Winchester wharncliff whittler

[TorzJohnson]

Just got myself this as an early Christmas present, it's my first knife with a wharncliff blade. I can see that I'm really going to like this blade shape. It's a nice little knife, burnt orange bone scales, carbon blades, excellent fit and finish. It was not particularly sharp right out of the box but this has never been much of an issue with me.

Are there any Winchester collectors out there? What years / manufacturers would I want to avoid if I started looking for more of these?

Side note: Bluegrass kindly offered me a %20 discount which was much appreciated - but then they charged me $9.50 for "freight" on my 3 oz. knife

 

[The Magician]

But, I consider the wharncliffe to be the number one style for general utility. BTW, I paid $6 shipping on some "special grease" from a certain big name. When it arrrived the envelope was marked as needing only $.93 postage. It seems padding shipping can be lucrative.......

 

[Kodiak PA]

I believe Winchester is made by Queen Steel. I have a few. They're pretty well made since Queen makes them. I too like the wharnecliffe style. I find it quite useful.

 

[Bastid]

One of my favorite pocket knife patterns. Split-backspring with a Wharncliff blade hard to get better than that as far as I am concerned.

There were 3 sizes of these in the Case Classic series (quality just as nice as the Winchesters as they were also made by Queen if I am not mistaken). Schatt and Morgan had some out a few years ago (1996?). I know they put a small one out in Pearl.

Here are a few from the Case Classic Series.

 

[Jason Burns]

I just bought this improved hawbaker muskrat by Schatt and Morgan. It too is made by Queen and has a great looking wharncliffe blade but I won't get it till later this week!

 

[Strider]

Gee Bastid I had to check my case of whittlers after seeing your pics cause I figured you broke in last night LOL. Nope they are still there but your tastes in knives is very nice right along my tastes
Bob

 

[Gus Kalanzis]

No worries Bob, Bastid will only swipe stuff from me .
Of all the Case Classics my favorite pattern was the large 55's.

 

[shivey]

Hey Jason - I think I recognize the backdrop in your pic...I believe I bought a 2000 stag Schatt muskrat in ATS 34 from the same guy. You should be very pleased as he is a first rate dealer. Enjoy!

 

[TorzJohnson]

Those Case Classics look really nice - I surfed eBay to check some out and most of the auctions referred to prices in the Case Classics price guide(?) which seemed kind of ridiculous to me... $400, $500. Even taking into account they were inflated I imagine the true going rate is probably out of my price range.

Oh yeah, that remark I made above about it not being sharp out of the box... apparently it was sharp enough to slice my finger today as I was closing it. Glad I got that part out of the way right off the bat.

 

[Gus Kalanzis]

I would not put too much stock in the Case Classic price guides. The book is pretty helpful (as far as how many were made)and chock full of Case History.

When I used to deal (pretty much as a hobby) I went though quite a few Case Classics (5 or 6 hundred). I ended up keeping one or two of each pattern and a full set of 55's and sunfish. The quality of this series was impressive. In the late 80's and early 90's slip joint quality was not at it's best, at least at Case. so this series was a breath of fresh air to slipjoint nuts. I think the series started in 1990 and got into full swing in 1991 and went to 1996.

Ebay prices tend to be higher than you might find them at shows, but there are exceptions. It has been educational watching the interest ebay has helped create for these knives. I have noticed one or two (less than honest) sellers using the title Case Classic. Be careful out there. The modern Case items are OK, but they are not of the same quality of the Classics. If you ever have a question on one, email me.

 

[Gus Kalanzis]

Here are a few more Classics (with a wharncliff 55 in black pearl to semi stay on topic ).

The colorful handled three blade is a 109 3 back spring pattern. I have noticed these have become more popular (reads pricey) on ebay. It would seem that the ebay community is beginning to appreciate half stops .

As you can see, the stag on these folder's is exceptional for a modern factory knife.

 

[Mike Robuck]

Hey guys,

I have some of those Schatt & Morgan's from the same guy too. Queen does a good job with the knives they make for Bluegrass, and the Case Classics, like Gus said, are better than the Case knives from the same time period.

Gus, nice collection of Classics. I've been following them on eBay too and there were some strange things going on with certs and "prototypes" a while back. Anyway, nice to hear from some fellow slipjoint collectors for a change.

Mike