The Problem with Case Stockman Pocketknives

[deltaboy]

Sorry there nothing wrong with your Case .

 

[Railsplitter]

Sorry there nothing wrong with your Case .

As mentioned several times in this thread, blade rub is common but there's a bigger issue with this particular knife. TedderX has a legitimate gripe about the issue in these two photos. The knife either needs to go back to Case or TedderX needs to scrap it and get a new knife. This one doesn't function properly.

 

[TedderX]

For the record, this pocketknife was purchased brand new and I don't "tinker" with my pocketknives. I would also argue that I use my pocketknives "properly". I.e.- this bent blade is not due to operator error or negligent usage.

Well said. If someone has been a customer of Case for years, as the OP stated, I would think they would have come across more than one stockman but I don't want to assume that. Regardless, anyone that owns more than one Case would be able to tell a knife that was in need of an exchange or warranty work. I can't figure out if this thread was started to ask for advise on whether to send it to Case for repair, or just to bash Case. Which I for one would not appreciate.....

It's good you don't assume that. I have been a Case Customer since 2009, when I purchased my first Case Pocketknife, a wharncliffe mini trapper. The thing is, you can be a customer for many years and still not experience different pocketknives. Why? Because one good pocketknife can last a man his entire lifetime. (think about all the old pocketknife pictures we've seen on this forum that has their blades sharpened to nubs overtime because a man kept one tool for so many years). Part of the reason why I love pocketknives.

Specifically, this was my first stockman. I carried it for many years and decided I didn't like the pattern for the reasons I discussed in the original post. And moved on to a new pattern. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...urney-for-the-Perfect-Pocketknife-(I-Found-It!)

This thread was created to just "sit on the porch" and talk and chat about a pocketknife. It was never intended to bash anyone or anything. And maybe answer the "why" Case creates a pocketknife in this manner.

 

[Cambertree]

The spey blade is the best blade for roughing out the bowl of a wooden spoon if you use a traditional knife to whittle stuff like that. The stockman pattern is actually a pretty good whittling knife.

Good info, Popedandy, I hadn't heard of the spey being good for that job. Thanks.:thumbup:

 

[Bartleby]

Sorry, meant to post else where.

 

[knarfeng]

I find this thread interesting. The OP makes some good observations. A number of which have been voiced by others over the years. Not entirely certain why so many responses have been so negative.

Case crinks blades in many of their stockman models because crinking is a traditional design/manufacturing method, used by many manufacturers aside from Case. In my experience, the crinking is more pronounced in a smaller stockman. If done on a 4" stockman, it is harder to notice. If done on a short stockman, it becomes more noticeable.

I am a major fan of the stockman pattern. I own about 30 examples from various manufacturers. The opening post matches my own observations. As the OP says, there are multiple ways to build a stockman. But, he missed one.
►You can crink the blades
►You can offset the blades
►You can use a three spring design.

In my opinion and experience, I see more blade interference, and more severe interference on Case knives than I do on others. I can feel the drag as I open the blades. Other makers also sometimes have blades touching as they open and close, but to a much lesser extent. My own opinion on the matter is that this is due to Case's assembly process. Case softens the tangs prior to assembly so they can be stamped, and softens the tangs of blades to be crinked even more than the others. I have an email from Case which so states. The softening of the tang allows the blades to flex more as they open and close. So as you open and close them they can bend and scratch the next blade.

So, IMO, I agree with the OP that some Case stockman patterns often have blade interference. Whether that is objectionable is up to the user. A little bit is not an issue to me. A lot is.

There are options for the OP which have not been offerred so far.
♦ Not all Case Stockman patterns are crinked. Find one with offset blades, such as the "Humpback stockman".
♦ Switch to a larger stockman. In my experience, blade interference is less noticeable in the larger stockman knives.
♦ Switch to a different manufacturer. I have experienced minimal blade interference issues on 3-spring knives from Buck. Ditto for old Camillus knives.

 

[Planterz]

I returned a 63032 because of excessive blade rub. I have a couple 6332s (the predecessor, also has half-strops) from 1974 and one from the 60's, and they too have blade rub, but not nearly to the same degree. I've also got a couple 1970's 6318HE's, and they have less rub than the 6332's. The 63032 was ridiculous though.

