Case xx Shark tooth, Hammerhead, and Mako

Those are very very nice looking knives. The stag covers are especially nice. Although I semi-collect Case knives, I've never owned any of the knives you show.

If you don't mind my posting it, I have a Case 51405L Stag Lockback the frame of which is similar to your knives. I'll delete it if you feel it's stepping on your thread.

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When I was a kid, Sterling Jewelry Co (a predecessor to the big box store, but much higher quality), was the sporting goods store of choice. I remember drooling over those and the Puma stag lockbacks in the cases. This was in the 70s and early 80s when the Case knife was as good as it got. That display of red bone and gleaming steel and nickel silver was something else.
 
u.hansen said:
Don't mind a bit MODOC ED .Thanks for showing your Case. Blueberry815, I thought I read here somewhere that these knives were hard to keep sharp or sharpen. Must not if you cleaned many deer.Thanks for the Info. steve
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The history of Case stainless is even murkier than its current status. There is some belief that, prior to the disappearance of 440C, Case, like most quality makers, used it. It was hard to sharpen, but should have been pretty good at holding an edge. I think the Case shark series lockbacks were introduced in the 70s, during the heyday of 440C.

But I think Case's past formulations of stainless steel remain a mystery.
 
Here's my Sharktooth.

My mother and father gave it to me as a Christmas present back in the mid-70's. It's cleaned many deer and has only been touched up from time to time.

 
I, too, remember drooling over this design in my youth. We had one local Leather Shop that carried several higher end knives, including Buck, Victorinox, Case, and Al Mar, back in the mid-late 80's.

Maybe it was the picture of the shark that appealed to me, or that sharply raked back bolster.
 
MarkPinTx said:
The history of Case stainless is even murkier than its current status. There is some belief that, prior to the disappearance of 440C, Case, like most quality makers, used it. It was hard to sharpen, but should have been pretty good at holding an edge. I think the Case shark series lockbacks were introduced in the 70s, during the heyday of 440C.

But I think Case's past formulations of stainless steel remain a mystery.
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I am clueless as to the meaning of "prior to the disappearance of 440C"
  • Buck used it for lockbacks, but not for multi-blade knives.
  • Queen may have used it. I've heard it said.
  • Schrade did not use it. They used 440A for "Schrade+"
  • Camillus did not use it. They used 440A for their stainless.
  • Imperial did not use it.
I've never seen anything that hinted that Case ever used 440C.

Prior to the adoption of 420HC, most American companies used 440A for their stainless.
420HC was adopted because it can be fine blanked, which reduces production costs.
 
Queen indeed used 440C as their standard blade steel that they referred to as "Queen Steel". I do not know when they started using 440C but they used it well into the 70's. I have a Queen factory letter from 1976 stating that their blade steel was 440C at that time. In the late 70's they actually incorporated "440C" into the blade etching. It seems that by about 1980 though they changed the etch to "440 Stainless" so my guess is that at that point they switched to 440A and then later to 420.

I have scoured documentation from Case for many years (including spending three days in their archives at the factory) and I have never seen any documentation as to what their stainless steel formulations were over the years prior to them standardizing on the Tru Sharp 420 now in use.
 
440C used to be seen as stainless in a lot of American knives until some time in the 80s. Although it is somewhat mythical, there are a variety of reasons for its "disappearance," mostly manufacturing related as you note. But in contrast to the 70s, in the 80s, 90s, and Oughts, you hardly ever saw 440C in a knife anymore. Seems just recently to have experienced something of a resurgence with the GEC stainless models and the Boker Plus line.

And you are right, most quality makers was kind of an overstatement. In the 70s and 80s, I was more interested in things like Buck lockbacks, Gerbers, etc. etc. and you saw a lot of 440C in those tactical predecessors. You didn't see it in slipjoints for the most part, except for Queen Steel.
 
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JPD1998 said:
Here's my Sharktooth.

My mother and father gave it to me as a Christmas present back in the mid-70's. It's cleaned many deer and has only been touched up from time to time.

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I have the set of all 3 like this with matching stag handles I'm thinking about selling.
 
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