My first WR Case's knife

S

sandalian

Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
29
Finally I own Case's knife, a Sparxx Tiny Toothpick.

case1.jpg


Beautiful knife, but it comes with few questions in my mind.

- When closed, the blade's tip is not center aligned. Is it normal? No blade play though.

case2.jpg


- The blade comes with micro burrs on its edge, not stropped? I can feel it when I touch it with my finger.

I don't know if it's normal or not, just wondering :)
 
Case's tend to come with a pretty rough factory edge, Is it a stainless model? I have heard that Case's trusharp stainless tends to burr easily. Case's tend to be a bit off center, my swayback had a centered pen with off center main. My peanut had both blades slightly off center towards their nail nicks and my Chestnut bone Sodbuster was dead center. With Case it seems to be the luck of the draw, but with over the dozen GEC's I've had have all been centered. Of course, that brings a much higher price point though.
 
Both the off center closed blade and rough edge are pretty normal. I got a peanut that had a horrible edge - it cleaned up very nicely with a bit of work. It is possible to center the blade, but unless you know what you are doing it is not recommended. You can weaken the blade or loosen the pivot - or both.

Best bet is put your own edge on it and don't let the off center bother you!

Beautiful knife, by the way.

Eric
 
Very cool! Those sparxx scales look really cool. I was looking at getting one for my son's 15th birthday at tractor supply. Thanks for sharing the picture.
 
Off center is pretty common for most production slip joint type knives. To me, it's not a big deal as long as it doesn't rub. I do prefer centering though. As far as the edge, it sounds like the wire formed on one side and needs to be stropped off. I usually drag the blade through some wood and it breaks off that curled over edge leaving a rather sharp edge.
 
The off-center blade is normal, but you can find Case knives with centered blades. Just luck of the draw. Like Woodrow, it doesn't bother me unless it's rubbing another blade or the liners.

Roughly-finished blade edges are also normal, for the last ten years or so. Some are much worse than what you described.
 
Very nice little knife. I like that a lot.

I got a Cheetah a few years ago that had an edge so rough it looked like a 5 year old took it to a course grinder. Had it not been a gift from my dad (his last gift to me), I'd have sent it back to Case. So I spent an afternoon cleaning it up and it now is displayed in my home.

I have seen numerous issues with fit and finish, blade centering, factory edge, etc., but overall Case makes a quality product. Kind of like sports. You hate when your team flubs a play knowing they can do better, but you still love the team and are always proud of them making the playoffs.
 
Whenever I see one of these I think of the big yellow Case fish knife I lost into a river years ago. :(

Nice knife you got there!:)
 
sandalian said:
- When closed, the blade's tip is not center aligned. Is it normal? No blade play though.
Click to expand...

My limited experience with Case is similar to yours and others posting here. I’ve got four single-blade Case knives that I’ve picked up this year, three slipjoints and a Copperlock. Two of the slipjoints have perfect blade centering when closed, but the other two have blades that nearly contact the liner when closed.
 
Woodrow F Call said:
Off center is pretty common for most production slip joint type knives. To me, it's not a big deal as long as it doesn't rub. I do prefer centering though. As far as the edge, it sounds like the wire formed on one side and needs to be stropped off. I usually drag the blade through some wood and it breaks off that curled over edge leaving a rather sharp edge.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with this.

The only difference is that, in order to remove the wire edge I strop the knife back and forth across my pant leg holding the knife at about a 45° angle. This bends the wire edge back and forth until it breaks, leaving a clean sharp edge. (I do this to many knives, not just Case stainless).
 
Fiinally I have access to my laptop back after several days for some repairs.

THANKS everyone for your feedbacks.
I have stropped my Toothpick and now it's ready to serve :)
 
the blade being off center is fairly common, I always (if I cant be there in person) request the blade be centered or close or don't send the knife to me.
 
I have had good luck with Case knives, as far as centering goes. Blade rub on one sowbelly stockman, but that may be common on that pattern.
 
It is odd that everyone is so accepting of lower case quality when even a China makes perfect fit and finish knives.

Does Case just not care? There is no reason why a American made knife can't be as good as others, is America not home of the shody?
 
SirJames said:
It is odd that everyone is so accepting of lower case quality when even a China makes perfect fit and finish knives.

Does Case just not care? There is no reason why a American made knife can't be as good as others, is America not home of the shody?
Click to expand...

Case is only one brand of American Made Traditional Knives. They are not the only brand. Many American Made knives are high quality and well made with impeccable fit and finish.
 
I have had a couple of Case knives that had issues, but for the most part I have been very satisfied with my Case cutlery. I have also had issues with a couple of China made Rough Rider and Schrade/Taylor knives and for the most part I prefer the Case knives to the Chinese brands.

I have had great luck with the GEC brands and highly recommend them.

I have not significantly explored some of the other "made in USA" brands, so I can't give any opinion on those.

Ed J
 
SirJames said:
It is odd that everyone is so accepting of lower case quality when even a China makes perfect fit and finish knives.

Does Case just not care? There is no reason why a American made knife can't be as good as others, is America not home of the shody?
Click to expand...

To see discrepancies in fit and finish in many knives from many countries one need only spend time in this forum. Expensive knives typically have fewer discrepancies than inexpensive knives do, no matter what the country of manufacture. Case is not considered an expensive American knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top