New to the forum Case knife question

[Auctionchase]

Hello!
I’m new to the forums and not a collector. I buy knives at auctions and estates. Just purchased a lot this weekend and found this knife in the batch and can’t figure out the number on the knife and it looks like the bolster has two different sides. Any help would be appreciated!

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. That looks like a pattern 6143 which is also commonly called a “daddy barlow”. It’s typical for a knife having that stamp to not have a pattern number stamp. I’m not sure what you mean by “it looks like the bolster has two different sides”. It looks like it has normal bolsters to me.

You can find more info here in the Research section, accessed by clicking on it in the header at the top of this page.
https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/ca ... uide#31-45

Ken

[Auctionchase]

Thank you, Ken. I incorrectly called the covers the bolsters. The covers look different from each other.

[1967redrider]

Cool old knife. And those both look pretty similar, while the saw cut is a little more pronounced on the pile side. to AAPK!

[Mumbleypeg]

From the pictures the covers don’t appear mismatched to me. In fact they’re close considering the fact cutleries typically make no effort to match the covers’ appearance.

The production assembly operator is issued trays of the parts required for the pattern being made. They have a fixture for the pattern, reach into a tray, and “pile” the parts, in order, into the fixture, insert the pins/rivets. Then place the assembled knife into another tray to be passed on to the next operation. No time is spent trying to “match” the appearance of the covers. Mechanical aspects of the knife are important, but aesthetic appearance of matching covers is not considered. Usually they’re fairly close in appearance but sometimes not. It’s not uncommon to see one side’s cover from a different dye lot (darker or lighter shades) than the other side. Although it doesn’t specifically address the question this video of knife factory operation may help visualize what I’ve tried to describe. About 2:50 into the video you can see an operator assembling a knife into a fixture. https://youtu.be/DskCh5-L878

If you’re buying a factory produced knife, and want matching covers, you’ll need to hand-select the knife from a dealer’s inventory. Not easily done when buying on line, or buying old knives like the one you have.

Ken