All About Pocket Knives

My dad recently passed and he handed down the majority of his case collection to my children.

1) what are the best resources to educate ourselves on Case knives? My husband and I would like to honor his legacy by adding to their collection.

2) Can anyone provide information on this knife? It didn’t seem to match what little we k ow about case knives. The second blade does have a number on it and the third blade is odd shaped (it has a lip to it).

Welcome to the forum!
Just guessing I would say the knife you are showing is a Case 6347. If it is 3 7/8" closed length. The odd blade is a punch, used to drill a hole in leather, the main is a clip blade and the other is a spay blade. Also the tang stamp appears to be from the 1940-1964 era, cant quite see it in the picture.
Looks like a great old knife!
Treefarmer

Welcome to AAPK. I agree with treefarmer, your knife is probably a 6347PU, but could be a 6318PU. The 47 pattern is larger than the 18. The knife should have one or the other of those numbers on it.

You can learn a lot about Case knives here on this site, in the Research section. Access it by clicking on Research in the header up at the top of this page, then follow the prompts to find the section on Case knives. There is also a dedicated forum here for Case Knife collectors - where you can learn a lot just by browsing the various threads. viewforum.php?f=66 It may seem overwhelming at first but just take your time - the site isn’t going away.

There are some books about collecting Case knives. Unfortunately the best ones are out of print so you’ll need to look into used book sellers to find a copy. One I recommend is Collecting Case Knives by Steve Pfeiffer. You could also look into a membership to the Case Collector’s Club. www.caseknives.com. Scroll to the bottom of the Case site to find info about the collectors club.

I think it’s great that you want to honor your father in this was, and encourage your children to continue his collection. My grandchildren have become collectors (they’re Junior Members of the Case Collector’s Club and receive the quarterly club magazine, but it’s been delayed this year due to the pandemic).

If in doubt about anything, just post your questions here on AAPK! I’m sorry for your loss.

Ken

Welcome to AAPK!

First of all, I want to say it is refreshing to hear someone say:

Brandyjwest wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:34 am what are the best resources to educate ourselves on Case knives? My husband and I would like to honor his legacy by adding to their collection.

Usually a post here that involves "inheritance" starts with my ancestor really loved pocket knives and the knives meant a lot to them. And continues to: I don't know anything about pocket knives and I don't want to learn - I want to sell them as fast as possible for as much money as possible. Tell me how much they are worth.

You can get a lot of help here by posting pictures and asking questions. When posting picture it is very important to show the words and numbers stamp into the base of the blade. The base of the blade is called a "tang" and the words are called a "tang stamp". If a number is present it is the pattern number. It is also important to know the length of the knife with blades closed.

Here is a link to the first thing to get familiar with:
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/co ... ng-system/
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/co ... ification/

After you learn some basic information to evaluate what era your knives come from then you can (maybe) find some books to dive deeper. For example, if you would learn that your knives date from after 1940 (called Case XX) then this would be a good book.

https://www.amazon.com/Collecting-Case- ... 1440202389

If you are comfortable with computers and reading books on a computer, the Kindle version appears to still be available for a reasonable price. The printed book is out of print and the price has gone up significantly - if you can even find one.

If your knives date from earlier than 1940 then you will need another resource.

The information on these knives is a bit arcane and will seem overwhelming at first, so it will take a few weeks of dedicated study to get knowledgeable. Stick with it - it is rewarding to master a subject. Another bonus is that most of the "knife people" your family will come across are great people.

This is a nice story. http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/10/ ... L_v_dOC2Jk

Thank you!

We are very excited to learn about Case knives. My dad was proud of his collection and had taught us a lot but I wish I would have asked him so many more questions about them now.

Welcome to AAPK!

I can't help much with your questions but I would like to point something out that might save you some heartache in the future.

As a precaution, please consider that stressing a backspring on both ends like in your picture could result in a broken backspring. It doesn't happen very often. In fact, it's pretty rare. People do it all the time with no ill results but when it does happen it's too late and there's nothing you can do about it.

