Case Quality - 2014 to Today. Are You one of the Lucky?

snippy

snippy

Joined
Apr 1, 2014
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I am one of the many that often says: "I must be Lucky with my Case Knives."

The recent Case knives are very well built in my opinion. My oldest is a Yellow Delrin CV Hawkbill Pruner born on 10-19-2013. Flush in all 3. Then nothing but satisfaction after that. (I have 8 Case knives now. All Online purchase.)

I was going to make this a poll, but I think too many will think of the tough years and vote "No" because of past quality problems. How about Case Today???

TODAY!

Just got a Trappernut born on 03-04-14 and no gaps, centered blades, beautifully fitted covers, fantastic walk&talk. Really just an amazing little knife. (and the little ones are often more work to make than the big ones.)


What is your RECENT experience with Case Knives?

Eric
 
My past and recent experiences have all been positive. I have bought Case since about 1998 and have never had a complaint worth mentioning. Most of my Case knives were bought sight unseen over the internet. In my eye, the Case/Bose line trumps all other manufactured slip joints in design, materials and execution. I've used their repair service w/o problem and it was quick.

My only complaint is that Ace Hardware in my area no longer stocks them so I can't get that quick knife for the OMG I forgot to get a present... :)
 
I have a shelf full of case (all the white ichthus line included) and all but one are very good quality. Unfortunately, the one is a large abalone copper lock that is off center to the point of rubbing. A person very dear to me gave it to me so it'll stay that way.
 
I recently bought my first and only Case, a yellow CV medium stockman. I'm very happy with it and the longer it's around, the more it gets carried. There's some blade rub but that's no bother for me.
 
I've bought a bunch this year. They were all good, until one that arrived yesterday. This was a chestnut bone sowbelly from Amazon. It wasn't the best, and had obviously been returned previously, as evidenced by the blade scratches. It goes back to Amazon today, and I've now learned not to buy slipjoints from Amazon.

So that's one bad out of ten or twelve this year. Pretty darned good, and the bad one might have been fine before handling by its previous owner.

I'm so confident in Case right now, that I'm mailing out a knife to them today, to be repaired. I bought an amber bone medium stockman in 2001. The snap on the sheepsfoot and spey blades was embarrassingly bad. Back then, it probably wouldn't have helped to send it in, so it got tossed into a drawer. I'm sending it in, now that Case is doing so much better, in hopes that that old amber bone beauty will function as well as it looks.
 
Here are a couple of new ones that don't get shown off nearly as often as they should.

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I've owned a couple dozen Case knives, the oldest was made in 1989. Never had a major problem with any of them, and most were a downright good value for the meager $$ they cost. This Wharncliffe mini-trapper was built in 2012, and is one of the nicest knives I own, period.

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Buzzbait: I like that second one. Seahorse whittler, correct? And the covers are... ? Very attractive knife!
 
I only have one I was disappointed with. That one has a less than appealing die job on the bone. But, build quality has been fine on all of them.
 
My experience since 2014 has been... hit and miss. I've gotten two peanuts, one was not peened (or perhaps the peening was polished off at the factory) on the pivot, so when the blade got minor lateral pressure (wiggling the blade a bit, checking for play when I got it) it the layers separated. The same knife, the nick side of the blade was barely ground at all, so the edge looked normal on one side and like a scandi grind on the other. The main blade was badly off center as well, rubbing the liner. A few taps with a hammer and some time with some sandpaper and a piece of glass and a little tweak on the vice corrected all three issues, but it was still kind of a disappointment. I probably should've sent it back, but I like tinkering. My 2nd peanut is a chestnut jigged bone that is really nice, but has a little grinding "oops" near the tip of the clip blade where the end of the blade curves off to the mark side... it's barely visible, but it's there. Oh, the tips of both clip blades and the center of both pen blades hit the backsprings if allowed to close hard (both knives are identical in this regard!). None of the blades hit badly, so I imagine they'll sharpen down and stop this in the very near future.

I recently picked up an 18 frame CV stockman that was re-handled by Case in smooth chestnut bone... some issues with the hafting (gaps between bone and liners/bolsters) but the blades are all ground beautifully, nicely centered, little rub, tight... no complaints other than that Case's warranty department could have done a little better, but it's such a unique knife I don't mind.

I also have a sodbuster Jr and a buffalo horn mini trapper that I've gotten as gifts in the last year... both are incredible, especially the mini trapper. It's easily the best fitted traditional I've ever handled, and honestly makes my GECs look crude. It's right up there in the same league with a CRK ~ absolutely flawless no matter how hard I look, and will actually whittle hairs from the factory.
 
Well, I would agree about off center blades. but I just accept that with a Case $30-$60 knife.
 
