Older Case Knives

[jth250]

Hey have any of you guys used any of the older case carbon steel knives from the 70's and 80's. How is the edge holding on them is better or worse or about the same as the newer case cv knives.

Thanks

 

[Stich2442]

I have a 1970's Case stockman CV, '78 jack CV, a 2011 peanut CV, and a 2012 med stockman CV, all sharpen up very nice and have excellent edge retention, I would say the only difference would be the construction of the 1970's stockmen is slightly better than the others, but you were asking about their CV and in my experience it is excellent.

Just wanted to add that the springs on my '70 & '78 are carbon, springs on the more recent are stainless.

 

[midnight flyer]

Hey have any of you guys used any of the older case carbon steel knives from the 70's and 80's. How is the edge holding on them is better or worse or about the same as the newer case cv knives.

Thanks

I got a real chuckle out of that. Most of the folks here have their CASE knives from the 40s and 50s, I think.

Me, I have mine from the late 60s through the 80s. As for a steel comparison, that would be tough for me. I liked the heck out of CASE 1095 back then but find it much too soft for me these days. It was easy as could be to get a razor edge on that soft stuff which was great as I was still free hand sharpening on stones. The other advantage to CASE knives back then was that they came sharp and I never reprofiled one. It got reprofiled as I used it.

Now with all the inexpensive guided systems out there it is easy to get a great edge on a knife with harder steel that only needs light maintenance with regular use. I don't mind sharpening, but knives sometimes seem to be dull when I need them to be sharp.

I sharpened (although didn't take it to work) a CASE knife for a buddy of mine recently, and honestly it seemed like the same very soft carbon steel from years gone by. Not a thing wrong with it as my old CASE knives served very well and still have another couple of generations of work in them. With the current popularity of 1095, I doubt that CASE would change their carbon blades if they didn't have to.

Robert

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I have a 1965 Case 6265 SAB Folding Hunter in their carbon steel. In that era, I don't know if it was an exact match to the current 'CV' steel; Case's carbon-bladed knives weren't branded with the 'CV' moniker back then.

This particular knife made me re-think my presumptions about 'soft' steel. I noticed, when sharpening this one on a diamond hone, how soft it felt on the hone. Took almost no time to put completely new bevels on it, so I was a little skeptical of how it might hold up. After re-bevelling on the diamond hones, I went a step further and gently convexed the new edge on the skinner blade, using wet/dry sandpaper, up through ~1000 grit or so. I ended up using that edge to cut down a USPS Priority Mail cardboard 'box' mailer. Cut it into strips ~1" wide, until completely done. Between the carbon steel and the polished convex on the edge, it held up fantastically. Literally shaved hairs from my arm after I was done, and I hadn't expected that at all. What I'd 'found' was a steel that sharpened up very, very easily, but was still able to hold it's edge after doing some work. Made me realize the distinction between 'edge holding' (very good, in this knife) and 'abrasion resistance' (very low in this knife, which is why it sharpens up so easily). The two don't necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. That's a wonderful thing, sometimes.

 

[Stich2442]

I agree, I use my peanut to carve peach pits, which are hard as stone, I also scrape with the knife edge to finish and smooth. The first time I used the peanut I expected the edge would be dull, maybe rolled in places, but I was wrong it was still able shave hair off my arm, I inspected the blade under a magnifying glass and no damage at all to the blade. Cases CV is really good stuff and is easy to maintain, I find it to be fairly maintenance free, I find I don't have to sharpen them as often as other knives.