Two New (Old) Knives and a question about a proud backspring

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I have recently been gifted two excellent Case knives. One is a 055 Cigar from 1972, and the other is a Texas Jack from the early 1980's.

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My intention is to use these knives. Being from the 70's and 80's, I don't consider them "antiques" by a long shot. But I do prefer the bone to Case's more modern offerings.

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The only flaw I can see between the two of them is on the 055 Cigar. When the blade is open, the back spring is not flush. It is raised somewhat. I tried to capture it in this low quality cell phone photo:

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This does bug me a little, but I am wondering if it is at all structurally unsound, as in will it put undue stress on the spring when in use? This is the only knife I own that does this. Is it common on older knives (or even new ones)?

Since Case does not make this pattern anymore, I really don't want to risk sending it back. It is otherwise flawless. No blade play of any sort.

Thanks for looking.
 
I have that in some of my knives, both old and new. I find it annoying, but it has not affected the function of the knives.
 
i find it very annoying, but functionally, there is still enough contact area between the backspring and the tang to offer ample support under stress



aside from a couple #15 boys knives, every single one of my GECs' backsprings are proud and GEC is a tip top knife manufacturer.
 
Concur with the above...most prominent example is on a 70s Case stockman but that doesn't stop it from being an excellent knife otherwise. I have a Henckels Congress that exhibits this on all four blades but if it were a daily user I would not mind. Though, I have not had this problem with any GEC.
 
Thanks, gents. It doesn't really bother me much, as you really don't notice it when using the knife. But this is my first 1970's Case, and I had heard such good things about that era. None of my modern Case knives have this proud of a spring...
But I'm not perfect. I guess I can't fault my knife for not being perfect, either.
 
Agreed, it's common on old, new and everything in between. Not saying that a majority of knives show this, but it's not hard to find such examples from any era, from what I've seen.

I often think the (presumed) superiority of Case's '70s-vintage knives gets blown out of realistic perspective, sometimes. They are very nice in many ways, but it still isn't hard to find many of the same 'flaws' (blade play, gaps, centering issues, proud/sunk springs, etc.) in those older knives that we notice in the newer and supposedly 'inferior' line today. So long as they're still made by hand (at least in part), that'll likely never change.

Having said all that, I'd also say you've got a couple of very attractive knives there. :thumbup:


David
 
Thanks!
Proud spring aside, the knife feels great. Solid snap. About a 7 on the pull. Flawless scales.
And this is my first Texas Jack. I handled one at the Case factory store over the summer. The ones I looked at had glue coming out of the shields and very lazy blades, so I passed. Always wanted one, though, and this one is very nice.
 
Those 055 knives are beautiful patterns. I maintain that the equal end knife, in all is iterations, is about a perfect pattern. I gave my one away to a young boy as his first knife and haven't gotten I've to replace it yet, but I'll tell you, that 055 pattern looks about perfect. Very nice sir. Thanks for sharing.
 
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