A Case for Small Pocket Knives

By the BladeMaster

Summary and New Case XX Collector Tips:

1. A vintage small pocket knife collection can be put together for much less money than the large knives command.
2. Originally much more common, vintage small knives may be rarer today than their big counterpart.
3. This implies that there may be nice upward potential in the price of smaller vintage knives.

Details:

See more about Case XX pocket knives at www.knifedb.com

Historically from a collector’s perspective, big pocket knives have ruled.     They command much higher premiums than small knives, and I got to wondering why this was the case.  After all, small knives take as much if not more labor, and the price of materials can only vary by a small amount between a big knife and a little one.

Here are my conclusions as to why big knives rule the day:

1.      Rarity—The early production numbers on knives were not known to the early collectors.  But the price was known. Big knives originally cost more than little knives.  As the early collectors no doubt struggled with which of two knives was rarer, I believe that original price, became a proxy for rarity.  The more a knife cost the fewer were probably sold, and therefore the rarer it must be.    And of course, rare knives are worth more.

2.      Beauty—It is hard to argue that a small green bone knife cannot be as beautiful and well made as a large green bone knife.  It is still true that you get a larger quantity of beauty with the large knife. 

3.      Intrinsic Value—This is the most subjective part.  Beauty plays a role here.  Also, holding a clasp and holding a pen, the clasp just feels more like it has value, because it is much heavier.  Weight, width, and length do matter (in knives). 

As I thought thru these things, it all made pretty good sense.  If you don’t have actual quantities with which to determine rarity and value, this is probably as good a method as any to estimate it. 

But then I got to thinking:  using the original price as a method to estimate rarity might be exactly right when the knives were made, but are they still accurate predictors of rarity today?  I first thought about this with the W. R. Case & Sons delrin handled knives that began to appear in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Unannounced, the company started replacing the traditional bone handles with synthetic delrin.  Delrin after all, was much more durable than bone. Everyone should like that, shouldn’t they? (Remember at this time, that formal knife collecting was in its formative years.  Case was still making knives to use not necessarily to collect).  BUT, collectors and dealers did not take to delrin.  It was flat, it faded, it lacked the depth and beauty of bone.   The result was that few collectors put back delrin handled knives and most of those made went into pockets and were used.  If most of these knives were used, then a nice unsharpened delrin knife would be a rare thing today, wouldn’t it?  It still might not be heavily collected or pricey, but it might be very rare nevertheless.  It pleased the BladeMaster when a number of these early delrins began to escalate in price, in some cases, fetching more than $100.

This then led me down this trail.  In the early years (at least prior to the early 1970’s), knives were to use—period.  (Of course, there were a few far sighted collectors ahead of the curve that put knives up, but I am speaking generally).  And how were pocket knives used?  They were carried in the pocket, of course.  But big knives are much too heavy for most to carry in a pocket every day.  These knives came out of storage during hunting or fishing season, went into the pocket until the limit was filled, and then went back into storage for another year.

The small knives were put into a pocket and used as a carrying knife every day.  They were used, sharpened, then used again, until they broke or became like needles and were thrown away.  It is also much easier to lose a small knife.  Meanwhile the folding hunter remained in storage, waiting for the next hunt.

 

If this is a correct analysis, there was an increasing chance that the small knives, no doubt much more common originally, might be increasingly rare when compared to the big knives.  Saying this simply, did the small knives get scarcer because more were used up?  

The BladeMaster decided to try and figure this out.  For four months, I counted 6 small Case knife variations and 6 large knives.  This was done by searching the completed listings in Ebay once a month.  During this 4 month period approximately 20,000 Case knives were sold on Ebay.  I only counted knives made before 1970, because I wanted the knives to be old enough to be used up.  I also searched on the following handle codes for each pattern: 2 for black composition, 3 for yellow composition, 5 for stag, 6 for bone, 8 for pearl, and 9 for cracked ice or imitation pearl.  In other words, when I looked at the Case peanuts, I searched for 2220, 3220, 5220 and so on. 

