OLD case trapper, question about handle.

D

DGladden

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Jul 18, 2010
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Ok folks, I've had this knife for a long time. I picked it up about 15 years ago at a yard sale. It's an old trapper with a tang stamp from the 1940(some say '45)-1964 era, short bolster on the rear and here's the curious part, LEATHER handle scales! Has anyone ever seen a case folder with leather scales? I'm not talking stacked washers, I mean one solid piece of leather pinned to the liner. Was this maybe a dealer sample that never made it to production? One off custom made by an employee? Any info would be appreciated.
 
BEAR....youre going to have to get pics up to get a decent answer methinx....a pics worth a 1000 words............FES
 
Gotta see pics of that one. I have no idea until then...

In the meantime, I assume by 'trapper', you mean a '54 pattern (such as 6254, for a bone-handled version)? Is there a pattern number on the tang of one of the blades?

I'm not seeing any reference to a leather-handled version in my guide, for any vintage (old or new). Might be a homemade re-handle job. But again, I'd want to see a pic. :)
 
In over 40 years of being a pocket knife nut. I have never seen a Case folder with leather handle scales.

Where is the picture? ;)
 
Here are a couple quick pics. I'll try to get better pictures in the daylight.
2012-09-15195856.jpg

2012-09-15195941.jpg


Here you can see the leather has shrunk and there is a gap at the front bolster.
2012-09-15195952.jpg
 
There are no model numbers on the knife, the only thing stamped is the Case tang stamp.

CASE
XX
 
I'd bet that's a re-handle job. In your picture shown again below, I'm noticing what appears to be two 'pins' in the right-central portion of the handle, in the area to the left of the scale/cover pin near the forward bolster, and above and to the right of the backspring pin. Almost looks like those two pin locations (if those are pins) are where a CASE shield ordinarily would've been pinned to the original handle, but were re-purposed to pin the leather to the scale (liner). The leather looks like it's shrunk quite a bit too.

Compare to this pic from the web, of an original handle on same pattern, w/shield on it:
 
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Bear, are you positive it's leather?

Just out of curiosity, were there any rough black trappers made in that time frame and what would it look like after some serious use like the old beauty has seen?

Ben
 
im pretty sure those are Celluloid scales that have possibly gassed off or shrunk badly, as David always comes in with his fantastic knowledge-the two mid-pins do look like shield location pins, leather could be mistaken because of the nature of bad shrinkage/ gassing off?
 
Yeah, it's leather. Those are in fact pins in the middle. I too thought that was where the shield would have been. It has shrunk quite a bit and can be peeled back to see the rough side of the leather. I have long thought it was a custom job but there was always that little hope in the back of my mind that it was some super rare Case prototype and I could retire early! LoL It's still a cool piece and will hold a scary edge. I might even have new leather put on it one day.
 
ok... then someone has got their hands on it, as I have never seen a Leather Scaled Case..... but there are a lot more knowledgeable guys out there than me - thats for sure.
Instead of re-leathering the knife, why not Jigged bone, Stag??
 
Campbellclanman said:
ok... then someone has got their hands on it, as I have never seen a Leather Scaled Case..... but there are a lot more knowledgeable guys out there than me - thats for sure.
Instead of re-leathering the knife, why not Jigged bone, Stag??
Click to expand...

Well, the leather is unique. If I went with bone or wood, it would be like every other old Case out there. I wonder what it would cost to have new leather fitted to it?
 
BearMGCHafter said:
Yeah, it's leather. Those are in fact pins in the middle. I too thought that was where the shield would have been. It has shrunk quite a bit and can be peeled back to see the rough side of the leather. I have long thought it was a custom job but there was always that little hope in the back of my mind that it was some super rare Case prototype and I could retire early! LoL It's still a cool piece and will hold a scary edge. I might even have new leather put on it one day.
Click to expand...

Buck did a limited-run leather-scaled 110 in fairly recent years. As unusual as it is to see on a production knife, I wouldn't be surprised if it's at least been attempted in a few home shops. So, it didn't totally shock me to hear of this on yours. A lot of old Case knives with bone scales eventually had troubles with the bone cracking and/or breaking off, and your knife may have had such an issue, some time back. Leather seems like a relatively simple 'fix' to make such a knife at least functional again, without having to disassemble or remove pins & such. Just cut it and punch the 'pin holes' in the right places, and glue it in place. It seems to me, this is what possibly happened with yours.

If you're so inclined, you might contact Case just to ask what/if they can do anything, such as re-scaling the knife. I honestly don't know if they can, or if they'll be willing (might not be able to replace the shield, for example). But, they have done restoration work to very old knives on occasion. There are also many skilled craftsman/customizers who can do it for you, with just about any exotic material you wish.
 
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