W.R. Case Press Room - Blogs

Spring fishing and leeks

no@spam.com (Chris Cole) — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Spring is finally here. Well, kind of, it still gets in the 30's at night sometimes. But I have been able to get some motorcycling in.It is fishing season now and we have been taking my sons every weekend to a place for 12 yrs old and younger. They stock it really well and the boys always get lots of action. My youngest caught his first fish, and my oldest caught his first palamino trout. This is a pitcture of one of the days we went out. They were pretty proud.

Another big thing going on now is going out in the woods and digging up leeks (a wild type of onion). We use them for dips, soups, and about anything else you can think of.

That's about it here. See some of you in the coming months!

Chris

Case Back on TV tonight - this time on Discovery Channel!

no@spam.com (Fred Feightner) — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi everybody! Just wanted you all to check out the HOW IT'S MADE program tonight on the Discovery Channel. A segment on how Case knives are made will be airing! The Discovery Channel's website says the show will air at 7:30 PM EST/PT, but check your local listings just to be sure.

Spring?

no@spam.com (Tom Arrowsmith) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's April 16th and Spring may be finally arriving in Bradford. Today is going to be 60 degrees and they're threatening that tomorrow is going to reach 70. About time! A few more days like this and the buds may even appear on the trees.

It has been way too long since I've written anything on this blog but it has been a busy time. The beginning of the year is always busy as we shift our production to focus on the new items. I trust most of you have seen both of our catalogs and agree that we are doing some really nice things again this year.

Preparing for the Collector Appreciation Weekend has also taken a lot of our time so far this year. I think we have all the plans in place now. I am really excited about our schedule. We are packing a lot of activity into two days. The auction has been moved to Friday night and everyone is invited. If you've never been to one of our auctions you'll be amazed at some of the things we will offer for sale and the enthusiasm they will generate among the bidders. Even if you aren't going to bid you should plan to come and enjoy the auction.

You can see the entire schedule by clicking on the Collector Appreciation Event tab on the home page. If you haven't been there you should take a look.

I hope you will plan to join us here on July18th and 19th.

Please come to the members-only breakfast July 19th!

no@spam.com (Chris Cole) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi everybody,

Just wanted to drop a quick note and tell all you Case collectors out there to make sure you come here for the Collectors breakfast at 7:30 am on Saturday, July 19th. I have been talking to Lisa Miller about it and Case has a great time planned...even some surprises that I have been sworn to secrecy about!

As for me, I am really getting the itch to get the motorcycle out. Should be any day now!

Talk to you later,
Chris

SHOT Show and Case NEWS

no@spam.com (Fred Feightner) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well, another SHOT Show has come and gone. Everybody's still catching up on their emails, missed phone calls, SLEEP...and laundry! It's always exciting to see people's first reactions to our new products in the Case booth and which products generate the most interest. It's hard to predict what you think someone will like.

We had a lot of new knives at the SHOT Show, but there was also a lot of news to share this year. I don't know of another time in which we had so many different public interest stories to tell. There's our Case XX Treasure Hunt winner, our announcement of this July's Case Collectors Appreciation Weekend (that's the 18th and 19th - mark it down!), the latest Case XX Vault entries, and our HOW IT'S MADE TV appearance which you all can see this Friday at 9 PM on the Science Channel. And more is on the way!

By the way, the Science Channel's HOW IT'S MADE website offers a free email reminder service for upcoming shows. Just go to their Schedules page, find Series 4 - Episode 14 (that's us!), click on the reminder box next to it, enter your email address at the bottom of the page and click submit. Your reminder will arrive the day before your program airs.

It's an exciting time to be a Case fan. Let's all enjoy it together! Tune in to the SCIENCE Channel this Friday at 9 to see HOW IT'S MADE...in Bradford, PA!

Oh, and don't forget to let us know what you think of the program!

Thank you for your support of our American made brand.

Fred

Out of doors in wintertime

no@spam.com (Chris Cole) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Happy New Year I’m here waiting for the cold weather to stay long enough to freeze the water on the dams so that I can do some ice fishing. It’s been about 10-15 degrees the last couple of days, so I might get my chance. Since there hasn’t been any ice, I went late squirrel hunting. I always have a great time hunting squirrel and usually do pretty good. Here is a picture of me and my youngest son, Zachary, and the squirrel:

I’m looking forward to the trips this year. We have our pattern of knife, the ’49 CopperLock, picked out for the Artisan tours. That pattern is going in the vault so it will not be made for another three years.

P.S. Since I started writing this, I was able to do some ice fishing. My oldest son, Hunter and I spent the day fishing together. We ended up getting one so I didn’t get totally skunked. God bless, and please don’t forget to be praying for our troops.

