What is with Case Knives QC?

mrbear

mrbear

Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
1,018
I thought they were tightening down on QC with their knives.

I ordered a Stockman CV chestnut bone which arrived this afternoon. Fairly recent production. I ordered it online and I usually only pick them up from a local store after I hands on check it out.

This knife came with the worst blade rub I have ever seen, the "chestnut" is cotton candy pink for lack of a better description, and the shield is actually upside down. I've seen some of their "pink" scales but this one is wow. I wish I had my phone with me to upload some pics.

The thing that get's me with this is someone looked it over and said "Yep good to go" and sent it out. I think anyone even a non-knife nut like us would look at this and say wow wait a sec.

Back she goes.
 
You'll have to send that back, but before you do I'd like to see some pictures.
 
If you can't stand blade rub; stay away from the 3/4 blade models. They don't all have it, but you are betting against the smart money.
 
On the blade-rub, cv carbon blades that have taken patina don't actually show it much. Stainless, polished, will.
 
I would also like to see pictures. I buy case knives expecting some sort of issue. Ive only had two that I couldnt live with. At the price point most of them are sold at, I think they are still a great buy. Sorry to hear about your stockman. Im sure whoever you bought in from will make it right for you!
 
mrbear said:
I thought they were tightening down on QC with their knives.

I ordered a Stockman CV chestnut bone which arrived this afternoon. Fairly recent production. I ordered it online and I usually only pick them up from a local store after I hands on check it out.

This knife came with the worst blade rub I have ever seen, the "chestnut" is cotton candy pink for lack of a better description, and the shield is actually upside down. I've seen some of their "pink" scales but this one is wow. I wish I had my phone with me to upload some pics.

The thing that get's me with this is someone looked it over and said "Yep good to go" and sent it out. I think anyone even a non-knife nut like us would look at this and say wow wait a sec.

Back she goes.
Click to expand...

Will Power said:
You'll have to send that back, but before you do I'd like to see some pictures.
Click to expand...



Are the blades touching the liners or the other blades? If not, then they are rubbing because you are pushing on the blades instead of pulling straight up.

Here's an example. The photos compare a Case and RR. There are points of contact on the RR. The blades don't touch on the Case. In the previous discussion, no photo was ever shown by the OP. It would be nice to see a photo of the well before we condemn Case. I suspect that most blade rub is caused by pushing on the blades instead of blades that are actually touching.

supratentorial said:
Dan4, can you make an update with a photo of the well?

Here are some photos of Case & Rough Rider knives that show the difference between a manufacturing defect and normal wear. The Rough Rider 725's clip blade and sheepfoot blade are hitting hard and the spey is hitting the liner hard. In contrast, there is no contact between the blades and liners on the Case 3347. Any rub marks on the Case knife would be caused by pushing on the blades instead of pulling straight up.







Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Nope the rubbing is not caused by push, it is rubbing. If you look you can see the center blade is right up against and dragging.

I also took a shot of the color like I mentioned and the shield. Not the greatest pics but it's what my phone can manage.



 
Thanks for posting the photos. :thumbup: It is the first time that I've ever seen photos posted when someone complained about rub and I've seen a lot of complaints. It does seem to have a problem. I don't have this pattern except in vintage knives (the vintage 32 from the early 70s or earlier is a personal favorite). There looks to be no room at all for any space between the blades. I wonder if this is a common problem with the pattern. It's not a problem with my modern 47 stock knives.

Love the upside down shield. :D
 
The modern '47 is a 3-spring design.

All of the two-spring stockman patterns I own have blade rub. Including GEC, so it's not just a Case thing. It's the nature of that design with a crinked blade.

I have a couple of 032 Stockman patterns and they have blade rub on all three blades. So do '18s, 44's, and '75s, to one degree or another. Doesn't affect their operation at all.

The color is rather light on that one and the upside down shield is amusing. If you don't like those issues, you should return it. If you don't like blade rub, I would avoid all Case patterns with crinked blades and stick to some other brand.
 
Every stockman I own has blade rub with the exception of a Northfield maverick and a 50 year old schrade. It's typically insignificant and as long as it doesn't effect the edge, it doesn't concern me. Congress patterns suffer the same. Like Mike said, 3 to 4 blade patterns often have rub. Anytime you have more blades than springs. The thing that I couldn't tolerate about the op knife is the color. I have a lot of chestnut case knives and though some are lighter than others, that one is just bad. The shield is comical, I would actually choose one like that for it's singularity.
 
