So I picked up an old Case 64052 Congress to carry

akadave2

akadave2

Joined
Jun 21, 2008
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Nothing special. Listed as "Transitional" which I understand but Im not a collector so to speak. Looks good etc. Got th knife, good feel, looks nice, good snap no real wobble. Then I check the gaps. Now this is a '78/'81 transition knife supposedly. The gaps are pretty horrendous, was that the norm in the '80's for Case?


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Sadly, the 80s were a really dark decade for Case. Their knives up to about 1975 were excellent, and they regained their mojo in the late 90s. There was a solid 15-20 years where they weren't great and the 80s were the worst.
 
I'll defer to the experts here, but I seem to recall several discussions where it was sited that Case's quality began it's decline in the 80's. Nice looking knife otherwise!

Peter
 
It´s a nice knife, especiall the color and shade of the bone as well as the jigging - but those gaps are horrible. Sorry to see this happened on an older knife.

Do the gaps cause any negative influence on the working of the knife like wobbling etc?
 
Great looking congress. Gaps look fairly typical for an '80s knife, although I've seen some better and some MUCH worse.
 
Humppa said:
It´s a nice knife, especiall the color and shade of the bone as well as the jigging - but those gaps are horrible. Sorry to see this happened on an older knife.

Do the gaps cause any negative influence on the working of the knife like wobbling etc?
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Knife feels tight, covers dont move, no wobble to speak of...maybe just a tiny tiny bit on one of the blades but nothing to cause alarm.

My primary reason for getting the older Case Congress is twofold. I really think the new ones have goofy looking blade shapes. The pulls seem to be sloppily stamped and I want CV. Otherwise I would have gotten a new congress for edc. Unfortunately as well is that anything older than 1980 for this pattern is really really expensive for some reason.
 
looks like a nice knife apart from the gaps, is it possible to fix them the way you would fix blade play? or is the knife too fragile?
 
fatcorgi said:
looks like a nice knife apart from the gaps, is it possible to fix them the way you would fix blade play? or is the knife too fragile?
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Im wondering if I sent it in to Case if they would correct this? I mean, its a defect to me..but..they may not see it that way?
 
akadave2 said:
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I really think the new ones have goofy looking blade shapes. The pulls seem to be sloppily stamped and I want CV.
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Agreed. I wouldn't send it back.

Remember Case is "the choice of knife collectors" and collectors don't like to maintain carbon steel apparently. :D
 
Well, those gaps look like they're for ventilation :D:eek: I wouldn't like them, which is a pity as the bone and overall look is very decent.

Best start using it.
 
akadave2 said:
My primary reason for getting the older Case Congress is twofold. I really think the new ones have goofy looking blade shapes. The pulls seem to be sloppily stamped and I want CV. Otherwise I would have gotten a new congress for edc. Unfortunately as well is that anything older than 1980 for this pattern is really really expensive for some reason.
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Have you handled a newer 64052? I ordered one a while ago and promptly returned it. They went from a 2 spring configuration like yours has to a 4 spring (one for each blade) one, which makes the blades even thinner. I like the way the long pulls look, but the blades on the new ones are just too thin and flexible.

I have 2 64052s from 1974 and neither have any gaps, but my 62052 half congress from 1974 has some very slight gaps.

From my experience on looking for and buying 64052s on eBay, finding a good vintage example is difficult and potentially very expensive indeed. Especially if the bone is particularly pretty or it happens to be a "transition" knife (an irrelevant point IMO).
 
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