All About Pocket Knives

The question is: Do I clean and polish this knife or leave alone? How do you know when to or not so it doesn't hurt the value?
Thanks, Nan

Hiya nan,

It WILL open a bottle, but you'll booger up the bolsters, if you use it very much. Just use a good ole' church key....

JR

While looking through more of my father's knife collection I found a envelope from Case. Inside was a picture from Knives anbd Razors, Author Jim Sargent, the date on the postmark is 1997. It shows the #on this leg knife is R297, 1920-40 Tested XX with a value of $350. When I try to reseach it on the web I can never find anything about it. Any Help???? Any updated value know for it? HAng in there with me I still green at this.
Nan

That's a nice leg knife. Two blades also. I have seen them with only one blade. Should be worth a lot.

hey nan, the latest book value for a small case r297 is $450. this value is for a knife that is just as it left the factory. your knife is very nice, but, it is used. the value in today's market is subject to many factors. selling it on ebay will probably get a fair price. however. sometimes bidders with "gotta have" will bid more than true value. you could have someone (expert) place a current value for the condition it's in for insurance purposes.

Hi Nan,
Is there something else you are wanting to know about this knife that the previous posts have failed to address? By the way, very cool knife.

Phil

I wish Case would come out with some odd knife patterns again.

Nan did ask about cleaning the knife, whether that would add or subtract from the value. That is something that I'd be interested in knowing as well, so can anyone comment on whether this knife should be cleaned and give us some general comments on cleaning old knifes, maintaining patina, etc.

Hand clean it with some paste and a soft towel. Its a vintage knife,,dont buff its history away.

I agree with Rigwelder, don't try to make an old knife look new. As I've said before, it's like putting Granny in a miniskirt; it just ain't right and when you look at it you KNOW it ain't right! If I had my choice of two otherwise identical vintage knives, I'd take the one with it's original patina every time over one that had been buffed to a high glossy shine. Others may disagree, but they have every right to be wrong if they so choose.

Phil

I have to agree with Rigwelder and Philco - try to keep the integrity of the history of this knife as much as possible. Unless there is some rusting on the blade(s) that might need to be taken care of, I would keep it as is.

philco wrote:it's like putting Granny in a miniskirt;

trail wrote:Hand clean it with some paste and a soft towel.

I think this is fine. It wont hurt the value of your knife. Just make sure that if you do decide to clean the blades to not use a super strong abrasive chemical.