All About Pocket Knives

I'm new to knife collecting. I've been building a Case knife collection of 1970's and older....expensive for the really nice ones.
I've noticed some have "half-stops" in the blade travel and some really nice ones don't. Would someone be kind enough to chime in as to the rule of thumb on this. Is it just certain patterns...or years? How can I tell which ones will or won't?
And one more question for the newbie....are all the 1970 and older Case handle emblems "pinned" on from this era. I can't see how you can tell. Thanks

bullitt4001 wrote:I'm new to knife collecting. I've been building a Case knife collection of 1970's and older....expensive for the really nice ones.
I've noticed some have "half-stops" in the blade travel and some really nice ones don't. Would someone be kind enough to chime in as to the rule of thumb on this. Is it just certain patterns...or years? How can I tell which ones will or won't?
And one more question for the newbie....are all the 1970 and older Case handle emblems "pinned" on from this era. I can't see how you can tell. Thanks

On the half stops, there is no real rule. But in general (there are exceptions) pen knives and stock knives, trappers and slim trappers will not have half stops, jack patterns will. I'm sure that people can point out exceptions - like the older 32 pattern is made as both a jack and a stock and they all have half stops (not the newer 032 but the older 32).

On the shields, on bone, stag, and wood they were pinned 100% until 1978 when they started transitioning to glued on shields. This change was complete by 1980. Delrin handled knives had the shields melted in to the delrin handle during this era (but on delrin handled knives they are glued on today). On older composition handled knives the shields were pinned.

On the half stops, there is no real rule. But in general (there are exceptions) pen knives and stock knives, trappers and slim trappers will not have half stops, jack patterns will. I'm sure that people can point out exceptions - like the older 32 pattern is made as both a jack and a stock and they all have half stops (not the newer 032 but the older 32).

On the shields, on bone, stag, and wood they were pinned 100% until 1978 when they started transitioning to glued on shields. This change was complete by 1980. Delrin handled knives had the shields melted in to the delrin handle during this era (but on delrin handled knives they are glued on today). On older composition handled knives the shields were pinned.[/quote]


Great reply! I've got this perfect 1970 5 dot and I love the way the half-stops feel. Now I know what to look for.
And I won't forget the "shield" placement either. Thank you

Bullitt, Your 1970 knife should have 10 dots. If it has 5, it is a 1975. Enjoy your collecting.

Bullitt, for a Case collector Steve's book "Collecting Case Knives" is incredibly useful. It has all sorts of good stuff about the various tang stamps and shields over the years, handle materials and blade steels, not to mention the really strange stuff like "shoulderless grind" blades. Plus it has detailed information on many collectible patterns that will help you know what to look for and avoid counterfeits, which are epidemic in the Case field. It's a great reference book and a pleasure to look at, with hundreds of large color pictures. I'm not even a Case collector yet I have spent many pleasant hours reading and browsing through this book.

The other thing is to look through the back threads here on AAPK. It's amazing the information on all aspects of knife collecting you'll find. There are some real knowledgeable experts who post here. I'm not one of them but I am smart enough to know when I have stumbled onto a good thing, like finding this board. So welcome, looking forward to having you here.