Question about a found Case knife.

r8shell

r8shell

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Jan 16, 2010
Messages
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Hello, BladeForums experts! I have a question.

I have a friend who is studying archeology and is doing some sort of internship involving a "pedestrian survey" which I'm told has to do with mapping out an area of land and documenting anything found there.

She sent me these photos of a pocketknife, and asked if I could give any information, especially regarding its age.

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It is a Case knife, and looks to me to have had two blades. The blades are rusted away, but the backsprings are shiny. I'm hoping a Case expert could narrow down a time frame of when Case started using stainless springs.

A little longer than a penknife, maybe a Muskrat? It looks like white synthetic scales, I'm not 100% certain. I don't know if sitting for years in the elements could affect the color.

I appreciate any information and opinions y'all have, Thanks!
 
At a glance it looks like both blades were snapped off prior .
Also it wouldnt need to be in the ground /elements very long to end up the way it looks....
Was it lying on the surface or buried?
How deep?
Anyway at least a couple of years maybe less...Most of it looks ok apart from the blades which I propose were broken and the reason for it being thrown away.
Any clues from the location ?
 
I'd agree it looks like a Muskrat pattern, blade each end and the size. I suspect that it might be Yellow Delrin that's bleached out due to the type of soil/conditions it's in. Having both blades busted right off suggests (a maniac non knife type or a moronic kid at work 🤣) it was probably just chucked away in anger or dumped due to a clean out. Anything similar with it, houseshold items ?

I've heard that CASE went over to stainless springs as opposed to carbon or ns plated ones sometime in the 1970s . I have a Mini Trapper from 1978 with stainless springs.

Hopefully Old Hunter Old Hunter may see this as he has a comprehensive knowledge of CASE background and history . The shield looks like the ones used on Yellow Delrin too but I could be mistaken.
 
Good point about the blades looking broken off.

I'll make a list of questions to ask her this weekend.
 
Case definitely had smooth white plastic handles available back to at least the 60s maybe 50s. If it’s only 1 back spring I would agree muskrat but you could maybe nail down the exact year if you could see the tang stampings
 
The red shields I've seen look different, with a border & the color is some sort of enamel in the recessed areas.
 
I'm going to say mid 80s to 90s. The older XX and Tested ovals are not the same, the ovals are more pointed at the ends. I have a couple Case trappers from the 80s-90s with the same flattened ended oval shield.
Old dried bone will peel and flake like that.
The shield is the same color as the bolster and pins. Its not red, its just copper colored from corrosion. Red shields are enameled and the text is different.
 
Arathol said:
I'm going to say mid 80s to 90s. The older XX and Tested ovals are not the same, the ovals are more pointed at the ends. I have a couple Case trappers from the 80s-90s with the same flattened ended oval shield.
Old dried bone will peel and flake like that.
The shield is the same color as the bolster and pins. Its not red, its just copper colored from corrosion. Red shields are enameled and the text is different.
Click to expand...
This right here; the shield is modern, at or after 1984.
 
That's strange about the peeling,I didn't know that bone peeled like that,something i have never witnessed, i have used 3" cow,moose,deer leg bones pushed into the ground surface to make a walking path,also didn't think case painted delrin or bone.i learn something every other month while forgetting something every day.
 
Oldy said:
That's strange about the peeling,I didn't know that bone peeled like that,something i have never witnessed, i have used 3" cow,moose,deer leg bones pushed into the ground surface to make a walking path,also didn't think case painted delrin or bone.i learn something every other month while forgetting something every day.
Click to expand...
Those bones probably weren't processed by boiling in water with tri-sodium phosphate to clean and degrease them before being used as handle material.
 
Arathol said:
Those bones probably weren't processed by boiling in water with tri-sodium phosphate to clean and degrease them before being used as handle material.
Click to expand...
God point,boiled yes for soup but non of the other chemicals.
 
Old Hunter said:
This right here; the shield is modern, at or after 1984.
Click to expand...
So, "late 20th Century", possibly early 21st?

Thank you to everyone who weighed in. I relayed info to my friend and she said it was very helpful. She's going to ask the head archeologist if they want to go further with cleaning and inspecting it, or not. It's not clear to me if they think there's anything significant to the find, or it's just an academic exercise. I learned that when surveying a site, they collect items at the surface and that tells them when a site was occupied. (newest at the top, I assume) They must collect a lot of bottle caps and junk from recent visitors all the time. ;)
 
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