I don't think it is the nature of a 2 spring design. The Case sowbelly is 2 springs and I don't have rub issues. I have a lot of new and old stock and cattle knives with 2 springs an no rub issues. As a couple examples, see photos below.

I do think it is common to push on the blades rather than to pull straight up. In my opinion a lot of blade rub is caused by the user, not quality control. I think a lot of times it is blamed on the manufacturer when it is actually the users fault.

From the looks of the OP's knife the blade rub on this knife may be more of an issue with the design than the quality control. There's no room at all.








 
I should add that I only have six stockmans, so my observations are in limited context. I do however, have at least 15 congresses and 90% of those have blade rub. Maybe a design issue. By the way Jake, those are some lovely examples you have there.
 
Tilley Knife said:
I should add that I only have six stockmans, so my observations are in limited context. I do however, have at least 15 congresses and 90% of those have blade rub. Maybe a design issue. By the way Jake, those are some lovely examples you have there.
Click to expand...

By "rub", do you mean scratches on the blades that could have been caused by either the user pushing or poor alignment by the manufacturer? Or do you mean the blades are touching eachother or the liners when closed?
 
Here's a handful of my Case knives with crinked blades. The middle one is a 2-blade pen knife pattern, but single spring so same deal.



None of those have the offset grinds like the ones shown on the Sowbelly. I don't have a Sowbelly.

These are '47 patterns - three springs. They still have some blade rub from me opening them by pushing on the nail nicks.

 
supratentorial said:
By "rub", do you mean scratches on the blades that could have been caused by either the user pushing or poor alignment by the manufacturer? Or do you mean the blades are touching eachother or the liners when closed?
Click to expand...

I mean when crinked blades apply lateral pressure against one another when in the closed position. As they are opened and closed they rub one another resulting in the marks visible on the op's knife. When you construct a slipjoint that has more blades than springs on opposing ends of the knife, this lateral pressure occurs once the shims are removed after peening the pivot pins. It's not uncommon which is why I said your examples are quite nice in that they don't appear to have this issue. Perhaps another maker could tune in and articulate this better than I have.
 
The $20 Schrade Old Timer (above) is crinked with no rub. It's a bit more tricky when the blades are crinked rather than offset. I think the early Case sowbellies are crinked a tiny bit. There's a mix of (relatively) old and new sowbellies in the photos above.
 
I think it could be a "per individual knife" issue. It really all comes down to how the pivots are peened including force, strike angle, etc. A custom maker will take the time to re-peen to avoid rub but mass production will likely just send it out if the edge doesn't contact. It may be why most custom makers stick to patterns other than stockmans and congresses, they are a pain.

I could be wrong, I often am. :)
 
My Victorinox Cadet has blade rub between the main blade and the nail file. Of course it has a lot of other scratches on the blade because I use it to cut stuff.

My usual approach with a new stockman knife is to first sharpen the blades. Some of the scratches are from the rough burr that Case tends to leave on the stainless blades. Then once the edges are burr-free, I use a little metal polish to buff out the scratches. Still some there, but they are more like burnish marks at that point than actual scratches.

But for user knives, they seem to earn their own scratches anyway, and on a CV knife they kind of blend in with the eventual patina.
 
My 6318 Stockman with Punch has some major blade-rub. (not only does the sheepfoot rub on the main, but I can hear the awl scraping the sheepfoot on opening) As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't interfere with the function of the knife. That is, the blades open without catching, and close without hitting the edge. I understand that some folks are bothered by blades rubbing, and I don't mean to say that you shouldn't return yours if you're not happy with it.


 
Last edited:
It's funny that you say that because I have ONLY bought 3 blade custom knives. Haha! I do appreciate the skill involved. Often the blades are ground offset rather than crinked.

I have made knives from scratch (not with the same skill as a pro) so I have some familiarity with the work involved. I have seen knives that were put together like the Rough Rider that I showed above. I've put together some like that also. ;) But from what I have seen, even when the manufacturer did a good job aligning the blades they get pushed by the user and the scratches are blamed on the manufacturer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top