Sodbuster: What would you do?

D

Dale Gribble

Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
87
TrevyTrev's massive sodbuster collection thread has got me wanting to carry my Yellow Delrin CV Sodbuster Junior a bit more. Here's the thing, though. The blade isn't centered and rubs on the liner. There's no rub marks down by the edge, but it's starting to get rub scratches up towards the middle of the blade more towards the spine. Would that bother you enough to send it in to Case? Will that rubbing cause issues down the line?
Fit and finish is otherwise pretty good: no side to side blade play, the middle brass pins were a little proud but I knocked the sharp edges off with my Lansky ceramic rods, no gaps between the liners and scales. My little boy has one too, but it has some serious side to side blade play and much weaker spring. So I don't necessarily want a replacement knife without looking it over first. Would you live with it, or would you send it in?
 
I say live with it. This isn't an expensive custom knife we're talking about, after all. Can't expect perfection from one of the cheapest knives Case sells. Just use it and enjoy it, and don't fret over the little stuff. The scratches on the blade will just make it easier to use hard without worrying about the finish! Shouldn't cause anything other than cosmetic issues.
 
IMHO, It's a work knife and any knife used for work regardless of price, will not be or look perfect in time.
 
An alternative would be to sell it off and buy a nice custom sodbuster pattern. With a custom knife you should not have to worry too much about a rubbing blade.
 
Nice to know I'm gettin to you:D

Sorry to hear you are having an issue with your Case soddie. Slight rubbing in a cheap user such as the case sodbuster would not bother me, especially if the rest of the knife is in good condition and finish. If it were rubbing to the point that it affected opening or closing properly then it would be an issue and I would send it in to Case. $20 knives can't be perfect and if the only issue is slight rubbing by the spine it's not worth cost to ship it back to Case for them to fix the problem. My opinion, throw it in the pocket and use it hard, the slight rubbing shouldn't cause any issues down the road!
 
I've gotten two Case Sodbusters with side to side play. I'd rather have a little rubbing. Great knife though.
 
It's a $20-something knife, just use it like you stole it :)

I use my yellow Sodbuster Jr for the dirty jobs I don't want to thrash my other knives with. It's a utility knife to me - my "beater"?
 
Drop it in your pocket and used the bejeezus out of it. That's what it's meant for.:thumbup:
 
The rub marks from the brass liner against the blade can be minimized by polishing or burnishing the liner itself, at the location of the rub. Could also just radius or chamfer the edge of the liner a tiny, tiny bit with some fine sandpaper wrapped around a popsicle stick or the edge of a credit card. There might be a slight sharp edge on the liner, or a burr, that's causing most of the problem.

At any rate, I'd not worry about sending it back. As mentioned, this pattern was made for work with no worries about scratches, scuffs or otherwise.


David
 
You know, sometimes in this world of imperfection, you have to regard some stuff under the heading of "Yeah, it does that."

For years I had this old Colt government model, 1911A1. Good shooting gun, always reliable even with beach sand or dirt in it. It even 99% of the time ejected the shells right over my right shoulder. Mostly. But once in a while one would come flying strait up out of there, land right on top of my head, and roll off the bill of the ball cap I was wearing. Just once in a while. I loaned the gun to my bud Wayne on the range and he gave me his SIG 226 to try. Well, one spent shell landed on Waynes head and he asked me what the h--l was that about? I told him, "Yeah, it does that."

Kind of like individual character. The rub marks will be your knifes individual character marks that will make it different than any other sodbuster you run into. You will even be able to identify your knife without even seeing it, knowing it will have those distinctive rub marks. "Yeah, that's my knife, I can tell by the rub marks where the blade has always hit the liner when closing."

Character, it makes life interesting.
 
trevytrev said:
Nice to know I'm gettin to you:D
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Your Soddie thread is intense: a very nice, very focused, and well documented collection. It actually made me reconsider what kind of collection I want to have. At the moment I'm focusing on Opinels (which I didn't even know about until I started lurking here)- as they're affordable for a guy with a wife and small kids, good quality, enough sizes to keep the collecting going for a while, and enough history and quirks of design to be endearing. However, your thread definitely prompted me to reexamine the soddie jr. that was just sitting in my knife drawer.
 
jackknife said:
Kind of like individual character. The rub marks will be your knifes individual character marks that will make it different than any other sodbuster you run into. You will even be able to identify your knife without even seeing it, knowing it will have those distinctive rub marks. "Yeah, that's my knife, I can tell by the rub marks where the blade has always hit the liner when closing."

