Question about Case Quality

[NMpops]

Except for the Bose knives, Case knives are medium priced knives meant to be used. Yes they have a collectors club and people do collect them and demand almost perfection, but how much perfection can you really expect for less than $50 each? GEC on the other hand is mainly aimed at collectors, hence the low numbers, limited production time on models and much higher prices.
Its just not fair to compare standard Case knives to GEC.

 

[IvarDay]

I would say this is an issue of USA made knives. I have a lot of Case, Queen, GEC and I have send a lot of them back to factory because of blade play (side to side, up and down), rust on brand new Queen out of box, loose shield, no spring tension at all on Case Stockman, blade snaps into the backspring GEC, pins falls out on Queen, cracked pins in GEC......
I have only some knives without any flaws. All others where shipped back to factory. That's why now I collect only early GEC's, vintage Case knives, vintage Queens. They have no flaws and if they have rust than you will not pay for it 172$.

 

[stormylntz]

Every Queen knife but one that I have ordered have had serious QC flaws.I will never order from them again. I like all my GEC knives;imo they are far superior.

 

[Will Power]

Does anyone have any input on Case's damascus line? I like the looks but want to see if the tolerances are a bit better with the higher prices, or if the prices just reflect higher cost materials. I have been happy with my traditionals so far, so I don't expect absolute perfection in anything under hundreds of dollars, but in general, does the damascus line also indicate better fit and finish?

I have a Swayback Gent in creme brulee bone, my only Dam knife from CASE.

Can't see any gaps when held up to strong light, blade centre, strong pull and snap! no blade play, flush in 3 positions. An excellent knife, but it seems most of the Swayback series are very well finished, cv, Dam or Trusharp. That could be because it is a relatively new pattern and thus made using new machinery. My example was very well worth the money. I'm afraid that I've never believed in the mantra that says more expensive equals better made, very often it's just a marketing hype. It's certainly far more annoying when something costs a lot and is a severe disappointment or rip-off....:barf:

As Bernard Levine states, Read the Knife, look at the knife as it is and how it functions for you, add that to the range of other peoples' experiences. It's a healthy antidote to fanboyism

Regards, Will

 

[brownshoe]

Does anyone have any input on Case's damascus line? I like the looks but want to see if the tolerances are a bit better with the higher prices, or if the prices just reflect higher cost materials. I have been happy with my traditionals so far, so I don't expect absolute perfection in anything under hundreds of dollars, but in general, does the damascus line also indicate better fit and finish?

Every one I have seen was top notch. The Tony Bose collaborations are often released later in damascus, these have commanded top price and the ones I have seen are equal in quality to the regular Case/Bose collaborations.

Wolfeknives, send in the whittler you don't like and Case will make it right.

 

[Peregrin]

Every one I have seen was top notch. The Tony Bose collaborations are often released later in damascus, these have commanded top price and the ones I have seen are equal in quality to the regular Case/Bose collaborations.

Wolfeknives, send in the whittler you don't like and Case will make it right.

I'll add that I've got a peanut, a number of Sway backs and a Humpback Half Whittler in Case Damascus and they are all excellent. I've eyed the Case/Bose collaborations in Damascus but haven't taken the plunge yet.

I'd expect that the Damascus offerings like the Sway back etc get a little more attention then their SS or CV counterparts.

 

[Will Power]