Table 1  Occurrence of Small Case Knives made before 1970

Pattern Number (The v represents the Varying Case Handle Code)	Length	Total Occurrences (all handle codes)
v201 2 Blade Pen	2 5/8	5
v220 2 Blade Peanut	2 3/4	29
v227 Small 2 Blade Jack	2 3/4	7
v327 Small Stockman	2 3/4	3
v233 Small Pen	2 5/8	44
v333 Small Stockman	2 5/8	14
	TOTAL	102

Table 2 Occurrence of Large Case Knives made before 1970

	Pattern Number (The v  represents the Varying Case Handle Code)	Length			Total Occurrences (all handle codes)
	v143 Grandfather Barlow	5			19
	v165 Single Blade folding hunter	5 1/4			23
	v265 2 Blade Folding Hunter	5 1/4			61
	v172 Clasp	5 1/2			24
	v488 Large Congress	4 1/8			41
	v1093 Large Toothpick	5			15
		TOTAL			183

As you can see, there were 80% more of the large knives listed than small knives.  This is at  least some evidence supporting the theory that old small knives may be scarcer today than the large ones.   The BladeMaster is very comfortable stating this conclusion as a fact:   there are more old large knives sold on ebay than there are smaller knives. 

CASE XX New Grind Pocket Knives

More info at KnifeDB.com!

Case XX Pocket Knives and the New Grind

Part 1

By the Blade Master

Looking back we can identify knives that have become highly collectable.  Most frequently, our guide is price.  Sadly, by the time the price tells us that a knife has become highly desirable, most of us can no longer afford it.   

With hindsight, its easy to say that we should have laid up a basement full of Case Tested Trappers, or long pull stag congress knives.  But we didn’t and now for most of us it’s too late.  So, is it possible to identify modern (and therefore cheaper) Case XX knife production that might hold the possibility of good financial gain down the road?  Indeed, there are clumps of reasonably priced modern knives that show early increases in price at a rate greater than their peers.   

This article is about “new grind” knives, one of these batches.   For the Case factory, this was a noble experiment that failed.   New grind knives were only officially made in 1983, 1984 and 1985 by Case.  Case called these “shoulderless grind” knives but this doesn’t roll off the tongue like the more commonly used “new grind” does.  

   

The “New Grind” (bottom) and the traditional straight grind.

(For new collectors--the new grind is a curving arch on a blade replacing the typical straight ground tang).  

The first “official” mention by the Case factory of the new grind appeared in the September 1983 Case Collector’s Club Newsletter.  First, the article introduced these knives, then Case said that the Engineering Department felt that the process of creating the shoulder in the old straight grind weakened the blade like “a glass cutter does to glass”, and the new grind was 70% stronger.  Further, “Conversion has already occurred on all blades having a polished finish.” 

 Therefore, as of September 1, 1983, Case said that every polished blade would have the new grind. Case also reported that an initial test run of  70,600 knives was already completed. (See Table 1).

Table 1 New Grind 1983 “Test Run”

Model	Quantity
6208 SS	2,000
6318 SH SP SSP	5,000
6225½ SS	1,900
62033 SS	5,000
63033 SS	12,000
52033 SS	1,000
62042 SS	3,300
6244 SS	2,400
6344 SH PE SS	7,000
6347 SH SP SSP	2,000
6347½ SS	1,600
61048 SS	1,000
62048 SS	1,000
6254 SSP	4,000
06263 SS	8,000
M279 SS	2,400
63087 SS	4,000
62087 SS	4,000
22087	3,000

The same newsletter introduced the Pro-Lock and Dura-Lock pattern knives.  These new pattern knives were each made with the new grind in 4 size variations. 

“The new 1983 patterns made with the new grind.  The two small ones are Dura-Locks, and the two large ones are Pro-Locks.  Both the Dura-Locks and Pro-Locks were made in all four sizes seen.  Like the new grind, they wouldn’t survive.

So, Case proudly introduced the new knives and even produced 8 new (but similar) pattern variations featuring the new grind.  The concept of a 70% stronger blade seemed right on the money.  These blades are quite beautiful and distinctive.  What went wrong?  Why would the new grind be gone before two more years pass?

