Case knife: Mother of pearl, Natural bone or Green bone?

hoopster

hoopster

Joined
Jan 12, 2007
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I've been looking at a few Case mini copperheads with wharncliffe blades. One is Mother of pearl, one natural bone, the other green bone.
Could anyone tell me more about the handle materials, how they might wear over time,which you would prefer, any difference in value, etc.
Thanks.
 
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Mother of Pearl is less stable than bone. It tends to shrink if it gets too dry, and it cracks more easily than bone does.
 
I have to disagree. From a makers point of view I love working with pearl. It does not shrink, and is very stable. The colors can be awesome but vary with each side of the knife.
If you drop the knife it is possible that it could chip or crack but so can bone. The bone can rot, crack, chip and contract or expand with humidity.
 
Thanks for the info. I had not thought about stability. Still doesn't make my decision easier though :)
 
The pearl looks great, but for a user I think I would go with the natural bone.

I got the mini copperlock in yellow/CV, and my friend got one in natural bone last year while at a flea market. I like my CV, but think his natural bone looked better than any of the bone mini copperlock's.
The white(natural) bone, and the pearl are the two best looking ones IMO.
 
I think pearl is a lot tougher than folks seem to think. I have an old Buck 507 that a friend of mine picked up at an estate sale. The knife has obviously been carried in a pocket with keys or change, and used for years. The bolsters are beaten and chewed up, but the very thin pearl slabs are totally fine. The pearl is in way better condition than the metal bits of the knife, which to me indicates that it's fairly tough stuff. I've seen plenty of old knives with pearl on them, and it seems to wear well. I have a pearl Case Barlow that I've carried, used, and even dropped on hardwood floors a couple of times, and the pearl is still great.

Here's a pic of my well-worn pearl 507 that shows how well even very thin pearl slabs can hold up.
buck507.jpg


The only thing that I would think would be really hard on a pearl knife is if you dropped it on a rock or on a tile floor, but that's hard on any scale material. Even micarta or solid titanium will ding under that sort of treatment. On small knives especially, like the mini-copperhead, I wouldn't worry at all about the strength of mother-of-pearl scales. And it sure does look good!
 
I'm somewhat partial to the bone. Until I bought this one I hadn't paid much attention to it but now I love it. I love the look and the feel.
copperhead1.jpg
 
protourist said:
I'm somewhat partial to the bone. Until I bought this one I hadn't paid much attention to it but now I love it. I love the look and the feel.
copperhead1.jpg
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Very nice. The mini copperhead seems small in pictures but I get the feeling it's not a super tiny knife, is this the case?
 
hoopster said:
Very nice. The mini copperhead seems small in pictures but I get the feeling it's not a super tiny knife, is this the case?
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It's 3 1/8in closed. Here it is between a Vom Cleff pen knife and a full size Case trapper.
I believe it is similar in size to the Peanut but it sure feels like a bigger knife.
edc093010.jpg
 
Thanks for the comparison pic. I just purchased the natural bone mini copperhead. This will be my first Case and my first Wharncliffe blade. I have a feeling I'm going to like it.
 
hoopster said:
Thanks for the comparison pic. I just purchased the natural bone mini copperhead. This will be my first Case and my first Wharncliffe blade. I have a feeling I'm going to like it.
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I am sure you will. Case's single spring patterns grow on you very fast in my experience. That looks bit like Case penknife just with wharncliffe and few minor differences. I love my Case penknife. single spring design makes it thinner than Peanut. If they would make wharnie mini-copperhead in CV I'd be over one immediately
 
I think you are going to like the Wharncliffe blade on that little fellow. It is a very useful blade pattern and my favorite. The natural bone looks great on that pattern (any pattern IMO). Post a picture of it so we can drool over it. Great little knife; I was out to a convention in Atlanta the last 5 days and that's what I took with me for the minor cutting chores I came across. (amber bone scales though)

Ed
 
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TLARbb said:
I think you are going to like the Wharncliffe blade on that little fellow. It is a very useful blade pattern and my favorite. The natural bone looks great on that pattern (any pattern IMO). Post a picture of it so we can drool over it. Great little knife; I was out to a convention in Atlanta the last 5 days and that's what I took with me for the minor cutting chores I came across. (amber bone scales though)

Ed
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Will do. I bet the amber bone looks beautiful as well. Most of what I could find were the stag scales and I let the mother of pearl one get snatched up before I could make up my mind. I think I'll end up liking the natural just fine though.
 
Well, I got the knife in today and while I love the pattern and Wharncliffe size, I'm pretty bummed about Case's quality. The knife is going immediately back to Case as the pen blade has some play when opened and hits the liner when closing it. Enough to put nicks in the liner in a few diff. places. Pretty unacceptable for any knife at any price IMO.
It will be interesting to see how the whole return/repair/replace thing is handled by Case since it's not a current offering in the natural bone scales.
 
Sorry to hear that. I hope they fix everything to your satisfaction. Mine is perfect in every way so I know Case can do it right.
 
protourist said:
Sorry to hear that. I hope they fix everything to your satisfaction. Mine is perfect in every way so I know Case can do it right.
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I'm not real hard to please so I do have hope. If they can tighten and straighten the pen blade that would be fine. If they have to give me a stag version which retails for way less than what I paid for the natural bone, I'd be fine with that as well. As long as it functions correctly.
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Yep. That's definitely not acceptable. Send it back. Be polite; Case is a good company and I'm sure they will handle it properly. Maybe someone here knows the proper person (as opposed to department) to whom to address your problem.

Ed
 
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