Vintage Case knife repair?

S

smokestack75

Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
14
Ok. So I have a small number ( 3, exactly) of Case knives I inherited from my grandfather. All of them are from the xx era, and are in excellent shape given the age. A Folding Hunter, Stockman, and a little Jack of some kind that is hard to identify because the tang stamp is a little weak. I think it ends in "1/2" though...

Anyway, as they have sentimental value, I'm a bit reluctant to send them off for repair. They all have a bit of side-to-side blade play that I would love to see gone, though. Is this worth the effort, or should I just keep them safe and forget it? My Gramps would NOT approve of owning a knife and not using it though, so I'm a bit afraid of vengeance from beyond the grave.... ;)

Has anyone sent a vintage knife back to Case for repair? Do they even repair vintage stuff? Any info you can give me would help.

Thanks, all.
 
To be honest, I DEFINITELY wouldn't send them back to Case. I might trust them with a new model, but not anything with sentimental value. Maybe you could send them to a forum member here, (if there's anyone willing to work on them.) for a fee, though I'm not sure how much.
 
I agree that sending them to Case is risky. Not because they wouldn't do a good job. The main reason is that if they don't have old stock parts, they either replace them with newer parts or will replace the knife altogether with something new.

The debate over to use or treasure knives like those happens frequently, it is very much a personal decision. Since you have three of them, you may want to consider putting two of them aside and using your favorite pattern out of the three.

How bad is the side to side play? There may be things you can do yourself to help that, but if you are not skilled doing this, you can sometimes do more harm then good.
 
I sent back an non-sentimental mint Case Model 3299 1/2, made between 65-69 to have the yellow celluloid replaced. They had shrunk and were pulling away from pins. I got it back in a reasonable period of time and paid $35 for the replacement. Looks as good as new to me and no issues with Case. Looks like the one in the picture.View attachment 600508
 
There have been people on this forum who sent sentimental knives back to Case with success. I would contact them and ask. I believe they will call you and discuss the work before proceeding. I have had good response from Case on the phone and through e-mail.

No matter who you send it to, if you like the edge now, tell them not to sharpen the knife. I've had knives resharpened by knifemakers and factories and they both took off too much steel. They all like their power equipment.
 
If they feel there is a chance the handles would break in the process, Case would let you know before hand. They are very hesitant to work on Tested era knives with greenbone for this reason.
 
brownshoe said:
There have been people on this forum who sent sentimental knives back to Case with success. I would contact them and ask. I believe they will call you and discuss the work before proceeding. I have had good response from Case on the phone and through e-mail.

No matter who you send it to, if you like the edge now, tell them not to sharpen the knife. I've had knives resharpened by knifemakers and factories and they both took off too much steel. They all like their power equipment.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I had one recovered by Case because the covers deteriorated. In my letter, I asked them to not polish the blades.... just rehandle and clean. They did an excellent job...... The original thread is here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1025857-A-Christmas-Miracle?highlight=miracle
 
Thanks for the information, all. Looks like I should at least contact Case to see what they say.

Should I go another route, can anyone recommend a knife maker from the forums that could help me out? I'd like to support those on the boards if I can...

Thanks.
 
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