The first subtle hint of problems may have appeared in the same September 1983 newsletter that introduced the knives.  This newsletter says that Case was doing a test run of satin or machine finish knife blades but that this process needed more testing and modifications.  In the meantime, all satin finish blades would have a straight grind.  It is also interesting that Case referred to the manufacture of the 70,600 knives in table 1 as a “test run", which seems an expensive trial balloon.

 The 1984-85 factory catalog, which would have appeared 4 to 6 months after the announcement of the new grind in September of ‘83, is the first catalog with the opportunity to herald the new grind.  But curiously, the catalog mentions only 6 knives with a new grind, and none of them match any of the “Test Run” knives.  These knife models were all to be made with second cut stag handles:  5254 SS; 5318 SH SP SS; 52032 SS; 53032 SS; 5225½ SS; and 53033 SS.   

Then, the April 1984, Case Collector Club newsletter offered a “Shoulderless Grind Update”.  It said that the changeover continued on polished blades (we were told the previous September that it was done) and the satin blades will have a straight grind until further tests are done.  Seven months after the first mention of the new grind, the factory was still testing the satin or machine finished blades. 

Next, the August 1984 Case Collector’s Club Newsletter indicated that Case was introducing six new standard line stag patterns in 1984.  These are the same 6 knives introduced earlier in the 1984 catalog.  Quoting from the newsletter, “A special note to collectors is the first 1,000 units of each of the patterns (except 5318 SH SP SS), has been produced with polished blades and a square cut shoulder.  All patterns after the initial 1,000 will have polished shoulderless grind blades.  They will be available at Case dealers in October.”

Clearly the problems continued for the factory.  Reviewing, Case issued a 1984 catalog that promised six new grind stag knives, but in August, 1984 announced it was making 1000 straight grind stags first.  Further, neither of the straight or new grind stags would be available until October 1984, months after the catalog promised them.  All this leads to the conclusion that there were substantial manufacturing problems with these blades.  The problem may have been with consistency, which led to increased costs. See figure 3.

Difficulties in manufacture and consistency may have doomed the new grind.  Note the differences in the new grind in 2 1984 33 pattern knives.   

In any event, the new grind blades never really got off the ground and were relegated to Case history within less than two years after the initial announcement, creating this wonderful area for collectors. 

Table 2 is an inventory of the standard production knives that the BladeMaster has seen so far.  Missing year dates may still be out there, but the BladeMaster hasn't seen them yet.  When you are searching for variations in knives, it is impossible to know when you are done…

Table 2-Standard Production New Grind Knives by Pattern

Notes on this table.  Case Abbreviations: SH = Sheepfoot blade, SP = Spey blade, ½ = clip blade,  SS = Stainless Steel, SSP = Stainless Steel with a polished edge.  Brown jigged delrin is not actually jigged, but molded to resemble jigging.  Satin finish is also frequently called brushed finish or even machine finished.

 

