Old vs New Casexx Folders

T

TheEdge01

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Apr 3, 2015
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Hey guys, my question is simple, in terms of quality are the new Case xx folders just as good as the older ones. Old Case knives that are in good shape are hard to find unless you buy online. I prefer looking my knives over before purchasing, so I don't buy online.
 
Old ones (70s and earlier) are supposed to be much superior. I wouldn't know though, as I don't have any. My two modern Case knives are all but bad, but I think it depends on your luck nowadays. I've seen and read about a lot of things concerning the newer Case knives, positive and negative. The old ones should be better though. That's the case with many German and other companies as well.
 
Whatever you choose, you will have a high quality knife to use or collect.

With old knives, there are a LOT of fakes and used/rusted knives that are buffed to a high shine and sold as new. There are also a lot of heavily worn old knives. If you find a 1970 or earlier knife that is truly all original and truly well preserved (not buffed), they are very nice knives.

Finding an antique sowbelly from Case that's original and in good condition is very unlikely. And it would likely cost a ton of money. But in my opinion, the current production of the Tony Bose pattern is high quality. So if you want a sowbelly to use, the current production should serve you well.

On the other hand, I greatly prefer the 1970 and earlier 32 pattern stockman compared to the current production 032. And they are common enough that you should be able to find an old one in good condition.
 
I have a 1977 Coke Bottle design Casexx, but I haven't really done much with it. I'm planning to get a new one today as a user. I'm not sure which one I will go with though.
 
I've had about the same experience across the board. By that I mean that I've had some older Case knives (1940-1964 era) which appeared to be unused that were of excellent quality and construction and some that had blade play or other issues. Not sure how those issues arose because I was only 3 years old in 1964 and I don't know how many hands the knives passed through before I bought them. Most of the unused Case knives I've owned from that era were of excellent quality, but not all of them.

Same with current production. The last two Case knives that I bought were both 2017 made Swayback Gents. One of them has sizeable gaps on each side of the backspring but a centered blade. The other is almost flawless except for a slightly off center blade and a barely visible hairline gap in the backspring area. Both knives have good walk & talk with no blade play and no blade rub.

My overall experience with late model Case knives in the 10 years that I've been buying them is about 85% positive. I buy most of them online and I usually get good ones but not always. My experience with older Case knives is about the same.
 
I have some cases from the 70's and before, although not one from before 64 which are supposed to be the better quality
In my opinion compared with the current production they have some advantages:
the bone was very well dyed
The finishing in the roundness of the scales and the attention to detail human workers put into it is apparent, current knife scales are flatter and less comfortable.
They Generally used thinner blade stock and thinner grinds behind the edge

Current production:
The steel used gets a better edge and hold it longer
The backspring is supposed to be more durable because it doesn't rust being inox
A lot more options of colour holder for me the dyed bone is not the same

YMMV
Mateo
 
TheEdge01 said:
Hey guys, my question is simple, in terms of quality are the new Case xx folders just as good as the older ones. Old Case knives that are in good shape are hard to find unless you buy online. I prefer looking my knives over before purchasing, so I don't buy online.
Click to expand...
 
It's hard to beat a Case knife from 1970 and before. They really pushed the industry to keep up with their quality. In my opinion, Case quality fell off in the 80's and part of the 90's, but then came back after 2000. I think the knives coming out of the factory today are of pretty good quality, considering they're a huge factory with an assembly line. It's not like each knife is hand crafted and cared for like they did 100 years ago.
 
supratentorial said:
Whatever you choose, you will have a high quality knife to use or collect.

With old knives, there are a LOT of fakes and used/rusted knives that are buffed to a high shine and sold as new. There are also a lot of heavily worn old knives. If you find a 1970 or earlier knife that is truly all original and truly well preserved (not buffed), they are very nice knives.

Finding an antique sowbelly from Case that's original and in good condition is very unlikely. And it would likely cost a ton of money. But in my opinion, the current production of the Tony Bose pattern is high quality. So if you want a sowbelly to use, the current production should serve you well.

On the other hand, I greatly prefer the 1970 and earlier 32 pattern stockman compared to the current production 032. And they are common enough that you should be able to find an old one in good condition.
Click to expand...

A buffed older knife still makes a fine user though right? That would only make a difference to a true collector.
 
I have a 70s 6232 and is leagues better than the 62032s of today. I'd go as far to say that it is better than GECS offerings.
 
Mine:
Pre '65 Barlow
70's Barlow
2000's Copperlock
2000's Case Bose Swayback Gent
2016 Mini Copperlock

They are all of similar quality, very good but not perfect. Biggest fault, on several, blade mis-alignment +/- rub. The best? The Copperlock. The biggest surprise? The Case Bose, with a mis-aligned (nearly rubbing) blade.
 
Interesting stuff. I've been interested in a Case/Bose knife but wonder just how much extra effort is put forth in their creation. That is disheartening to hear about yours Bugdoc Bugdoc .
 
Fodderwing said:
Interesting stuff. I've been interested in a Case/Bose knife but wonder just how much extra effort is put forth in their creation. That is disheartening to hear about yours Bugdoc Bugdoc .
Click to expand...
Just to clarify any confusion - the knife Bugdoc was referring to (Sway Back Gent) is a regular production Case knife that was designed by Tony Bose, that is in the typical Case price range. That is NOT the same thing at all as the annual Case/Bose collaboration knives which cost several hundred dollars. Those are made in a different manner and not on the regular production line.
 
Thank you John for the clarification. I'd really appreciate any thoughts on the quality and f&f of the Case/Bose collaborations.
 
Don't forget the canoe on the way
Bugdoc said:
Mine:
Pre '65 Barlow
70's Barlow
2000's Copperlock
2000's Case Bose Swayback Gent
2016 Mini Copperlock

They are all of similar quality, very good but not perfect. Biggest fault, on several, blade mis-alignment +/- rub. The best? The Copperlock. The biggest surprise? The Case Bose, with a mis-aligned (nearly rubbing) blade.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks jc57 jc57 . I was generally aware of the difference before buying it, but I had hoped it might have received more attention at QC due to the Bose name.

This was an early one in their partnership if I correctly recall. Perhaps they learned from this experience and decided to do future Case Bose knives differently?
 
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