Thread: Duck Shrinkage!

Originally Posted by engine46

Nice work on the elks scales Wullie! That must be some really good grade steel.

That's a pre-1970 Case. It was made when Case built knives to use rather than collect. I bought that knife knowing the scales were going South on it. The guy selling it had no idea what he had but he knew something was bad wrong with it. I paid $8 for it as it was shown in the top two pics. It was obvious that something was wrong, but the knife was sound otherwise.

I bought it to use and not collect although that pattern in that condition ( without scale rot) is a very collectible pattern and usually bring good money. That knife was unused. It had never been sharpened or carried. I popped the scales off of it and took it to a buddy of mine that I helped get started in the knife making business. He scratched around in his pile and came out with that old elk antler and asked if I wanted that or yellow Corel put back on it. I went with the antler. The knife's no longer as collectible due to the scales. I carried the big thing for a while but it's just a bit too big to carry comfortably.

I don't know what that yellow stuff was made of, but it doesn't rot steel. I've seen several Case knives of that era with similar issues and the blades are always good, but the brass liners take the hit.

FYI, it's been my experience that German made cell is some of the worst on the planet. ESPECIALLY that which was produced in the '70's and '80's. I've seen some really nice pocket knives turned into piles of red rust from inattention. Several of them went to the happy hunting ground peacefully inside the boxes they were purchased in. I've seen lots of US made knives in the same situation, but it seems that the German made stuff still holds the prize for being unstable.