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V42 on Ebay


SKIPH
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All this talk about this knife made me want to get mine out again....

 

FSSFGroup.jpg

 

 

All the talk also made me pull out my V42. Here is a photo.

post-14214-1288438899.jpg

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Johan Willaert

Nice one!!

 

Was it issued??? How come it's still near mint?? In other words, do you know the history of this particular example???

 

Mine shown above is a veteran of the European Campaign, was left behind in Southern France and I'm the third owner since WW2...

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Bill- That's the nicest V42 I have ever seen. Is there a story that goes with it? THX for showing ! SKIP

 

 

The gentlemen from whom I purchased this V42 stated that he got it from the vet's grandson. He tried to buy is once while the vet was still living, but the grandson declined. After the vet passed away, the grandson was ready to sell. His grandfather was James Conrad Ita. If you include the grandson, I would be the 4th owner including the Mr. Ita who was issured the knife. Although the V42 was issued, it was obviously not used. It is amazing to me that the V42 survived 60 plus years without anyone sharpening, throwing or otherwise diminishing the knife. The blade is flawless which is very surprising since it was most likely kept in the sheath. Wherever the knife was stored, there could not have a better place to protect the knife in its mint, original condition.

 

There are numerous issued knives that have survived the war in mint condition for various reasons. I recently purchased a mint Case 1943 in a mint Milsco M6. The vet is reported to have said that he put the knife away because it was too beautiful to be used and it wasn't used. I have also heard of vets who were already using knives that they preferred over their issued knife.

 

Although my V42 is in mint condition, I have seen 4 V42's that were slightly nicer. When Case had their auction in 1982, there were four V42's and 2 sheaths in the auction. I purchased three V42's and the 2 sheaths. Lewis Parker purchased the fourth V42. The V42's and the sheaths that I purchased were in new condition as they had been stored in the Case factory since they were made. The sheaths had never had a knife inserted in them. One of the three V42's that I purchased was the Case factory prototype which is shown on p. 105 of Silvey's book. I purchased a number of Case knives at the auction including the CASE/USMC prototype on p. 30 of Silvey's book, the Case M3 on p. 46 of Silvey's book with the handle finished like the V42 handle. I also purchased a Case 1943 M3, Case 337Q and smatchets still in the box. Unfortunately, I sold all of them when I sold my collection in 1985. I started collecting US Military knives again in 2007. In the past 3 years, I have been able to put together a nice collection. Recently, I was able to re-purchase my CASE/USMC prototype that I originally purchased at the auction along with the second CASE/USMC prototype from the auction from Bill Adams who was the original purchaser. Bill's prototype was used in Cole's book. Bill Adams supplied me with an article from Feb. 1984 issue of Blade Magazine. Bill also gave me an original auction catalog. I still have a poor copy of my auction invoice from Furrow Auctions. Bill wrote the article including photos that detailed the 1982 Case Auction. If interested, I will try to download the article for everyone's enjoyment.

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Bill,

Why the the knife issued without the standard "parkerizing" ?

 

 

None of the Case V42's were parkerized. They all had a blued finish. Many of the early WW2 issue knives including Case, Kinfolks , Robeson and Ka-bar had a blued finish, but were later changed to a parkerized finisn.

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Bill- I've read, or heard somewhere that Robeson had their MK2's and M3's blued by "CASE". Or vise-versa. Any validity to that? THX SKIP

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None of the Case V42's were parkerized. They all had a blued finish. Many of the early WW2 issue knives including Case, Kinfolks , Robeson and Ka-bar had a blued finish, but were later changed to a parkerized finisn.

Bill,

Yours appears to be a bright "stainless" finish, as though it was polished.

I was asking about that look.

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Bill- I've read, or heard somewhere that Robeson had their MK2's and M3's blued by "CASE". Or vise-versa. Any validity to that? THX SKIP

 

 

I have heard similar information but could not confirm. Frank Traska would be the best source for that informaiton.

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Bill,

Yours appears to be a bright "stainless" finish, as though it was polished.

I was asking about that look.

 

 

The finish on my V42 is a deep gun blue, not a stainless look. The photos are not the best. The were taken with a Panason Lumix camera and I am not a good photographer.

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The finish on my V42 is a deep gun blue, not a stainless look. The photos are not the best. The were taken with a Panason Lumix camera and I am not a good photographer.

Okay, I thought it might be the glare. :thumbsup:

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Frank Trzaska
Bill- I've read, or heard somewhere that Robeson had their MK2's and M3's blued by "CASE". Or vise-versa. Any validity to that? THX SKIP

 

Case did not have the capability of bluing, they sent their V42's out to be processed. The bluing was done by the Robinson Cutlery Co. of Springville, New York. They sent items out to be Parkerized to the Olean Plating Co. of Olean New York. They have records showing some V42's were Parkerized but I have never seen one.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

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Frank-Thank you for the input. Was it Robinson Cutlery or Robeson Cutlery of Springville NY? Please clarify if you can. I want to annotate in one of my references. THX SKIP

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Frank Trzaska
Frank-Thank you for the input. Was it Robinson Cutlery or Robeson Cutlery of Springville NY? Please clarify if you can. I want to annotate in one of my references. THX SKIP

 

Your Welcome.

 

It was Robinson Cutlery Co.

 

Robeson was a different company and they were located in Perry NY.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

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Well, based upon recent sales of V42's, someone got a good deal. My congratulations to the winner. $4016. Sanity prevailed! SKIP

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