Model	Years Seen to Date	Handle/ Other Remarks
General		The vast majority of new grind knifes have brass liners and polished blades.  Exceptions to these rules are noted by that knife.  The shields used on New Grinds are almost all ovals with an open C.  However, starting in 1984, most of the shields are not as finished as the prior shields.
6207 SP SS Mini-Trapper	1983	Brown jigged bone, Satin finish blades, “Mini-Trapper” etch.
6308 Whittler	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone.  Only the two small blades have the new grind, the master clip does not.
3318 SH SP Medium Stockman	1983 1984 1985	Smooth Yellow composition
5318 SH SP SS Medium Stockman	1984 1985	Second cut stag
6318 SH SP Medium Stockman	1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
6318 SH SP SSP Medium Stockman	1983	Brown jigged bone
5225½ SS Small coke bottle	1984	Second Cut Stag
6225½ SS Small coke bottle	1983	Brown Jigged Delrin
52032 SS Medium Jack	1984 1985	Second cut stag
53032 SS Medium Stockman	1984 1985	Second cut stag
62032 Medium Jack	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
62032 SS Medium Jack	1983 1984	Brown jigged bone
63032 Medium Stockman	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
52033 SS	1983	Stag (not second cut), This is the only new grind seen with regular stag.
62033 SS Small Pen	1983 1984	Brown jigged delrin, satin finish blades
53033 SS	1984	Second cut stag
63033 SS Small Stockman	1983 1984 1986	Brown jigged delrin, Satin finish,  The 63033 is the only 1986 date tang knife seen so far.
92033 Pen	1983 1984	Imitation pearl, no shield, nickel silver liners
92033 SS Pen	1983	Imitation pearl, no shield, nickel silver liners
62042 SS Pen	1983	Brown Jigged Delrin
92042 SS Pen	1983 1984	Imitation pearl, no shield, nickel silver liners
6244 SS Medium Jack	1983	Brown Jigged delrin
6344 SH PE SS Medium stockman	1983	Brown Jigged delrin
6347 SH SP Premium Stockman	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
6347 SH SP SSP Premium Stockman	1983	Brown jigged bone, satin finish blades, etched “TESTED XX RAZOR EDGE”
6347½ SS Premium Stockman	1983	Brown jigged delrin.  This knife has all three blades with a new grind.
6347½ Premium Stockman	1983	Brown jigged delrin. This knife only has the master and the spey blade with the new grind.
61048 Slimline Trapper	1983 1984	Brown jigged delrin.
61048 Slimline Trapper	1984	Brown jigged delrin but has the tang stamps reversed with the model number on the blade front and the year on the back.
61048 SSP	1983	Brown jigged delrin, satin finish blades.
62048 SP Slimline Trapper	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged delrin
62048 SP SSP Slimline Trapper	1983 1985	Brown jigged delrin.  Satin finish blades
6249 Copperhead	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
6249 SP Copperhead	1983	Red jigged bone
3254 Trapper	1983 1984	Yellow composition
5254 SS Trapper	1981 1984	Second cut stag
6254 Trapper	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone. The 1985 is rare
6254 SSP Trapper	1983	Brown jigged bone, satin blades.  The clip says "TESTED XX RAZOR EDGE" in an electro etch.  Considered a rare new grind.
6254 SSP Trapper	1983	Brown jigged bone, satin blades.  The clip does not say "TESTED XX RAZOR EDGE".  Only the clip blade is new grind, the spey is straight ground.
06263 SS Eisenhower Pen	1983	Brown jigged delrin, satin blades
6275 SP Moose	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
6375 Large Stockman	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone,
M279 SS	1983	Brushed stainless handles.
22087 SS Jack	1983	Black smooth composition
22087 SS Jack	1984	Black smooth composition
62087 SS Jack	1984	Brown jigged delrin
63087 SS Stockman	1983	Brown jigged delrin
6292 Texas Jack	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
3392 Stockman	1985	Smooth yellow composition
6392 Stockman	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
62109 X Mini Copperhead	1983 1984	Brown jigged bone
62131 Canoe	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
Dura-Lock A	1983	Black checked graphite, satin blades, no liners.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “DURA-LOCK A” electro etch.  This pattern is 5 ¼” long. The Dura-Lock A came in its own box with an unusual sheath that held the knife horizontally.
Dura-Lock B	1983	Black checked graphite, satin blades, no liners.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “DURA-LOCK B” electro etch.  This pattern is 4 3/8” long. The Dura-Lock B came in its own box with an unusual sheath that held the knife horizontally.
Dura-Lock C	1983	Black checked graphite, satin blades, no liners.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “DURA-LOCK C” electro etch.  This pattern is 3 ½” long. No sheath with the smaller knives, although the knife had its own box.
Dura-Lock D	1983	Black checked graphite, shield 5, satin blades, no liners, date tang is 1983-3.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “DURA-LOCK D” electro etch.  This pattern is 2 5/8” long.  Came in its own box, but there is no sheath.
Muskrat	1983 1984 1985	Brown jigged bone
Pro-Lock I	1983	Smooth Red/Brown laminated wood, nickel silver liners. There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “PRO-LOCK I” electro etch.  This pattern is 5¼” long. The Pro-Lock I came with an unusual sheath that held the knife horizontally and it had its own box.
Pro-Lock II	1983	Smooth Red/Brown laminated wood, nickel silver liners.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “PRO-LOCK II” electro etch.  This pattern is 4 3/8” long. The Pro-Lock II came with an unusual sheath that held the knife horizontally and came in its own box.
Pro-Lock III	1983 1984	Smooth Red/Brown laminated wood, nickel silver liners.There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “PRO-LOCK III” electro etch.  This pattern is 3½” long.  Came with its own box, but no sheath.
Pro-Lock IV	1983 1984	Smooth Red/Brown laminated wood, nickel silver liners.  There is no model number stamp or blade pull.  Instead, the blade has a “PRO-LOCK IV” electro etch.  This pattern is 2 5/8” long.  Came with its own box, but no sheath.

