Case Display

[EyeBJoe]

In 1986 I was blessed with the opportunity to buy a Case floor display from the owner of the hardware store on the square in Honey Grove, Texas. It has been in my den since that time and is a constant object of conversation for friends and guests. There are 20 of the folding knives that are Case XX with the remainder early 70's dotted knives. I have recently noted some significant shrinkage on the handles of 4 of the yellow composition knives. I would appreciate the input from my AAPK friends as to whether to remove the 4 knives affected and possibly send them to Case for new handles. Seems like the logical thing to do but I value the opinions expressed on AAPK.

Appreciate any and all input.

Joe D.
EyeBJoe

[terryl308]

Nice display first off! If they were mine, I wouldn't touch them, but that being said, maybe you could post some close up photo's of the knives in question and someone will be along with more ideas. Terry

[danno50]

First off, beautiful display, would love to have one in my den! Pretty sure some of the yellow handled Case XX knives were celluloid. I would get the shrinking ones out of the display cabinet as quick as possible, as deteriorating celluloid can wreck the adjacent knives as well. Then post photos of them on here and the experts will give you their opinions on what to do.
Dan

[zp4ja]

Yea, that is a sweet display for sure.

Dan is correct, get those 4 knives and any other non natural material handled knives away from the rest ASAP. Then take pictures of each both sides with blades open, preferably one or two knives per pics so we can see them well.

I have a yellow comp (or was it?) CASE XX Era Mint 3220 Peanut that is a beautiful example. Handles started to gas out I removed them with zero damage to knife (as I recall) because I caught it in time. Still need new handles. But the is the only yellow I have ever seen do that myself. Normally yellow is very stable like slick black is. Weird!

[terryl308]

I would like to edit my previous post. definitely take out the yellow handle knives if they are celluloid, they could "outgas" and ruin the rest of them. You could probably have it replaced with yellow micarta by a good blade smith. I believe Case used celluloid on yellow handled xx tested knives. Anyway some good advise has been given. Terry

[XX Case XX]

Joe:

Wow!!! That is a beautiful display of Case!! Never seen one like it.

Take several close-ups of the knives in question on both sides and post them. That will make it much easier to make a determination.

I'm also curious if Case will re-handle those. Keep us posted and let us know what happens.

Again, a very nice display...

________
Mike

[rexstubbins]

nah. leave as is. just my pinon.

[Paladin]

Joe,
There is one type of Case yellow handle that shrinks and deteriorates without causing the damage to that knife or others. It happened on a Case Tested stockman pattern that I got from an uncle of mine. Case charged me to replace it.
We have had some posts about it here but I can't recall the name of the material for the life of me.

Ray

[Old Hunter]

With Case knives that nice I would send them to Case and let them put their current yellow Delrin on them - that will preserve them permanently and still look right - even if you have to pay it will be worth it. Very nice display! OH

[Mumbleypeg]

There are 20 of the folding knives that are Case XX with the remainder early 70's dotted knives.

Are you sure the non-dotted knives are not marked Case XX U.S.A.? Assuming the display hasn't been tampered with since leaving the Case factory, it would be very unusual for a factory-original board to have knives from the XX era (1940-64) co-mingled with dotted knives (1970s). There's a 5 year period of time between the end of XX and the beginning of dotted era, during which the Case XX U.S.A. stamping was used. This is important because during that time period and afterward, Case didn't use celluloid. For yellow handles made during the Case XX U.S.A. and up to 1970-71 the material used has exhibited over time a propensity to shrink, as you have described. But it doesn't out gas or completely disintegrate as celluloid has been seen to do. Steve Pfeiffer's book has a great explanation of the various handle materials used by Case and the timeframes during which each was used. Maybe he will see this and clarify.

Ken

Edit: looking at the style of the display case itself, it might be a display from the XX era, and the dealer could have replaced some original knives on the board with dotted knives. If the yellow handled knives are from XX era they could be celluloid, and as such they should be removed from the display case IMHO.

[danno50]

Steve's first book does say that some of the yellow handle material used during the Case XX era was celluloid. He says the celluloid was a lemon yellow and had a white liner. While the OPs shrinking handle knives may well be Case XX USA, and not be dangerous, why take a chance, he can put them back in the display later? If he posts pics of them, you guys who are knowledgeable can give him a definitive answer.
Ray, Owd Wullie posted good pictures of a Case trapper, with the material you are talking about, that deteriorated severely. I am not sure if it was in a general thread on celluloid or a stand alone thread? I will take a look and see if I can find it. edit: looked for awhile, but could not find it?
Dan

[zp4ja]

Steve's first book does say that some of the yellow handle material used during the Case XX era was celluloid. He says the celluloid was a lemon yellow and had a white liner. While the OPs shrinking handle knives may well be Case XX USA, and not be dangerous, why take a chance, he can put them back in the display later? If he posts pics of them, you guys who are knowledgeable can give him a definitive answer.
Ray, Owd Wullie posted good pictures of a Case trapper, with the material you are talking about, that deteriorated severely. I am not sure if it was in a general thread on celluloid or a stand alone thread? I will take a look and see if I can find it. edit: looked for awhile, but could not find it?
Dan

Great point Dan. In fact, the XX Peanut I mentioned above did have white liners.

[EyeBJoe]

Appreciate all the great suggestions and comments on this problem. With respect to the dotted knives being co-mingled with the XX patterns, this display was a "working display" on the floor of the hardware store. Along the way a few of the original XX knives were sold and newer dotted knives were added to complete the display again. It was interesting to me that the cabinet containing the knives was originally a Kabar display, a small oval metal Kabar emblem is still attached to the bottom of the cabinet. Sometime in the 1950's the owner of the store, Mr. Shelton, decided to switch to Case knives but wanted to keep the cabinet in tact. So, I suppose the Case rep. accommodated his wishes and created a new display board. The original inventory sheets for both the Kabar knives and the Case knives is in the back of the cabinet.

Since my grandson is developing a keen interest in pocket knives, I believe the best route would be to contact Case and see if they will rehandle the knives in question. The fees would probably be minimal in comparison to saving the knives. Preserving the cabinet, the knife history and the remaining knives seems to be possibly the best route for my grandson. Any and all additional thoughts appreciated also.

Joe D.

[Mumbleypeg]

Interesting story about history of the display Joe. IMHO you're on the right track by replacing the celluloid handles. If you decide to send the knives to Case for the work be sure to call first and explain the situation, and what you want them to do. As you may know, on knives from that era shields were pinned on (as opposed to current production practice of glueing on the shields) so that's a consideration. In addition, current production shields use a different font, so if for authenticity you want Case to salvage and re-use the original shields you'll want to have that discussion with them as well. I'm assuming they can (and will) re-pin your original shields if you wish. Expect them to charge a fee for the work, but in my opinion their fees are very reasonable. If they can't or won't do the restoration as you want it done then you may want to explore having one of the knife mechanics here on AAPK do the work.

And thanks for cultivating your grandson's interest in pocket knives.

Ken