What would you do with this little Case?

[yak23flora]

Hi folks, new guy here looking to learn and hoping to get into repairing a bunch of old knives I've gathered over the years. (Thanks for the warm welcomes in the welcome forum)

This little Case was in a lot recently purchased, and someone looks like they had a field day with the blades (what's left of them). I actually like the blades and would like to use this Case as a first project to learn how to tear down and rebuild a knife, and how to replace bone scales. In your opinion, is it wise to bother with this knife? If so, what books should I get and read, and how would a fellow like me who has never repaired a knife go about tooling up and repairing knives. Some background is that I am handy with minor gun smithing, have built rifles out of parts kits, restored old WWI and WWII rifles, and have some hand skills working with metals and small parts, so this should be something I can learn to do with the right info. Looking for folks to point me to good resources. This forum alone has been a great source of help as I have browsed and lurked, hope to become a contributing member around here as I learn.

Here is a pic of the little ugly Case I'd like to fiddle with. I have several other candidates for my first tear down and rebuild, but I just really like this little dude. (click to enlarge)

[knives-are-quiet]

I would think because the knife is in such bad shape it could be a good candidate for a repair.
But being a CASE on the other hand may not be a good choice as a 1st repair project.
The knife in it's condition may still be worth something as a donor parts knife.
I'd practice first on some really cheap dime store knives first before attempting a repair on a quality knife even in that poor of a condition.


JW

[Toejammer]

I agree, it would be best to put the Case aside until you've gotten the hang of the rebuild process. You never know what your going to run into once you crack that thing open, and it's good to have some experience to fall back on.

Hate to see you mess up a nice Case knife

[yak23flora]

Thanks for the replies, folks. I'll fiddle with some others before I tear this one down, that's the plan at least. I have a few others that are junkers Considering the bone is busted on the Case, I'd want to replace that, is that something that is considered a no-no on a Case knife? The reason I ask is on collectible firearms you don't necessarily want to repair the stock damage on an important piece, as it shows authenticity.

Also, would those blades be close to some real blade pattern Case would have used, (like say a cuticle blade and a pen blade?) or do they just look like radically reshaped, goobered up blades by someone who went wild with a file and a stone?

[knives-are-quiet]

I'd say it depends on what you want to do with that case knife.
If you want to restore it with original parts then you would have to find a donor knife or knives of the same year and pattern.
I'm not a CASE expert or collector so I couldn’t tell you the age or pattern of your knife.

If you want to rebuild for your own personal use then you can do whatever you want with the knife.
Say replace the scales with wood, plastic or any other material you want.
You will be customizing the knife.
Anything you decide to do with that knife is going to depreciate the value of it which in it's condition I would guess isn't worth very much.
If it were my knife I'd re-due it the way I want and not worry about what other collectors will say.

The knife's condition is because it was well used and is worn from repeated sharpening.
The handle probably broke from the knife being dropped.


Good luck with it whatever you decide to do with it.

J W

[muskrat man]

Anything you decide to do with that knife is going to depreciate the value of it which in it's condition I would guess isn't worth very much.

Customizing would, yes. But proper repair with original parts would enhance the value IMO.