My Cases are not Cases!

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2brothers

2brothers

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Apr 22, 2007
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I recently bought some Case trappers, stockmans etc from my brother.
All of the new Corelon handled versions.
They are truly beautiful knives. At least the first batch was....
The second 6 or 7 I got were:
Very dirty, I mean more than one had to be wiped down completely just to see something shiny.
Some had emblem glue on the scales
Some really didn't have an edge at all.

Then I noticed.........I never even looked at the box.....OMG!

It says, and I quote "Produced by Frost Cutlery Co. under sub-license with W.R.Case & Sons Cutlery Co."

And these are not cheapie knives (by price anyway). They are all in the $75-$100 MSRP category.
I am not impressed Case.
Why are they subletting to Frost? Anyone know?

mike
 
Could you post a pic or two? With the boxes so I will know what to look for?

Sure don't want a Case like that.
 
I saw some of those in the SMKW catalog I got earlier this evening. Too bad I already chucked it.
 
That is both sad and scarry. I hope this isn't a new trend, that would really suck and would ruin Case IMO.
 
maybe they are just doing the handles, dunno:confused:
F/Case® Trapper with Oktoberfest Corelon® Handle $59.99

brand: W.R. Case® & Sons CA9254OF

After two years of negotiations with W.R. Case® and Sons, Frost Cutlery has secured the exclusive licensing agreement to produce some of the most beautiful handles available. Corelon®, a handmade polymer, with no two handles alike, is a registered trademark of Frost Cutlery.

·Tru-Sharp® surgical steel blades
·Oktoberfest Corelon® handle
·Brass liners
·Nickel silver bolsters and shield
·4-1/8" closed
Click to expand...

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Mode=Text&Brand=&CatalogName=&PriceStart=&PriceEnd=&Feature=&SearchText=frost&list=50&range=1&order=PriceDesc&SKU=CA9254OF
dunno if i like the sound of this too much need more clarification
ivan
 
I don't have my photo box here so I can't really capture the "glue" trail.
I circled splotches of glue and the lines show a masking of glue that was left.
The arrow points to a dirty and marred blade. The lighting in here is not for pictures, sorry.
Then of course is the box.

I'm sorry, I have a lot of Case knives from the 40's through new production and these do not compare.
If the handles were made by Frost and then assembled by them, or
Frost made the handles and Case assembled them, I don't care.
They are not up to par.
Is Case going to end up another outsourced company? China or Taiwan only production?
I hope not.

btw, it does say USA on the blade.

casefrost.jpg

casefrost2.jpg


mike
 
No way am I buying anything with Frost associated in any way, shape or form.

Even if all they are doing is printing the boxes and paperwork.

Been wondering how much longer Case could go without outsourcing or moving some facilities off shore.

Soon, you wont' be able to find anything made in America.

Truly pathetic.
 
on SMKW some of the handles are pretty ugly but a couple are kinda neat a little like the wild celluloid scales, to each his own i suppose.
But upon reading it a few dozen times in a panic i think they are just doing the corelon handles that and the prices are 50 bucks and up so not exactly a budget line. Still love my 3 case knives that much wont change:D
i think we can relax for now;)
ivan
 
As I recall, six or seven years ago, Frost was putting handles on Case knives without Case's permission. Case wasn't happy when these knives would show up at its place with scales that had fallen off.

So I'm guessing that this is some sort of sanctioned way for Frost to put all of those wild handle colors on Case knives with Case having some say in it.
 
case will be outsourcing their knives just yet, the finish issues are probably coming from frost adding the corelon handles i would guess, the blades look like they are marked in typical case fashion and the blades are marked on the sites as being tru-sharp... I dont think this is the grim reaper knocking for case. Im not a fan of frost taylor dont own any and probably never will, but i dont think this means anything more than another choice in handle material.
Albeit some pretty ugly choices but personally no worse than bubba-gum:barf:
ivan
 
I don't know if Frost has any USA manufacturing facilities. These bare handle knives of Case as it sounds like are probably outsourced by Frost. This is just my guess. I don't think Case should be dealing with Frost Cutlery in any capacity as ever one knows Frost Quality compared to USA Case.
 
