Ode To The 07

[zed6309]

All is ok thanks Jerry , hope your well mate and i can see why there addictive , just when i think ive found my perfect pattern lol

[jerryd6818]

Well, at the bottom of all my posts, you can see what T.J. said about "the perfect knife".

[QTCut5]

The Tiger Stripe knife went for $125.

I watched that one, but did not bid on or buy it. Even though 54rodgers has me blocked from bidding on his knives (long story), if it had been an 07W, not only would I have used a proxy to bid on it for me, I guarantee I would have won it (as I have done with others of mr. rodgers's auctions).

What's really disturbing about the final selling price of the Bengal Tiger Stripe 07 is that it proves I'm not the only one with a Mini Trapper Monkey on my back who's willing to pay whatever it takes to obtain the 07 he desires.

[QTCut5]

Case in point (pun fully intended)...

Say what you will, but I think it's fairly obvious that the Monkey has run completely and recklessly amok...has finally gone totally off the rails.

Should never have whetted his appetite with the T. Bose Abalone Whittler.

[jerryd6818]

~Q~, you have gone completely off the rails. No wonder you're impecunious. But how could you not? What a beautiful knife. Well worth a stint on beans and rice.

[doglegg]

Q that monkey is starting to wear tails and a cummerbund. That is a gorgeous knife. Never disappointed with quality. Excellent!!!

[steve99f]

Oh my! That last one is pretty special there Q. It even has a swedge! And pretty bone.

[Modern Slip Joints]

The single color of the metal pieces makes it appear to have stainless steel bolsters and liners. Am I right? I guess that would add strength. The blades are a work of art.

I have one knife with Damascus blades, a stag Case Peanut. I keep it to look at. If we had to clean off rust we'd be left with plain silver blades. They could be etched to bring back the Damascus appearance but that would never get done.

What's left to round out your Mini-T collection? I do not remember any with petrified mastodon ivory. With the standard clip and spey blades I'm sure there are more bone colors and jigging patterns. Queen made standard size 4 1/8" trappers with a liner lock on the master clip blade. Did any one make similar Mini-Ts? The only Mini-Ts with a locking blade that I'm aware of are Chinese made ones with a back lock for the master blade. I added one to a SMKW order when they were reduced to $7. There's something you could afford while you're waiting for knife fund to build back up.

[Lansky1]

Case in point (pun fully intended)...

Say what you will, but I think it's fairly obvious that the Monkey has run completely and recklessly amok...has finally gone totally off the rails.

Should never have whetted his appetite with the T. Bose Abalone Whittler.

Q - if you're going to go off the rails, thats a fine way to go ! Such a nice knife.

[Lansky1]

I found a '78 mini-T on the bay that needed work and was advertised with lousey pics ... so I took a chance & was lucky to get it for <$20. When I received it, the bone sides & bolsters just needed a good cleaning, but the clip blade was in bad shape - a couple hours of going through all the grits and after seemingly sanding off a couple finger prints made the clip like new. I didn't have it in the old fingers to give the secondary the same treatment, so I just cleaned that one up. Knife has such nice firm half stops, great walk and talk, bone sides have impressive fit and finish, it's been a regular EDC since I brought it back. Considering the quality of this one and a couple '70's 47's that I've picked up this year ... I think there actually might be something to the lore of the '70's Case's - they are special. I compared it to a modern 07 & it's actually noticeably thinner - bolsters are far more contoured (hafting is quite a bit different). Here's the before & after ...

[doglegg]

Very sweet John, you did well.

[Lansky1]

Very sweet John, you did well.

Thanks Floyd ... there's something about old knives that were brought back from the brink that seem to be held in higher regard in my knife drawer

[jerryd6818]

John, I'm partial to the Jacks (two blades) and that one right there is a real sweetheart.

[jerryd6818]

This one was a BOMB from ~Q~ and is posted in the bomb thread but it needs to be here as well. It came unexpectedly in yesterday's mail and I am still in awe of it and the generosity of my Mini-Trapper collecting buddy. It was too dark yesterday so I had to wait until this morning to get any half way decent pictures of this awesome addition to my Mini-Trapper pile.

[QTCut5]

Yes indeedy...the Red Brick SELECT 07W looks good on you, jerryd...good fit.

And, lest there be any confusion...I still have one in my stable as well. I just noticed that the jigging is slightly different on my knife from the one I sent to jerryd.

Would this jig style be considered "Winterbottom"?

[Modern Slip Joints]

I doubt Case would use a name for jigging that is so strongly associated with a competitor. Might there be a problem with whoever bought Queen's trade marks? They both could be Case's Barn Board jigging. That jigging pattern makes more sense when done in brown.

I could be tempted by a Select Wharncliff Mini-T but no more knives for me this year. It'll be tough but I'll have to get the letters opened and the whittling done with the knives on hand for awhile.

[QTCut5]

What's left to round out your Mini-T collection? I do not remember any with petrified mastodon ivory. With the standard clip and spey blades I'm sure there are more bone colors and jigging patterns.

I have one with Fossilized Mastadon Ivory.

There are hundreds of different bone colors and jigging patterns, different kinds of wood, stag and exotic (ivory, abalone. MOP, etc) as well as all the synthetic handles, not to mention the myriad customized possibilities (I have a few of those as well). But I have decided to focus on collecting only 07Ws--Mini Trappers with a Wharncliffe secondary. That was my original purpose when I first started collecting Mini Trappers, but 07Ws are fewer and further between and my impatience led me to begin accumulating regular 07s as well. Now I'm back to collecting 07Ws exclusively (and the occasional regular 07 if it has handles that especially appeal to me).