Basically, I've come to accept blade rub. I wouldn't exactly call it a "necessary evil", but more a price of admission sort of thing. I wouldn't accept it on a higher quality (ie: more expensive) knife, but on a "working man's" knife like a Case, I just expect it and accept it. There's a reason GECs cost more, and customs from the Boses and Ken Erickson cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Remember, Case is now owned by Zippo, and they make thousands upon thousands of knives every year.

 

[Stan Rose]

Ranger stockmans made buy colonial had three back Springs with straight blades and no touching. They are actually pretty nice little knives.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[supratentorial]

In this day and age more and more people will complain about something instead of sending it in. A lot of companies will stand behind their products and fix the issue or replace the knife. If the company refuses to fix it then you might want to post about it. Everyone makes mistakes and oversight does happen. Judging a company by one knife out of millions produced is probably a bad idea. More appropriate title for this thread "the problem with my case stockman".

I agree that experience with one knife that's in need of warranty repair/replacement is not a good basis for generalization. If the title was "problem with my stockman", then the response would be just to send it back to Case.

Case does use offset blades or each blade on a separate spring for some knives. So crinked blades is not even representative of all Case stock knives. And a defective knife is definitely not representative.

He may have phrased it better if he had a better understanding but he is new to the pattern. He assumed the worst. We all make mistakes.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is representative of that pattern.

This is definitely not representative. It is in need of repair/replacement.


Blade rub caused by the USER pushing on the blades (instead of pulling straight up) can happen with knives of any cost, including some high dollar custom knives. It depends on a lot of factors. But if the blades aren't touching then they won't rub at all unless you force them by pushing. That's a completely separate issue.

The OP's knife has a sheepfoot that rests near the liner and the spey blade has to squeeze in and push the sheepfoot out of the way. That's defective. There can be problems where the blades are slightly touching. That also is not desirable but it happens when skilled labor and fine tuning is involved. The OP's knife is much more extreme.

 

[knarfeng]

Blade rub caused by the USER pushing on the blades (instead of pulling straight up) can happen with knives of any cost, including some high dollar custom knives. It depends on a lot of factors. But if the blades aren't touching then they won't rub at all unless you force them by pushing. That's a completely separate issue.

Jake, I don't agree. I open my stockman knives with the same pressures that I use for all my others. If that pressure is enough to cause the blades to rub so much that I can feel the drag, then I find that objectionable. I have lots of stockman knives where there is no dragging effect. I use the same opening technique for all of them.

 

[supratentorial]

Jake, I don't agree. I open my stockman knives with the same pressures that I use for all my others. If that pressure is enough to cause the blades to rub so much that I can feel the drag, then I find that objectionable. I have lots of stockman knives where there is no dragging effect. I use the same opening technique for all of them.

Your reply isn't in disagreement with my point that the blade on the OP's knife isn't crinked properly and that's a separate issue than rub caused by the user pushing on the blades. Actually, you might disagree that it is a separate issue but I think the OP's photo of the knife with spey open should sway that opinion.

You are making a comparison to other knives and saying the blades have more dragging. That's a different subject and we may or may not agree. It depends on the knives. I do disagree about the Buck 301 not dragging. The entire flats of the blades drag on the new ones that I've seen. That's by design as far as I can tell. The blades are thick and there's little flex. Some of the imports like RR have a lot of flex. We may or may not agree on other knives.

But I think everyone on the forum should agree that the OP's knife is defective and needs repair.

Edit: My post broke the bladeforums database! I posted and then I got a database error message!

 

[btb01]

I don't know enough about stockmen to contribute a whole lot to this discussion. I own a couple, but none of them by Case. It just hasn't been a pattern I've found myself particularly drawn to. I will agree, though, that the way the sheepsfoot moves over against the liner when the spey is open, and the fact that the edge of the spey hits the spine of the sheepsfoot, certainly seems like something out of the ordinary is wrong there.

Edit: My post broke the bladeforums database! I posted and then I got a database error message!

I've noticed lately that the database error occurs almost every night around the same time, about 10:10 or 10:15 Pacific time (same time as your post), just for a couple minutes. I guess it's less annoying than in the past when it happened at various times and for longer periods.