I bought a Medium Stockman with chestnut covers in CV steel a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely love it; excellent f&f, sharp blades with great snap. Case do an amazing job with their chestnut bone. I own several other Case knives and the quality is pretty spot on with all of them. One is a large Copperlock from '98 that is basically the traditional knife that got me into Traditionals.
 
Recent purchases?

I think I have bought 7 new Case knives this year. 4 were great, 3 had issues.

One was a '47 Stockman in amber bone with a pile side that had almost no coloration in the jigging on the bone. That one I know how to fix, so I fixed it. Otherwise nothing wrong with the knife, and unless I pointed it out to you, you wouldn't notice that I had "hand dyed" the pile side to match the front.

One was a Peanut that was nearly impossible to open and the tip of the clip blade appeared to have been bent. I fixed that one too, mostly, and I carry it pretty regularly. The tip is still a little crooked but it doesn't affect functioning.

The third is unfixable by me but not enough of a problem for repair, and not completely unusual for that pattern - one of the backsprings on a Trapper is sunk below flush when the blade is fully opened, enough to easily notice and feel when using. More than just "a little" which is something relatively common on Case knives. But the bone was beautiful on it, and it's fine in the closed position, and otherwise a good knife.

Of the good ones, there was a blue SS 6344 Medium Stockman, a black synthetic SS Sod Buster Jr, a 6318 Medium Stockman in Pocket Worn Old Red, and a 63032 Amber Bone CV Medium Stockman. No real issues with any of those.
 
brownshoe said:
...My only complaint is that Ace Hardware in my area no longer stocks them so I can't get that quick knife for the OMG I forgot to get a present... :)
Click to expand...
Well, the fact that your Ace doesn't carry Case anymore isn't pleasant, but at least it's still open... ours closed not too terribly long ago, closing the last Case dealer (decent knife dealer period) in town in the same stroke. We used to have a little independent mom and pop hardware store with the classic glass and wood Case display with the red velvet cutouts for each knife, but it closed years ago.

Anyways, my oldest Case knife was a full sized black plastic handled Tru-Sharp Sodbuster from 2009. It has some gaps in the backspring and a little bit of blade wobble, and the rocker pin for the spring was rather poorly finished, but I figured it was (and is) a work knife and moved on. All of my other knives have been great. Yellow CV mini trapper has some minor gapping in the backspring, but nothing horrible. Peanuts (x2), XX Changer, medium stockman, Caliber lockback, all good. I've spent some time sharpening and working on a recent black plastic Tru-Sharp Sodbuster Junior too. Just fine.

I will say that the quality is not quite what it used to be, but it's quite good. I've had the chance to play with Case knives from the '50s, '60s and '70s and they're prettier (when new, I imagine) but the new ones are perfectly acceptable for what they are.
 
I've got a few Cases now -some I bought new and a couple off ebuy used. All are of good quality. The only issue I've had is with the dye job or colour of the "new black "bone on a production line TB saddlehorn trapper.The colour was disgusting but I dyed it jet black and now its heaps better.:thumbup:
 
Let's see...

CV Slimline Trapper in yellow delrin
CV Sodbuster Jr. in jigged chestnut bone (carrying this one today)
CV Peanut in jigged chestnut bone
SS American Workman Mini Copperlock

All are very good quality and were bought at Frost Cutlery, which is just down the road from where my dad lives. Whenever I go to visit him, I usually stop in there and see what they've got. Not only do they have the best prices of anyone on Case products, I can handle them and know what I'm buying.
 
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I have pretty good luck with Case Knives. My oldest being a 60s model Pearl handled Pen with a bail. I order my Case Knives from two different places. The people I deal with know I buy a lot of knives and they somewhat cater to my concerns. I don't like liner gap and off centered blades.

Lets put it this way, I haven't had any more problems with Case than I have with other production knives. Including G.E.C. I also really like the Case SS Steel.

Yea I said it.:D
 
I 'll play. I started back on the traditional run back around 2004. Since then I've bought probably 2 dozen Case brand knives, looking for "The One" that I would carry daily and hopefully pass down. Most of those were bought from year 2010 on. Out of those I picked up online, all of them have been keepers. I have no complaints regarding fit or mechanical operation. Most of them have been a bit thin in color, some more than others. Almost all have been acceptably sharp out of the box, or needed a slight rubbing on a piece of cardboard. I prefer the Carbon Steel when I can get it. It's been about 6 months since I have bought a pocket knife and after all this money spent, I believe I have found "The One". A plain old black Delrin model 22087 in As Ground Stainless Medium 2 blade Jack. Bought online, from that big E-store that sells everything for right at $30.00. It has not left my pocket since I got it. I just finally connected. If Case came out with a nice Bone handled model with Carbon Steel, well that would probably be my last purchase! Maybe I've been luckier than most, but I have no problem recommending Case for a daily carry pocket knife choice.
 
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