Case shields - center vs offset

[kingsw]

Were there many center placed shields on pieces prior to Tested era?

[New_Windsor_NY]

Were.....

Maybe here?
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... m.php?f=66

[Mumbleypeg]

Do you mean like this Case Bradford cigar pattern?

If so, yes there were some. Not sure what you mean by “were there many”? They maybe made up less than 10% or so of the patterns.

Ken

[RalphAlsip]

Were there many center placed shields on pieces prior to Tested era?

My observation is that it "more common" to see a centered shield on a pre-Tested knife vs. on a Tested, or later knife (i.e., on an earlier knife vs a later knife). Words like "more common" are relative and qualified vs absolute and quantified. More common could evaluate to "not very many".

Another observation I have is that symmetrically shaped patterns (e.g., cigar, elephant toe, etc.) are more likely to have a centered shield. A saddle horn pattern, for example, would not have a centered shield. Yet another observation is that certain shields such as bowtie and propeller are more likely to be centered than an oval shield, for example.

Many knives do have a large center pin in the scale. I have read speculation that embedded centered shields in close proximity to center pins on bone scales weaken the scales which leads to a higher likelihood of stress fractures (i.e., cracks) in the scales. A desire to avoid cracks could be an explanation for why the design practice of using centered shields was limited to begin with and became even less popular over time.