Character, it makes life interesting.
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Bingo, we have a winner. Hadn't even considered that. Imperfections, sometimes, can be the very thing that gives an object soul or that makes it "my knife". I'd know my guitars anywhere from the battle scars and scratches I've dished out to them. I'd know my motorcycle from any other one from the scratches and my kids fingerprints on the tank. Sounds like the soddie is floating in the same boat. Thanks Carl.
 
Dale, with your sons's sodbuster with the side-to-side play, try squeezing the pivot in in a bit. You should be able to use a vice and a few pieces of leather or a folded over belt to protect the knife and put a little bit of pressure on the pivot to press it in tighter. Your mileage may vary, but I've used this trick to tighten mine up a bit after I pulled a stupid and loosened my blade up a bit while out working on the fence one day.

jackknife said:
You know, sometimes in this world of imperfection, you have to regard some stuff under the heading of "Yeah, it does that."
-------
I loaned the gun to my bud... and he asked me what the h--l was that about? I told him, "Yeah, it does that."
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You could insert my old Jeep into the anecdote without skipping a beat. :D
 
Dale Gribble said:
Your Soddie thread is intense: a very nice, very focused, and well documented collection. It actually made me reconsider what kind of collection I want to have. At the moment I'm focusing on Opinels (which I didn't even know about until I started lurking here)- as they're affordable for a guy with a wife and small kids, good quality, enough sizes to keep the collecting going for a while, and enough history and quirks of design to be endearing. However, your thread definitely prompted me to reexamine the soddie jr. that was just sitting in my knife drawer.
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Cool, that makes me happy to hear that, glad you enjoyed the thread and got something out of it:thumbup: Opinels are great and would be a good knife to collect, I have a handful as well, great slicers! Honestly, I got into soddies cause they are on the cheaper end and I felt like I could grow a collection of them easily. I thought there wasn't that many variations out there but once I started digging, the hole just got deeper:D My wife opened the drawer one day and said with a smile, "You have an illness" Yes I do honey, yes I do!
 
For your sodbuster if it's bugging you that much and you can't find a place locally to inspect them before purchasing you can do what I ended up doing. Buy a GEC Bullnose (which I did) or look into an AG Russell Cowboy/Rancher and either will have good fit and finish and are still workhorses that beg to be used. When I bought the GEC I bought it expecting my blade to be perfectly centered and they did not disappoint, the AG Russell also has an extremely good fit and finish and excellent customer service and return policy so I don't think either will fail to disappoint you.

I wanted a Queen Country Cousin but I was afraid of the blade rubbing the sides of the liner so I opted for the GEC, and once again the GEC over the AG Russell to test out O1 as I have other 8CR13MOV blades.
 
it is a working knife and that blade rub wont really cause any problems. I had a tiny bit of play on mine and but it fixed nicely with a few light taps on the pivot. On a boker sodbuster with Yellow Delrin I got from a guy on the bay (they only made a single run of these but there were issues with the scales, so they never sold them to public) there was bladerub and an uncentered blade. It was a 10 dollar knife so I thought I'd mess with it to see if I could resolve the issue. I clamped the tang where the stamp is, wrapped the blade in some thick leather and usung pliers just bent the blade till it laid true and centered with no blade rub. Not saying this is a perfect fix, but it worked for me and got rid of the blade rub. Don't bend the blade like this with the whole handle clamped or you'll just create gaps in the pivot.
 
Dale Gribble said:
TrevyTrev's massive sodbuster collection thread has got me wanting to carry my Yellow Delrin CV Sodbuster Junior a bit more. Here's the thing, though. The blade isn't centered and rubs on the liner. There's no rub marks down by the edge, but it's starting to get rub scratches up towards the middle of the blade more towards the spine. Would that bother you enough to send it in to Case? Will that rubbing cause issues down the line?
Fit and finish is otherwise pretty good: no side to side blade play, the middle brass pins were a little proud but I knocked the sharp edges off with my Lansky ceramic rods, no gaps between the liners and scales. My little boy has one too, but it has some serious side to side blade play and much weaker spring. So I don't necessarily want a replacement knife without looking it over first. Would you live with it, or would you send it in?
Click to expand...

I bouight a Case Sodbuster Jr last year to replace one lost more than 20years ago. It had same fit/finish issues plus a proud spring when open and an indented spring when closed. After oiling cycling for an afternoon most of the grittiness was gone. I gave the knife away.
 
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