- Chris

Hello again Case fans

no@spam.com (Chris Cole) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Hello again Case fans,

Well we had quite an exciting time a few weeks ago when we were visited by the country music stars Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. They came to the factory and got to see how the American hand-crafted knife is made. They even had the chance to make a couple of knives for themselves. It looked like they didn’t do too bad either. If by chance Ronnie and Kix are reading this, we are hiring, in case you are interested. I think it is really great that these guys are so supportive of the American family. My hat goes off to them.

I wish I had some good news about deer hunting season but the population of deer has dropped dramatically in the last few years. People are hardly seeing deer much less getting one. Myself and a few other people aren’t going back out because we don’t want to get one to hurt the population even more.

Well I hope you all have stocked up on your Case knives for Christmas. There will be a few under my tree.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and safe new year!

Chris

'Tis the Season

no@spam.com (Tom Arrowsmith) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Winter hit Bradford last night. We awoke to about a foot of snow this morning. Some of you will be surprised to learn that nobody missed work because of the weather. Everyone is here! The schools did have a two hour delay to allow the highways to be cleared before the school buses hit the road. Clearly we have learned how to deal with winter weather around here.

We are in the middle of the Christmas season and that has everyone busy on many fronts. We are still working overtime to fill orders as we try to be sure that no one is disappointed on Christmas Day. Last Saturday we had the annual Case Children's Christmas Party. I'm including a picture of Santa who just happens to be holding my grandson Ryan. (Incidentally Ryan and his Mommy and Daddy are currently snowbound in Bradford. Too bad!)

This Saturday evening we will celebrate at the Case Associate Christmas Party. We will all get dressed up a little and celebrate at the local social hall. There will be food, music and even a little karaoke contest. Maybe I'll enter this year.

I hope your preparations for this Holiday Season are progressing.

Tom

Not bad for a girl!

no@spam.com (Vonnie Clark) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Hi, my name is Vonnie Clark. Here's a little bit about me and my 13 years at Case (wow time flies). I started out running the wash tank. I bid on a job opening 9 months later in the Hafting department. It was a challenge trying to fit in among all the guys and gain their respect (I think there were only 3 women that were primary hafters at the time), but I had the privilege of hand-crafting the finest knives around, and it was worth it.

I have always been good with my hands (art was my favorite hobby). I remember back when I was hired, one of the things I said about myself. It was how my Grandparents raised me and how my Grandmother always said, "Do it right the first time, and you won't have to do it again." That was true to the many chores I had to do back then, just as it is in making the beautiful works of art that come out of the Case factory today. In fact, it's funny because it's kind of a Case motto now.

Since my hire in '95, the area of the factory originally set up as the hafting department is now where the hunter and lock mods are located. I am currently in mod 1, which is one of six pocket mods.

I have learned to do so much more. Today I can assemble a knife, haft it, finish it, which includes buffing the fronts, buffing the blades, honing, polishing the edge to make it sharp, and gloss buffing it to a mirror like shine (I know, not bad for a girl, huh?). But I'm only one of many who can do all these things. We all do our best, and we do it with pride every day.

I hope that you enjoy your Case knife, whatever pattern(s) you choose. My personal favorite is the Pocket Worn. I love to haft it. It takes more time to do, because you have to take off a lot more material. The bolsters need to be more rounded and thin, and the covers are cut deeper on the edges. Then the whole thing gets hard buffed. The cover is rolled to round it up and at the same time gives the jig that worn look and feel. The edges you cut get rolled over and blended into the cover. But you have to take care not to go too far. One of the first things you learn in hafting is that you can always take more material off, but you can't put it back on. Did I mention that my favorite color is that deep red of "Old Red" used on the covers?

My husband, Jerry Clark, works in the bone room. He does the jigging and dying on the covers. My Father-in-law, Dale Clark, is my boss (and they say Mothers-in-law are bad!). Just kidding, he's really a great guy and a wonderful grampa. There are many families within the Case family that will carry on the craftsmanship for generations, as well as the many people who will carry on the tradition of collecting Case knives for generations.

Thank you for being a Case enthusiast, and God bless you and your family.

Vonnie Clark

Happy Thanksgiving!

no@spam.com (Tom Arrowsmith) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

On behalf of the Case Associates I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! This Thanksgiving I will be giving thanks for many things. I am, as always, grateful for family and friends. I am also thankful for the opportunity to be associated with Case. In turn that association makes me grateful for our terriific associates, fantastic dealers and incredible consumers. It is truly an honor to share a love for Case with all of you.

I hope you all enjoy this special holiday! Safe travels!

Tom