Not so Swell Center Jack

E

El Jay

Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Messages
178
So my Swell Center Jack just returned from warranty. It was new when I got it but the springs were very lazy. 4 weeks later I get a new knife. Blade play in clip point, uneven spring grinds, pen blade looks like an Emerson Commander. Dents between the rear bolster and red bone handle. I'm going to stay away from these vault knives from now on. Just the everyday yellow handles for me. Now to put my medium Stockman back in my pocket.
 
Ya, I have a few case knives that are needing to be returned. I feel like the F&F on the last Rough Ryders have been better than new CASE XX. I plan to send some back this week. Blade play is my pet peeve. I don't mind a little light through the liners, but blade play shouldn't pass QC, especially to the degree I have seen.

That being said, that new small congress pattern is going to be pretty good...I would prefer to buy all Case in person from here on out.

I will say my swell center jack is probably my favorite case knife I own, even more so than the Vault Barlow.
 
I've acquired several Case's recently. A small stockman from 2012, a swayback jack from 2013, a teardrop from 2015 and a mini trapper and medium stockman from 2021. The swayback had an off center blade but was otherwise perfect, so I just fixed the centering. The 2021 medium stockman was pretty bad - gaps in the liners, a little blade wiggle, the shield was kinda wonky and the grind on the sheepsfoot blade was awful. I probably should have returned it, but I just fixed the blade wiggle and sharpened down the sheepsfoot until it was more or less straight. The other 3 knives were all good. So 4 out of 5 were pretty darn good and 1 was bad.
 
Dan1892 said:
I think it's unfortunate that a knife like my medium stockman ever left the factory. But, based on my experience you're still more likely to get a good one than a bad one.
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That’s true but 4 out of 5 quality is terrible
 
buckthorn said:
I can't understand why anyone is even considering keeping any of these knives. It's all poor workmanship (not necessarily the worker's fault) plain and simple.
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They have their place, and when they no longer have a place they will probably close their doors.
 
I'm trying not to be argumentative as that is not my intention, but what is "their place"? It seems as if that would be to produce mediocre quality traditional-style knives. Why not at least "good quality"? It's unrealistic to seek custom quality, nearly perfect, knives- just looking for good quality, useful knives without significant defects. I recall buying Case pocketknives in the 1970's. The details were not consistently great but defects of the magnitude being discussed here seemed never to be present.
 
Case has two clientele in my opinion: long time brand faithful, hardcore collectors who chase every variant and will happily buy the limited editions etc, and guys who just want to walk into a hardware store and buy a knife.

Less-than-great QC is probably not an issue to most of them. The collectors would be the most likely to be annoyed IMO. They must either pick their knifes in person or have a long standing relationship with a dealer who knows what’s up with Case and vets their knifes accordingly. Or maybe they just buy and tuck away and never chicken eye and coon finger their treasures? I once bought a collection of MoP Case knives from a gentleman. We haggled for an hour and a half at least. They were pretty knives but every one of them had some kind of minor issue or more. I didn’t end up keeping a single one for myself. It really surprised me that out of 20 or so premium level knives, not one was great.

The guys who just want something sharp can choose in person or don’t notice/care about things like backspring gaps or uneven blades.
 
For me, it wasn't worth the hassle of returning the one bad example I got when I could mostly fix the major issues. And I would definitely describe all the others as good to very good - especially for the money. I love my GECs but they are twice the price (or more on the secondary market). I'm happy we still have a company making good, affordable, readily available pocket knives in this country.
 
Dan1892 said:
I've acquired several Case's recently. A small stockman from 2012, a swayback jack from 2013, a teardrop from 2015 and a mini trapper and medium stockman from 2021. The swayback had an off center blade but was otherwise perfect, so I just fixed the centering. The 2021 medium stockman was pretty bad - gaps in the liners, a little blade wiggle, the shield was kinda wonky and the grind on the sheepsfoot blade was awful. I probably should have returned it, but I just fixed the blade wiggle and sharpened down the sheepsfoot until it was more or less straight. The other 3 knives were all good. So 4 out of 5 were pretty darn good and 1 was bad.
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How are you fixing blade wobble and centering?
 
Dan1892 said:
For me, it wasn't worth the hassle of returning the one bad example I got when I could mostly fix the major issues. And I would definitely describe all the others as good to very good - especially for the money. I love my GECs but they are twice the price (or more on the secondary market). I'm happy we still have a company making good, affordable, readily available pocket knives in this country.
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Since I’ve learned how to center the blades on most traditional knives I’m much more comfortable buying a Case. I’ve been able to center the blades on at least four. Since I’m OC on having centered blades it’s made purchasing one a lot easier.
 
Reconmarui said:
How are you fixing blade wobble and centering?
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Both can be fixed by a few raps with a hammer. For wobble, wrap the bolster with something to avoid damaging it and give it a few whacks to tighten it up. The downside is that it will usually cause you to be able to see the pivot pin after it's done. For centering, you open the knife to the half stop, lay it down on the side the blade is favoring and give the blade a few raps right above the tang. There is a helpful youtube vid out there that explains the process. It's a little scary at first, but not hard to do.
 
Dan1892 said:
Both can be fixed by a few raps with a hammer. For wobble, wrap the bolster with something to avoid damaging it and give it a few whacks to tighten it up. The downside is that it will usually cause you to be able to see the pivot pin after it's done. For centering, you open the knife to the half stop, lay it down on the side the blade is favoring and give the blade a few raps right above the tang. There is a helpful youtube vid out there that explains the process. It's a little scary at first, but not hard to do.
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I ask, “WHY should YOU have to do these adjustments?”
 
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