Knife Collecting

W.R. Case & Sons is celebrating its 125th anniversary with updated manufacturing facilities, a new repro of the legendary Case V-42, a Tony Bose classic pocketknife, a special anniversary celebration in August and much more.

Long recognized as one of if not the most collectible factory knife brands in the world, Case refuses to rest on its laurels and is using its landmark birthday to ramp up its knife operation on a variety of fronts.

Zippo, Case’s parent company, is investing nearly $10 million for renovations on the Case manufacturing plant in Bradford, Pennsylvania. The revamp will include a complete remodeling of the factory, including new equipment and floor configurations designed to promote better efficiency, productivity and quality. The renovations are due to be completed by the end of next year.

As a result, Case will have an increased ability to revive such classic patterns as the World War II Case V-42 stiletto issued to the First Special Service Force—a.k.a., the Devil’s Brigade—and also a new cattleman’s knife collaboration with Bose.

And, on Aug. 16, there will be a special celebration of the company’s 125th anniversary at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. For more information, visit wrcase.com.

A byproduct of Case’s updating its manufacturing facilities is the ability to get more Case knives before more customers than ever before. In addition to the over 2,000 Case authorized dealers nationwide, such chains as Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Field & Stream, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Tractor Supply stores, Sportsman’s Warehouse, REI, Academy Sports + Outdoors and Costco carry Case knives. Case exclusive e-tailers and Amazon.com also sell Case knives.

Case’s wide array of collectible pocketknives has been supported by the Case Collector’s Club since 1981. The club features exclusive knife promotions and collectibles for members, and publishes and distributes a quarterly magazine, The Case Collector. For more on it, visit http://www.wrcase.com/collectors_club/.

Zero Tolerance’s Model 0392 “factory custom” collaboration with Rick Hinderer is not only a new knife idea, it might be an entirely new knife category.

Here’s how it works: Hinderer makes and supplies the knife parts such as the pocket clips, screws, spacers, filler tabs, standoffs and other furniture and Zero Tolerance employs them in the manufacture and assembly of the resulting knife—thus the name, ‘factory custom.’ The initial parts will be titanium anodized cool blue.

According to a ZT news release, “While we’ve often worked with custom knifemakers … we’ve never had this kind of partnership before. Now, working together, we can create knives with true custom details, while producing quantities that would be impossible for a custom knifemaker.”

The resulting factory custom knives will also offer “after-market customization.” Customers will be able to buy the furniture from Hinderer with different finishes, anodized in different colors, etc. The furniture may even come in different materials, including copper, to go with the standard titanium. The different finishes, anodizations, etc., apparently will come later.

An award-winning custom knifemaker out of Shreve, Ohio, Hinderer is best known for his XM-18 folder, and his knife lotteries are always among the best attended. He also has been expanding his knife operation to offer semi-production-type knives. He had a booth at the recent BLADE Show, where he celebrated exhibiting at his 25th consecutive rendition of the event.

A flipper folder, the 0392 will feature M390 blade steel, a titanium handle and the KVT ball-bearing opening system.

For the time being, the factory custom project is in the formative stages. Exactly how many of the knives will be made or when they will be available remains unknown. Stay tuned to Zero Tolerance and blademag.com for more details.

The Randall Knife Collectors Club is up and running and wants you to join its ranks today.

The RKCC has been over two years in the making and held its third meeting at the 2014 BLADE Show earlier this month at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. “We boast an active membership of over 500 avid Randall Knife Knuts, including 15 percent of that total from our international community,” noted Capt. Chris Stanaback, RKCC founder and authorized dealer of Randall Made Knives. All of the club’s membership recruiting had been done by word of mouth until recently. The club is now running ads in BLADE® to help spread the word, Stanaback added.

The RKCC publishes a club newsletter called “KNIFE NEWS” every four months and also offers authentication and appraisal services of Randall knives. “The club has the blessings of the Randall shop and, if you happen to pay a visit to the shop in Orlando, you can usually pick up our latest issue of KNIFE NEWS,” Stanaback said. Randall Made Knives is owned and operated by Gary Randall, son of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member W.D. “Bo” Randall.

The club already has sold its first Randall club knife and “is looking to do nothing but get bigger and better,” Stanaback noted.

The RKCC is the successor to the old Randall Knife Society, which was started by Rhett Stidham. The RKS also had a regular newsletter and sold Randall club knives on an annual basis. Stidham, a long-time knife collector, author and purveyor, passed away a few years ago. With his passing, the RKS was dissolved.

The RKCC’s website address is RKCC-RKCA.com and the e-mail address is [email protected]. Stanaback’s phone number is 352-598-1880.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, keep it honed at blademag.com.

After over 30 years of operation, the National Knife Museum (NKM) is “being dissolved.” However, the old museum’s knife inventory will carry on at three separate museums, according to Lisa Sebenick, president of the National Knife Collectors Association (NKCA) and secretary of the NKM.

The only museum of its kind in the USA, the NKM had been housed on the mezzanine of Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee, since late 2006. The original rent for the space was all of $1 per year. “The officers, directors and staff of the National Knife Museum sincerely thank Smoky Mountain Knife Works/Kevin Pipes for giving our collection of cutlery a home these past seven years,” an NKM release stated.

According to Sebenick, the museum’s knife inventory will be donated to three different museums: the National Rifle Association Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama, and the Janney Furnace Museum in Ohatchee, Alabama.

As for the 50 or so Bill Moran knives that were exhibited at the NKM, an official statement from the Moran Foundation was that no decision had been made for those knives at press time. At some future date, perhaps some of the Moran knives would be put on loan elsewhere, the statement concluded.

The NKM was the vision of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Jim Parker. Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the original museum was built in 1981 and was the creation of the NKCA as a separate, educational, non-profit corporation. It opened its doors in 1982. It was moved to Sevierville in 2006.

According to Pete Cohan in BLADE’s Guide to Knives & Their Values, 7th Edition, while many NKCA members were heavily involved in the original museum’s creation, it was the donation of three major individual knife collections—those of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Frank Forsyth, Dr. James Wilkison and Dr. William Rosenthal—that created the foundation for a comprehensive museum display collection.

During its run at Smoky and in addition to the many other knives it exhibited, the NKM also included the custom knife collection of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Joe Drouin, a number of club knives from knife clubs around the country, various knife ephemera and more.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.