This Old Buck

[CliffCurry]

Where I grew up in Alaska in the late 70’s these were about the only “real” knife we knew about. So when I saw a beat up old one in the pawn shop hidden among all the other beat up cheapo knives I snagged it.

Several details I never noticed when I was a kid, the unsharpened top swedge, subtle recurve in the belly, and an edge bevel at a much lower angle then typical today in the pseudo tactical log splitter era.

Cleaned, lubed, polished, & sharpened, lock up is still rock solid. Hall of Fame knife in my book!

Before:

After:

[Josh]

Dude you grew up in AK? I’m jelous! Thinking about moving there if I can ever get enough money for the move for my family =) Yeah I like to do crazy stuff!

Man, that knife turned out great! What did you use to clean it up? Any progression of sandpaper or just buffing compound?

[SHVentus]

Great work Cliff! She looks super. What edge did you put on her and at what angle (stone progression)?

[CliffCurry]

Oh right I’m on a knife forum, probably should post details about what I did. 🙂

The handle was refinished using very fine scotch brite Automotive pads followed by medium and fine buffing wheels. I removed 90% of the damage and wear but left some of the “character” marks.

The edge was finished 2000 grit at 14 degrees per side no micro-bevel. Very little reprofiling was needed.

I was thinking… You might be a knife guy when blades remind you of your childhood. 😛

[SHVentus]

Tanks brah. 🙂

[Mark76]

Wow! Great work Cliff! What did you use to clean the blade? Sandpaper or also anything else?

And also over here this is the classic Buck and probably the only one I knew for a long time…

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[CliffCurry]

Thanks Mark,

I ended up doing a bit of research. This is the classic Buck 110 according to the base of blade, however I am not seeing photos anywhere else on the internet of the Buck 110 with no pins in the scales. I dont think this is a knock off but it has my curiosity going for sure.

Once I got my little Delta variable speed buffer/grinder I played around with a bunch of wheels to see what worked. Started with a wire wheel(too rough finish), then tried a course scotch brite pad and liked it. Since then I’ve made a few finer pads(they work excellent) of my own I picked up at the local auto body supply store. Its my goto place for fine grit sandpaper, scotch brite pad, and who knows what next. 🙂

Edit: Blade was sharpened only to 1000 grit. I kept it functional, more in the nature of the knife. Thanks everyone for the positive feedback!

[tcmeyer]

Great job, Cliff:

In the last two months, I gotten three of these to sharpen for buddies. Every one had suffered a good deal of blade damage. Two were salvaged from broken tips and had been reprofiled. One was ground so far back that the tip was exposed by about 1/8″ when the knife was closed. I sharpened it, but told the owner to throw it away. The third knife is still in good shape, but the edge is probably about 1/4″ set back from its original location. I haven’t yet returned that one to its owner and I’m a little perplexed by how difficult it is to open. I’ve cleaned it, oiled it and polished it up a bit, but don’t have a solution to the opening problem. Any ideas?

[CliffCurry]

Thanks TC, in last few weeks I’ve done this Buck, a Schrade Uncle Henry, & a Gerber all were from the 70’s/early 80’s. They all were gummed up pretty bad. Almost feels like dried up axel grease in there. Yuck!

I started with rubbing alcohol, soaking it down in the pivot & q-tips to clean down where I could. Next level I’ve tried electronic contact cleaner, it works good where alcohol alone won’t. Finally I’ve had good results with… Brake cleaner! The stuff is stinky but cheap and really flushes out the gunk where other stuff wouldn’t.

Please someone feel free to be critical of my methods in this. I literally don’t know any better which sometimes can be an advantage. Haha 🙂

[Dennis Hibar]

Cliff …Thanks for posting this one. Made me pull out my old (1975 or so) 110 to admire it for a while. An oldie but a goodie!!! Mine has been used and abused over the years, but still holds a “Wicked Edge!”

[tcmeyer]

I don’t need to post a picture of mine, as it’s a clone of the one Dennis just posted. ‘Cept my sheath is brown. The 110 is the only knife I’ve used that would cut thru a deer’s pelvis bone.

[Mr.Wizard]

The 110 is the only knife I’ve used that would cut thru a deer’s pelvis bone.

When people say things like this I always wish they would say more. Why was this the case? What other knives failed, and in what manner?

[tcmeyer]

It’s as simple a case of the Buck 110 being beefy enough to lean into it without damaging the edge or wrecking the knife. I should note that only folders were tried. My D2 skinner unzipped the sternum on a older whitetail without effort. In Northern Wisconsin, older bucks have really stubborn pubic bones.

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