Consider opening the blades in a manner that only stresses one end of the spring at a time. In your example, first opening either the Spey blade or the Punch blade to its fully open position before opening the other blade would only stress one end of the spring at a time.

I'm only pointing this out because it happened to me on a knife that was very special to me and my heart sank when that spring snapped. Not only was my own heart broken but I also had to tell the friend who gave it to me that I had broken his late father's knife that he so entrusted me with.

When something like that happens to you, you make sure it never happens again. I learned the hard way and I don't want to see that happen to you.

Click to enlarge if necessary.

Practical advice, Railsplitter.
Treefarmer

I recommend the following books as these are the ones I use the most:

1. Goins Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings, out of print but likely available at Knife Magazine's web site.

2. Levine's Guide to Knives, 4th edition,,, good read for general and specific info, out of print and pricey, Knife Mag or Amazon.

3. Collecting Case Knives by Steve Pfeiffer, member here, PM him to see where these are available.

4. American Premium Guide to Knives and Razors, 7th ed., by Jim Sargent, an absolute essential for older Case knives.

Best of luck with your quest on this adventure and to AAPK.

Ray

Railsplitter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:51 am As a precaution, please consider that stressing a backspring on both ends like in your picture could result in a broken backspring. It doesn't happen very often. In fact, it's pretty rare. People do it all the time with no ill results but when it does happen it's too late and there's nothing you can do about it.

Excellent advise Rick. That thought never occurred to me until I read your post. It would be a crying shame for those folks to inherit that knife and then have the backspring snap in two.

___________
Mike

Brandyjwest wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 1:34 am what are the best resources to educate ourselves on Case knives? My husband and I would like to honor his legacy by adding to their collection.

For starters, you came to the right place. Lots of Case guys here. One of our members literally wrote the book on collecting Case knives. Read and learn before you do anything. Also, be aware that Case knives are probably the most counterfeited knives in the world, at least in my opinion.

You can always ask questions here, and good close-up photos always help, especially of the tang stamp.

Welcome , and we hope you stay for a while.

___________
Mike

treefarmer wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:46 am Practical advice, Railsplitter.
Treefarmer

XX Case XX wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 3:17 pm Excellent advise Rick. That thought never occurred to me until I read your post. It would be a crying shame for those folks to inherit that knife and then have the backspring snap in two.

___________
Mike

Thanks guys. That was a hard lesson to learn and I still regret it to this day. Maybe it will save someone else the heartache whether it be the OP or anybody else.

Railsplitter wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 3:39 pm

treefarmer wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:46 am Practical advice, Railsplitter.
Treefarmer

XX Case XX wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 3:17 pm Excellent advise Rick. That thought never occurred to me until I read your post. It would be a crying shame for those folks to inherit that knife and then have the backspring snap in two.

___________
Mike

Thanks guys. That was a hard lesson to learn and I still regret it to this day. Maybe it will save someone else the heartache whether it be the OP or anybody else.

Great advise, that is why this is a wonderful place, you always get little tit-bits of information, that when you hear them seem obvious, but they are not so obvious till some one points them out. Sadly in your case, through a bad experience.

hope you'll hang around and join in with the fine folks that frequent this fine forum. Good luck

Thank you so much Railsplitter!! Proper knife treatment will be very important for us and I appreciate you taking the time to educate and look out for someone!

Brandyjwest wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:43 pm Thank you so much Railsplitter!! Proper knife treatment will be very important for us and I appreciate you taking the time to educate and look out for someone!

You're welcome. We are happy to have you here and we hope you stick around.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your father!!
You've come to the right place for info. Never by shy to ask here......it's a friendly bunch!!

Ms. BrandyJWest! Hope you and yours make AAPK your "go to" site for knife information.

What I know of Case knives I picked up at this site. There are many Case knife experts and historians who are members here. Also, it doesn't have to be just Case knives...if your father collected other brand names, don't hesitate to ask about them too.

Stick around, have fun and enjoy the camaraderie. We're like family here.

Brandy,
Case knives are not my bailywick, but welcome to AAPK, the most friendly knife site on the world wide web.
There are some very knowledgeable people here and all are most willing to share it with you.
Charlie Noyes