old case ID (pic heavy)

[siguy]

i was just wondering if any of you knowledgable fellows over here could help me ID this old case knife.

i was at my uncles house for the holiday with the family, and while searching the basement for great grandpa's axe to chop some wood, we found this old knife that he had discovered several years ago in the middle of the woods.

it is a small fixed blade case knife, and i am refurbishing it. i am just curious to know what model it is and an approx production date.

you can tell from the blade wear that whoever it belonged to before sharpened it and used it alot, and knew what they were doing.

some additional info; originally shallow hollow ground blade, overall length at just over six inches. carbon steel blade indicated by rust. thumb grooves may have been added by owner based on the observation that they are slightly irregular and are deeper on one side of the blade than the other. the buttcap is a soft metal, most likely aluminum or possibly nickel silver.

pictures:

my progress so far with refurbishing;

also, if anyone knows about how the buttcaps are attached, it would be a big help. i can't figure out how to get it off without damaging the cap or the tang.

 

[STDK]

Pretty sure this is commonly known as a Case Finn, try using this in searches on the board and you can probably get the info you need.

 

[siguy]

thanks STDK, i will look around

EDITED to add;
i believe that it is a case M3 finn, except that all of these that i found online were listed as stainless, and i am fairly certain that mine is carbon because of the loads of rust on the blade and tang. the blade is also pretty hard, and very wear resistant compared to my other knives, all no-name stainless. also, to my knowledge case uses 420 for thier stainless, and this is far more wear resistant than 420 knives that i have sharpened for friends.

 

[Phil in Alabama]

Looks like an M3Finn, probably at least mid 1960's manufacture. Pre stainless steel blades. A stainless model would be stamped M3FinnSS. Here's what is in Sargents American Premium Guide to Knives and Razors: M3Finn, first listed in January 1st 1950 price list, discontinued between Jan. 2, 1978 and Nov. 1st, 1978. Manufacture of stainless M3FinnSSP starting with Feb. 1st, 1965, discontinued between Mar.2nd, 1989 and Mar. 1st, 1990. Replaced with the M3FinnSS model April 1st, 1991, and still being made. I think the SSP stamped knives had satin brushed finish with polished edges only, the SS models polished fully. SO, apparently you've got a chrome vanadium steel M3Finn made somewhere from 1950 to 1978. Not a lot of hellp pinpointing a production date, am I?

The pommel is held on by a "pewter" like stuff poured while melted into the end cap, sort of like soldering. There is a hole cast into the pommel, which fits down over a hook-like projection on the knife's tang, and the hole is then filled with molten metal which was ground off and polished after cooling. It would probably melt out with a hand torch's heat, but I don't know how it could be put back, unless you filled it with something like plumbers solder? Maybe you could drill a small hole and put a pin in it after replacing the leather washers.

 

[siguy]

phil, that actually is quite useful.

as far as getting the cap off, after talking to some of the guys in the tinkering subforum, i have decided to leave the cap where it is and put some wood on the handle, sort of like one big scale.

so it will look completely different really, but it will work.