You can find much more information on any of the knives above at http://www.knifedb.com/knives/search

Shields used on new grind knives

1983 Date Tangs used on new grind knives
Note that the differences occur in the spacing after the E

1984 Date Tangs used on new grind knives.

On the SS stamps note the spacing after the E and the position of the first dot.

1985 Date Tangs used on new grind knives.

What conclusions can we draw for collectors at this point?   Mostly polished blade CASE XX pocket knives were made for a third of 1983, all of 1984, and a third of 1985.  Blades with satin finished blades were spottily made during this time.  

1.      Look for unusual tang dates.  We have seen 2 new grind knife variations with 1981 date tangs (special knives in the next article) and one small stockman with a 1986 date.  These have to be very unusual collectables, and may well prove worth an investment.   

2.      Look for new grind and straight grind tangs in the same pocket knife. All of the 6308 and 5308’s found so far have a straight ground master, and new grind smaller blades.  A 6347½ has been found with two new grind blades as well as three new grind blades.  These and perhaps other unusual combinations may be out there.

3.      Look for the  1983 and 1985 variations.  It is clear that Case was getting out of the new grind business early in 1985, and announced new grind production late in 1983.  These have to be rarer because the time of production was limited.  It is the Blademaster's feelings that the 1985's are rarer than the 1983's, but other than looking at a lot of knives has no further proof of this assertion.

4.       Look for the unique Dura-Lock and Pro-Lock patterns.  Every new grind knife seen with a pull, has a regular pull:  There are no long pulls on new grind knives. These knives have satin finish blades which were problems to make.   The Dura Lock and Pro-Lock series do not have any pulls on the satin blades--adding to their uniqueness.  In addition, it is very rare, if not unique to find a Case pattern made for such a short time.  Yet the Dura-Lock and Pro-Lock knives fit within this unique group (with the exception of the Pro Lock III and IV which have been found with both 1983 and 1984 tang dates.    Imagine if the 6254 was made for only one year, and no other handles, shields, blade combinations or tang dates are created with the trapper shape.  Then you can begin to see why these eight locking knife patterns are extraordinarily unusual.  Further, we can assume that these knives did not sell well, (if they did, Case would still be making them), which means that they have to be considered rarer than most knives.  Of course, these patterns were lower end knives, with four patterns having synthetic handles, and four with wooden handles.  Both these handle materials tend to be discounted by collectors.  We continue to believe however, that these knives will present an economical long term investment opportunity.  These knives can be picked up in the $30 -50 dollar range today.  Remember it is much easier for a $30 knife to become a $120 knife than it is for a $5,000 knife to become a $20,000 knife.  Yet each of these is the same return on investment. 

5.  Look for satin finish new grinds.  Because it is very clear that Case had most of the manufacturing problems with satin finished blades, it seems logical to conclude that there are not as many variations of these seen, and those that are seen may be very limited in number.

There are many collecting opportunities in the new grind knives, no matter if you collect by handle, pattern, blade material, or date.   Time will prove their uniqueness and rarity.   But we have only told part of the story of the new grind knives.  In the next Blog we will discuss the knives not made as standard production.  The next article will describe the commemoratives, club knives, and sets.   If the regular production new grinds are rare, these knives all were produced in even rarer quantities.