2brothers... Your first clue is that there are no pins coming through the scales (center pin or scale pin) therefore it was not handled by Case. The blades, springs, and liners are made in Bradford, but where is it handled? Who knows, but coming from Frost the possibilities are open.

If you don't like it, see if you can get your money back, if you cant call Case 1-800-523-6350 and tell them what you think.
 
Very sad. That handle material looks interesting- kinda similar to the stuff Painted Pony is putting on the Colonel Coon knives. I can't tell much from the pics, but it sounds like that F&F is atrocious. If they're having the knives assembled by someone else here in the States- my bet is Bear & Sons.

I really hope Case isn't outsourcing knives to "you know where". Though if that's what they have to do to stay in business..... I'd rather have Case offshore some of their knives than disappear. It just seems odd that they would offshore/ outsource knives in that price range- directly competing with their main line.
 
Those leave the factory as real Case yellow handle knives, and are re-handled by Frost, and sold.
 
FWIW, I have 0 problems with my other Case knives. I am not bashing the line.
Truthfully, the ones that didn't have any blemishes or were actually clean are excellent.
I just found these to be nowhere near the quality I'd already gotten.
The picture of the box above is not a Frost box folks.
It is a Case branded box and that pic shows the bottom of the box.
The end of the box has a sticker that reads 9318SG and a UPC barcode.
No a normal Case sticker mind you.

Now to address a few replies.

Mike Robuck, are you serious? :eek: That is pitiful.

IVANKERLEY, I believe you're correct. The handles were shoddily put on
by Frost, but the rest of the knife says Case.
The fit and spring of the knife is fine, it's the look and cleanliness of the
final product that says "Nope, not a Case"

d.paker, I believe Case should 'handle' their own products. If anyone else gets
some like I got, they're going to be disappointed and may not be a repeat customer.

4ever3, you are correct, I will definitely contact someone about this, I want these fixed for sure. :thumbup:

moonwilson, the handle material looks great, the IQ (Ivory Quartz) looks the best IMO.
The SG (Sapphire Gold) that is above is OK, I was just trying to get one of each.
Supposedly limited run (as the clip blade states) 500 pcs. ea.
I think the slackers were working when mine got put together though. :D

joe-bob, I don't believe that statement is correct. Not exactly sure what you mean by that.
Frost would have a hard time marketing their knives in Case boxes without Case finding out. :confused:

Hope all that made sense. :)

mike
 
Case has gotten really frustrated in the past by larger distributors buying 3254 models and replacing the handles. Then they get them back for repair, and have to explain to the customer how they can't honor a warranty on a knife that has been re-handled. Thus, now they are producing a 9254 (check your tang) without handles at all and shipping to these distributors for final handle material application. They charge a "royalty" for every knife sold this way to cover any warranty work; and have to approve any variation in the work done. This also applies to any after-factory etching of the blades or handles.

Frost has been doing this for years. But now with the black box and appearance of a factory product, they must be selling quite a few. As it sounds as if quality is starting to lag somewhat.

Painted Pony is doing the same thing with Case knives and I have seen several of them; they look very good. They come in the standard green box and can be spotted by having a slight variant of the Case shield. They are still not pinned on, but Michael has had very good luck with his technique. Although I would still rather see a handle pinned (shield too for that matter). I will post a picture of the Painted Pony variant when time permits.

Mike Latham
CollectorKnives.Net
 
I sent of an inquiry to Case about this to find out the truth.
I asked if these were indeed genuine Case products or re-handled etc..
Since I can't get the glue off the handles (i don't want to try anything to harsh)
I need to find out if it would be under warranty, so says the email I sent them.

Thanks for the info Mr. Latham.

mike
 
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