Queen made standard size 4 1/8" trappers with a liner lock on the master clip blade. Did any one make similar Mini-Ts? The only Mini-Ts with a locking blade that I'm aware of are Chinese made ones with a back lock for the master blade. I added one to a SMKW order when they were reduced to $7. There's something you could afford while you're waiting for knife fund to build back up.

Parker-Frost made a single blade 3 7/8" Mini Trapper (more like a Medium Trapper, really) with a liner lock called "Little Bandit", which was actually made by Schrade in the late 1970s.

I have tried to like the Chinese made Rough Rider Mini Trappers, but for some reason they just never grabbed me (I might feel differently if they made Wharncliffe models). I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them, in fact, the ones I've owned were very well-made knives. These are two Chinese made lockback Mini Trappers that I used to own (sold 'em both). The lockback was not a feature that I found particularly compelling because I don't use the knives I collect, but I loved the shields.

[jerryd6818]

I've acquired three lockbacks. Why?

The top one like yours because of the shield.

The middle one was the first one that came here to live and at the time, I considered the lock back "unusual"

The bottom one because I liked the Black Cherry Bone handles.

All of them because the price sang a siren song. I couldn't justify a $45 knife but I had no trouble justifying three $15 knives.

This is one of my favorite Rough Riders. It's the handle color and the acorn shield that does it for me.

[QTCut5]

Isn't your Smooth Tobacco Bone (acorn shield) RR a lockback as well? (can't tell from the photo because the elastic strap is covering the place where the lock release bar would be).

Edit: On second look, I see that the lock release bar on my Tobacco Bone RR is actually closer to the middle. So, apparently RR made two different versions of this model, one locking and one not. Curious.

[jerryd6818]

You've figured it out.

[QTCut5]

I doubt Case would use a name for jigging that is so strongly associated with a competitor. Might there be a problem with whoever bought Queen's trade marks?

Speaking of figuring things out...
The reason I think that jigging style might be called 'Winterbottom" is because of the code shown on the box--on the label right above the date where Case prints the codes for the handle material. These codes are a series of letters that usually begin with "BN" (for Bone) followed by more letters indicating the type of jig used. For example, ROG for Rogers Bone, PCS for Peach Seed, SC for Second Cut, SWC for Sawcut, BB for Barn Board, etc. On the box label that the Brick Red SELECT 07W came in I noticed that it had "WB" which is a code I had never seen on a Case box before. Since this is the only 07 I have that has this particular jigging, I wondered if it might stand for "Winterbottom" as that was the only meaning I could come up with for "WB".

[QTCut5]

This 2019 Burnt Gray Bone 6207 was sent to me as a BOMB from an anonymous benefactor. One can only assume that the stealthy sender knows of my Mini Trapper addiction (and/or is attempting to curry favor with the Mini Trapper Monkey on my back). Needless to say, I was surprised (pleasantly) to receive this generous gift and I hereby publicly proffer my profound gratitude to whomever sent me this knife (it has occurred to me that the mysterious giver may not, in fact, even be an AAPK member; although that possibility seems rather remote in my estimation).

I wonder if the surreptitious sponsor is aware of my ambivalence towards the burnt gray bone when I first saw this new release? It's true. Unlike most 07s, which I know instantly whether I like them or not, I really wasn't sure how I felt about the burnt gray bone. I definitely like gray, no question about that. And I also like the look of "burnt" or "toasted" bone. But, the mash up of gray and burnt bone...well...to be honest, I'm just not sure it works for me. What I do know is that it's different, unusual, out of the ordinary, and I tend to like things like that. But, my first impression upon seeing this knife (at SMKW) was that it appeared discolored, muddy, or faded, as if it had been left for too long in a display case in direct sunlight. As is so often the case, however, once I got it in hand and could experience it in person, it was better than I thought it would be. It's still not one that makes my heart skip a beat, but perhaps it will grow on me over time. You know what they say, "Familiarity breeds con..." (oh, wait, I think that refers to something else!)

Anyway, here it is. You can decide for yourself.

2019 Case 6207 SS Burnt Gray Bone

[Lansky1]

I wasn't sure how to take the burnt gray bone either when it first came out ... but after only seeing a few of them (other than stock pics) ... I'm really liking it. I think case got it right again - look how crisp that jigging is cut - I really think fit and finish on the late model Case's is the best we've seen in years. That's one impressive bomb - good mojo sent out to the bombadier

[jerryd6818]

As you know, I have one too and I was also ambivilant. All I can say about it is, it's growing on me.

[QTCut5]

Well...time will tell. But time in Mini T world doesn't stand still for long; the Monkey has already moved on to his latest acquisition.

Full disclosure: As shallow and insubstantial a reason as it may be, this one was purchased primarily because of the blade etch. Which, given my general dislike of blade etching of any kind, is all the more befuddling. But, I am a big fan of stag handles and, despite my preference for minimalist, non-decorative embellishment, I actually like the bolster engraving on this one as well.

2007 Case 5207 SS Stag Razor Edge

As I was rearranging my stag Mini T storage case to accommodate this new 07, OCD Monkey became fixated on blade etchings and forced me to take a group photo of all my Case Stag Mini Trappers that have etched blades.