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Case 83 Whittler

My hubby carry's this knife on a daily basis..This is his birthday, so I wrote a little article about him............

It is a Case 1970 5383,this whittler was the best he could find for the money we could afford at the time. When he found a better specimen to keep as a collector item he chose this knife to use and carry. I tried to find some history on the whittler and real schematic diagrams doesn't seem to be in the surfing at the present. I did find the following that might be of interest to others.

This pattern is 3 1/2" medium sized whittler that is often called a balloon whittler, or swell center whittler. It has been manufactured with both a saber ground master clip blade and a flat ground master clip blade. The second and third blades are usually short clip blades, but some have been manufactured with coping secondary blades and rarely file bladesl. These knives were introduced by case sometime prior to 1915 and were later discontinued in the early 80's. They have since been reintroduced in 1999. The newer version has a slightly wider frame.

Whittler:

Sometimes known as a split back or split-backspring whittler. Some whittlers have three springs and are referred to as three spring whittlers.

Any knife that uses a split-back spring construction falls into the whittler category. The split-back design uses two springs that support a large single blade on one end, and two smaller blades on the other. The larger blade uses both springs, and each small blade rides on its own spring. All knives that work in this manner are referred to as whittlers regardless of the shape or design of the handle. This allows for many different styles of whittler knives with numerous names. Some include balloon whittler, seahorse whittler, equal end whittler, sleeveboard whittler etc. There is more work that goes into their construction than almost any other styles of knife. They have always been very collectable patterns. Case's most well known whittlers include the following patterns: 08, 80, 83, and 55. A few whittlers have three springs and are usually known as a three spring whittlers.

Whittler:

Three bladed knife designed for carving or whittling wood has a Large Master Blade on the pocket end and two smaller blades – usually a coping and pen blade on the opposite or cap end. Generally the Master Blade falls in between the two smaller blades when the knife is closed.

The Whittler ('83) is a three-bladed Pen configuration with a large blade on one end and two smaller blades on the other. This type of Whittler is often referred to as a Split Back Whittler. The two smaller blades are always the same size and are usually a small Clip and Coping blade, although there is sometimes a Pen blade in the mix. This pattern frequently has two springs with each of the smaller blades bearing on one of the springs while the main blade uses both springs. The most distinctive feature of a Whittler is the master blade which is thicker than normal in the tang area due to the thickness of the two secondary blades. Most whittlers have a center divider (split back) that separates the tangs of the two smaller blades and the two springs for part of their length.

Different views from different knife collectors , all is good and INPUT INPUT !

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on July 7, 2013 at 11:49

Just and Update, the 83 has not gone AWOL for sometime now....and is continued to be used on a daily basis.

INPUT from shepherd hills.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on July 7, 2013 at 17:27

Has your hubby been talking to him nice lately?

I used to carry an 83 for a while a long time ago. I need to get a couple for the collection.

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on December 5, 2013 at 19:40

Craig,

He finally started talking to him nice....he took the cleaner and the buffing wheels to him...and here i what he looks like now...but he is back to EDC duty of course.

so the 83 whittler is back on duty...and has not gone AWOL for awhile...lol

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Craig Henry on December 6, 2013 at 0:35

The old 83 looks like a ♫sharp dressed man♫!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on December 18, 2013 at 21:31

Very good Sue, Thanks !!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on December 18, 2013 at 23:36

Old " trusted knives" are like old " trusted friends". You may take them for granted when they are around, but miss them terribly when they are not around any longer !!

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on July 10, 2014 at 9:33

just an addition to this story...it is still in use ..

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Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on August 13, 2014 at 2:35

Thanks Sue Nice story and discussion. Great to see a cherished well used knife

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on August 13, 2014 at 20:33

Thanks Derek, glad you enjoyed!

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on November 27, 2014 at 20:27

Just a quick update, Hubby just reported the 83 was AwoL again for about a week.....

He said he found it under the back seat of the Pickup truck.....lol

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Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on June 2, 2017 at 21:15

I just need to let you know the whittler is back in action again....hubby had been carrying a christmas Case knife with the 2 muskrat blades....Well it has gone AWOL now....rofl....so the Quest is on to find it now......