THE HORROR!!!! backspring failure!!!

roninelh

roninelh

Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
610
First off let me say that it is not my intention to be negative towards Case. The purpose of this thread is to show people what happened, because this has never happened to me. I have not contacted case because i'm still at work as I type this post. I'm curious if anything like this has happened to a fellow BF member....

I was doing a mundane task, cutting the tape to flatten a box and it went off without a problem.... when I went to close the knife in question which is a Case/bose tribal spear in chestnut bone which I have owned and VERY lightly used for about 3 weeks...... I heard a "ping" and when I looked down the top inch or so of the backspring had broken!!

A crisp break, It looks to be a heat treat problem perhaps. I am going to contact Case, but i'm not sure what they can or will do. anyway... on to the depressing pictures.... I would like to add that I got it from a reputable dealer and it was sold as new and mint.




 
Eric, that's terrible. This (unfortunately) has only happened to me years ago with a vintage "Springer" switchblade. They were actually very high quality knives and had a traditional look to them.

But back on point---you are in very good hands warranty wise (as I think you already know) other then the time it is away from you, I would assume all will be made right :thumbup:

Paul
 
That is a terrible sight, and as Paul said, I'm sure that you will be well taken care of. At least for Case's part I hope so.
 
Ouch. Even before I read your post I knew this wasn't going to be good when I saw those pics. Definitely send it back to Case, otherwise all you have there is a very expensive paperweight.

- Christian
 
It looks like a heat treat problem to me. Don't ask me how I know but it can happen to anyone. I am sure that they will make it right though.
Gene
 
Eric,
I had that happen to a peanut and was told to contact Skip Lawrie and he would take care of me. I did and he immediately emailed me back with his mailing address in the following email:

Please send your knife back to:

W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery

C/O Skip Lawrie

50 Owens Way.

Bradford, PA 16701

When I get it in I will review it and decide to repair or replace. From the sounds of it – it seems pretty cut and dry – warrantied repair or replace.
Apologize for any inconvenience this has caused but appreciate your feedback and input.
Again – please be sure to place “C/O Skip Lawrie” in the address, otherwise the package could end up in the Repair Department.

Thank you,

Skip
 
I had that happen to a U.S. made Schrade 94OT 10 or 15 years ago. I had bought the knife new from my local hardware store and one of the back springs broke after using it for 3 or 4 weeks. Just one of those weird things that happen sometimes.

Jim
 
Bummer, I have no doubt Case will fix it up for you but still sad to see it happen and you'll be without it for several weeks while Case works on it.
 
I had a Queen Honey Amber Stockman do the same thing awhile back. They sent me a new one. I'm sure Case will do the right thing. But what a bummer. I hope my Tribal Spear never does that.
 
Happened to me with one of the early Buck 700 series knives. It shocked me silly when it happened.

It was a known flaw of the early 700's. They fixed the problem and I've a later one which has served me well for a couple of decades or so.
 
Yeah this just happens. I personally think that it must be some kind of inclusion defect. I guess heat treatment could cause it to be brittle, but I am thinking that's a pretty big miss on the HT.

I had a weird one on a steel warrior lockback whittler. On close, one of the small blades just went soft. I opened and closed it to be sure what i was feeling, then flipped it over and the spring was curved funny. I did something to it, I forget what, and that half of the spring then just broke off. I guess it cracked on the inside, not all the way through, and then snapped through after some fiddling.
 
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Yeppers, as said either bad heat treat or just a bum piece of steel with either an inclusion or void in it. Quite sure Case will take good care of you ;-) Total bummer it happened tho!
 
Thanks Gev! How long ago was that? I think I might just send it to the address you listed (attn: Skip Lawrie) which is the building where the repair center is. I hope skip still works there, it would suck if it got lost or something....

I am also worried reading the warranty info, it says they might not cover repairs to limited run knives. They only do repairs and replacement on current production knives. I sure do hope they can fix it, it is a real joy to use and the fit and finish was perfect on my example. It is clearly a manufacturer flaw, and I've heard good things about case customer service, so i'm holding hope. What a bummer.

Gevonovich said:
Eric,
I had that happen to a peanut and was told to contact Skip Lawrie and he would take care of me. I did and he immediately emailed me back with his mailing address in the following email:

Please send your knife back to:

W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery

C/O Skip Lawrie

50 Owens Way.

Bradford, PA 16701

When I get it in I will review it and decide to repair or replace. From the sounds of it – it seems pretty cut and dry – warrantied repair or replace.
Apologize for any inconvenience this has caused but appreciate your feedback and input.
Again – please be sure to place “C/O Skip Lawrie” in the address, otherwise the package could end up in the Repair Department.

Thank you,

Skip
Click to expand...
 
Ouch! I'm sure Case will sort you out.

In the meantime I hope you found some solace in the Harmonica player....

Sam
 
I'm certain they will rectify this quickly. I wonder what backspring material they use? Is it due to the 154 steel being harder?? I seem to recall that somebody's Collab Dogleg had a similar failure some years back.
 
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