Like Peas and Carrots, the perfect Case combo

[bradytx]

First, traditional knives have me hooked, and I don't think I'm going to get lose anytime soon.

I just turned 30, and over the past few years I have really been into more modern folders, but now they have become somewhat stale, boring, and soulless. I can't tell you how excited I am about rediscovering traditional folders, my first knife was an Imperial my Dad gave me.

Over the past few months I have been on a Case kick. The first two were a Sowbelly and a Saddlehorn. Both fantastic knives, but I just did not like how the proud Sheepsfoot blade on the Sowbelly felt in my hand while using the clip point blade. I ended up getting rid of the Sowbelly and purchased a small Texas Jack in Amber Bone, and I'm sure glad I did. Case hit a homerun when they developed the Texas Jack, I wouldn't change a thing. I fell in love with the Amber Bone scales, and I knew I wanted another Stockman styled knife to replace the Sowbelly, but with a little less proud Sheepsfoot blade. I ended up with the Large Stockman in Amber Bone.

I have got to say the combination of the small Texas Jack, and the Large Stockman is just fantastic. There is just somewhat about these two knives that go together as well... peas and carrots.

Thank you Case, I'm proud to own these two knives, they will be with my family and I for a long long time.

 

[bradytx]

Also, with these being my first knives with Carbon Steel, I just had to put a Patina on them. I cut up quite a few Peaches and Strawberries, very slowly. I'm pleased with how they look, and from my understanding the Patina will help prevent rust somewhat, if oiled of course.

 

[supratentorial]

...Both fantastic knives, but I just did not like how the proud Sheepsfoot blade on the Sowbelly felt in my hand while using the clip point blade. I ended up getting rid of the Sowbelly and purchased a small Texas Jack in Amber Bone, and I'm sure glad I did....I knew I wanted another Stockman styled knife to replace the Sowbelly, but with a little less proud Sheepsfoot blade....

I may have mentioned it in your other topic... but I grind down the kick on the sheepfoot blade so that it's much lower in the closed position. Takes a couple seconds with a belt sander and just a bit longer with a file.

 

[bradytx]

I almost filed down the kick, but being new to traditionals, I figured I may file too much. I may pick up another Sowbelly down the line in Chestnut Bone with CV.

 

[scattershot]

I do it to mine, too. You just have to work carefully and check often.

 

[arizonaranchman]

I almost filed down the kick, but being new to traditionals, I figured I may file too much. I may pick up another Sowbelly down the line in Chestnut Bone with CV.

First of all a huge congrats on your discovery of two absolute classics - and what beautiful examples yours are in Amber bone. These will serve you well for many, many years and cover the vast majority of what a pocket knife can reasonably be called upon to do. :thumbup:

On a cautionary note: be careful when filing down the kick. Do it VERY SLOWLY. I wouldn't suggest a belt sander or power tool, use fine sandpaper and just take off a teeny bit at a time - checking frequently how far the blade's spine is dropping as you go. Watch that the edge doesn't make contact with the spring. Also check the backspring to be sure it doesn't sink too much as this can happen if an excessive amount of kick is removed.

Enjoy your new Cases and share some pics in the future as they age over time.

I've had my Amber bone Stockman for a bit over a year now and it's one of my absolute favorite knives. It's the one I reach for when serious cutting is needed and it handles hard work with ease.

 

[supratentorial]

If you sharpen and use a lot of traditional knives you will eventually find yourself in a situation in which you will either need to grind down the kick or reshape the blade. Over the years, I've even received brand new knives from GEC that had to be ground down for another reason-- the tips of the blades were completely exposed in the closed position. Some of those aren't easy to fix because they don't have much of a kick on them. There's tons of room on the sowbelly. The kick is huge. In another topic, I posted some comparisons of older and newer Case sowbelly knives and showed some changes to the sheepfoot blade, including a higher sitting blade. There are ways to deal with sunken springs also... within reason. It can be only cosmetic. The reason that springs are flush in the closed position is because they're ground flush at the factory. You'd need to take a lot off of the sowbelly for the edge to actually hit the spring. That can be a problem with some knives. For example, some GEC knives don't have much room and sometimes the blades will rap the springs even on brand new knives. This was a common problem on the GEC 85 pattern a few years ago. GEC would fix it by simply grinding down the edge of the blade. It is very unlikely you would need to do that on the sowbelly. There's a lot of room.

Whenever you modify something it's best to be careful but this is a very basic modification.

I often lower the sheepfoot on other stock knives as well as the sowbelly. A high sitting sheepfoot is pretty common on stock knives. The 75 pattern also has a high sheepfoot blade though not as high as on the new sowbelly knives.

You might want to take a look at the forum knife. It's a 2-blade so the sheepfoot can sit much lower in the handle than on most 3 blades. It won't be available for long so you'll need to be quick. The sale thread is pinned to the top of the forum.