CASE XX USA 6380 9 DOT & 10 DOT

[k_kess]

Greetings, I hope every one is doing well.... Up for your consideration are a 9 Dot and a 10 Dot Whittler.... along with some observations and questions... The 10 Dot has a cut out for the pull on the coping blade - neither my CASE XX nor 9 Dot have this... Is this just for the 10 Dot knives? The blades all sit about 1/16" above the bolsters when closed, making a VERY sharp transition over the top from either end... I would imagine that this was a common EDC and that would reek havoc on a pocket in everyday use.. Anyone out there carry one? All that aside, still one of my favorites... Have a great evening, Ken

[1967redrider]

Those are gorgeous!

[espn77]

Jdub has owned more 80's than anyone. When he sees your post he can tell you every variation ever made. Nice knives

[Steve Warden]

Uh............................................................................... (speechless!)

[Mumbleypeg]

Beautiful knives Ken.

Here’s another thread about the 6380 viewtopic.php?f=66&t=57959 I can’t tell you anything about when, where, or why of the cut-out. Based on anecdotal evidence provided by the pictures in that thread my guess is it was something introduced in the U.S.A. (1965-1969) era and discontinued in 1970. If true that would indicate your 10-dot is from nearly 1970 production. I have a 10-dot (pictured in the referenced thread) which does not have the cut-out. I don’t see the cut-out on examples pictured of XX era 80 patterns but the U.S.A. era knives pictured have it.

Like Keith says, Justin (jdub) knows a lot about the 80 pattern and may know the details, or Steve Pfeiffer (knifeaholic) probably has some info about it.

Ken

[k_kess]

Beautiful knives Ken.

Here’s another thread about the 6380 viewtopic.php?f=66&t=57959 I can’t tell you anything about when, where, or why of the cut-out. Based on anecdotal evidence provided by the pictures in that thread my guess is it was something introduced in the U.S.A. (1965-1969) era and discontinued in 1970. If true that would indicate your 10-dot is from nearly 1970 production. I have a 10-dot (pictured in the referenced thread) which does not have the cut-out. I don’t see the cut-out on examples pictured of XX era 80 patterns but the U.S.A. era knives pictured have it.

Like Keith says, Justin (jdub) knows a lot about the 80 pattern and may know the details, or Steve Pfeiffer (knifeaholic) probably has some info about it.

Ken

Thanks Ken.... As always, I appreciate the information... I hope my contribution of pictures helps everyone with identifying some variations... Ken

[Jdub]

I honestly do not know why that the nail nick is there. I have never seen a XX era with the nail cut out. USA era 65-69 and 10 dot (1970) have them on almost all that you will see. I have one time only had a 9 dot 1971 with the nail cut out. I however believe it was a transition knife as it had 10 dot colored bone with a 9 dot master blade. This is the only one I have ever seen. The frame changed a little from xx to USA era. I can open the xx era’s just as easy without the cut out as I can USA era and 10 dot era with the cut out??? I personally don’t see the need for a cut out on either era’s. Maybe Steve will chime in and let us know for sure as to why they started the cut out??

[k_kess]

I honestly do not know why that the nail nick is there. I have never seen a XX era with the nail cut out. USA era 65-69 and 10 dot (1970) have them on almost all that you will see. I have one time only had a 9 dot 1971 with the nail cut out. I however believe it was a transition knife as it had 10 dot colored bone with a 9 dot master blade. This is the only one I have ever seen. The frame changed a little from xx to USA era. I can open the xx era’s just as easy without the cut out as I can USA era and 10 dot era with the cut out??? I personally don’t see the need for a cut out on either era’s. Maybe Steve will chime in and let us know for sure as to why they started the cut out??

Justin, thanks for the reply... You are correct, the knife with the nick is the 10 Dot... On the 10 Dot the coping blade finishes with it's blade back flush with the contour of the running edge of the liner/scale... If not cutout, the liner/scale would completely obscure the nick making it extremely difficult to open the blade... On a previously posted XX, the coping blade finishes 1/16th inch higher and has a nick cut closer to the coping blade back - the contour seems to be identical and the nick is partially obscured - a bit difficult but not impossible to use... On the 9 Dot the blade is set 1/8th higher - with the blade back of the coping blade in line with the blade back of the master blade and has a deeper cut nick that is fully accessible... Progressive design improvement! I hope this makes some sense, sorry about any confusion... Thanks, Ken