38. I would have bought it for $70. However, I still felt bad buying something from China...but the Case knives just sucked compared to them in every way in excluding price.

I may give Case a chance again when the mood strikes me. I'd like a nice Canoe with stag scales. I just find that for my needs, I have actually been a lot happier with my Boker examples. I've got a little bone handle Gentleman's knife that I have put through the wringer since Christmas, and it's become my go-to when I just need to toss something simple in my pocket for daily cutting tasks.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I don't expect a lot of a traditional knife under the $100 mark these days in terms of perfection. That said, I haven't tried a Case in years. I have them on my wish list, but I have just felt so underwhelmed with what I got. Rubbing blades, glued shields, a kick ground down so much that the edge would snap into the back spring hard enough to cut a groove (and blunt the edge of course).

I stopped chasing GEC. I would pay their prices, but I'm not playing games trying to get my hands on a knife. For several years, I have just made due with the Chinese offerings. Not just Rough Ryder, but there are a few really well put together brands like Brother that offer a decent VG-10 blade with great walk and talk and fit and finish. I didn't buy it BECAUSE it was $38. I would have bought it for $70. However, I still felt bad buying something from China...but the Case knives just sucked compared to them in every way in excluding price.

I may give Case a chance again when the mood strikes me. I'd like a nice Canoe with stag scales. I just find that for my needs, I have actually been a lot happier with my Boker examples. I've got a little bone handle Gentleman's knife that I have put through the wringer since Christmas, and it's become my go-to when I just need to toss something simple in my pocket for daily cutting tasks.
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Your experience ls with case is shared, i too remember all that but its unfortunate what you said about the availability of gec, being mostly true however I know they're hard to find, I ran into a massive online retailer by typing gec for sale and they have lots and lots stocked, so it's definitely out there 👌
 
I hear alot of complaints about Case quality but that hasn't been my experience. I guess I have had good luck, all the ones I have had have been nice and had the most consistent pulls and spring tension of any brands I have tried. I have had a shield come out on a teardrop jack, mainly because I dropped it, but it was easy to epoxy it back in. I have also lost shields on Buck and Rough Ryder knives, so I guess it happens. They could pin them in which would be better, but then it would increase cost also. I feel like they have done a good job of trying to keep them reasonably priced considering US manufacturing.
 
ShaiHulud said:
Your experience ls with case is shared, i too remember all that but its unfortunate what you said about the availability of gec, being mostly true however I know they're hard to find, I ran into a massive online retailer by typing gec for sale and they have lots and lots stocked, so it's definitely out there 👌
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They may have them listed, but it is highly unlikely they have anything in-stock. GEC already cannot meet demand and every run is a sell out. Lot's of us have been tracking this for years.
 
SharpBits said:
They may have them listed, but it is highly unlikely they have anything in-stock. GEC already cannot meet demand and every run is a sell out. Lot's of us have been tracking this for years.
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I just checked, they're all still listed as in stock and allow me to populate a shopping cart, if that still means they don't literally have one to ship, well I can't be certain of that I guess
 
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