Looking for more info on an old Case

B

Blade_Crazy

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May 26, 2011
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This is one of three knives I was gifted not to long ago and I was wondering about some of the details of it.

Here are the pics;
2012-11-27.jpg


2012-11-27.jpg


2012-11-27.jpg



Just looking for any info you most knowledgeable folks can offer! My collection is finally gaining some knives with age on them, and I really like figuring out about them.

-Andrew
 
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Did some more research, here is a close up of the tang stamp;
TangStamp.PNG


and here is the one of the case's web site that I think closest matches;
Capture.PNG



Not sure if the periods after U, S, and A would be on the actual stamp but thats the only noticeable difference.


Anybody know more?
 
I know only that we need to see the whole knife. :)

Your pictures in the first post aren't working. You appear to be trying to link to an email attachment which won't work.
 
If there are no "dots" under the USA, then you are correct, it would indicate that it was built during that period, 1965 to 1969. Case put out some very well built knives during that time frame.
 
In addition to the age question anyone know how easy it is to fix back spring trouble?

This knife has a main blade that has no spring strength and a second that is way to strong.... I'm thinking about just asking Case to fix it but don't know what could be done to home remedy it.
 
Blade_Crazy said:
In addition to the age question anyone know how easy it is to fix back spring trouble?

This knife has a main blade that has no spring strength and a second that is way to strong.... I'm thinking about just asking Case to fix it but don't know what could be done to home remedy it.
Click to expand...

The weak spring on the main blade might be due to heavy wear in the bearing surfaces between the spring & blade tang. Does the backspring 'sink' below flush (to the liners), when the blade is closed? That's fairly common on very old knives with other heavy wear (such as blade loss from years of sharpening). If so, that might be from a lot of metal being worn away from the spring or the blade tang, or both.

If the backspring doesn't 'sink' as mentioned, the spring might get some 'snap' back with a thorough cleaning. Heavily gummed-up oil and/or grit in the pivot might be slowing it down. That green(ish) stuff on the tangs, in your pics, looks like old sticky oil.

Not sure if the too-stiff spring on the secondary blade can be helped significantly, although cleaning might also ease that a bit, if the pivot is gummed and sticky. Pen blades on older jacks are notoriously stiff, in many examples (old barlows come to mind).

Never hurts to contact Case, and ask them for advice. Occasionally, they are even known to help refurbish old knives, so long as they don't have to replace any of the major components. They might be able to remove/replace the pivot pin, but blades and/or backsprings wouldn't likely be available for a knife & pattern this old.
 
I gave (tried to give) it a pretty good cleaning when I first got it. It is actually in significantly better shape than when I received it. I guess Ill get a hold of Case and see what they say.

I hope they can help with it, I really like the knife and think it would be an awesome one to add to my rotation.
 
Just occurred to me, I'm not seeing much backspring deflection above the liners/handle, with the blades partially open as seen in your pics. Does this knife have half-stops or square tangs? For the pen blade, shown at 1/2 open, I'd expect it to be flush with a half-stop or square tang. But the ~1/4 - 1/3 open main blade doesn't seem to show much spring deflection above the liners. That might confirm heavier wear in that joint, if so, and therefore the weak snap. On a new knife, or one with no significant spring/tang wear, the backspring would usually be visible (more so) above the liners, with a partially-opened blade positioned as seen with the main blade in your pic.
 
Blade_Crazy said:
The pen blade does have a half stop, the main stops no-where, it just slides back and forth.
Click to expand...

I'm curious as to what the tangs look like, if viewing the knife end-on, looking directly into the pivot end with blades closed. This would (should) show the square(ish) tang of the half-stopped pen blade, and the degree of wear on the tang of the main blade. Also should show how much (if any) the spring is 'dropped' below flush, assuming heavy wear on that main-side pivot.

It seems unusual to me, for a 2-bladed jack (from Case, anyway) to have only one half-stopped or square-tanged blade, and not on the other. This makes me think the tang and/or the backspring on the main blade side have worn heavily (tang rounded off, or a deep 'divot' wallowed out of the inside face of the spring; maybe both).
 
Knife should have a pattern number stamped on the back of the main blade's tang. It appears to have delrin handles. It also appears that there is a dot underneath the U.S.A.(which would put its production year as 1979) if my eyes aren't letting me down.
 
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