110 prototype

[mike o]

There is a advertised 110 prototype over on e-bay. It doesn't look like there is a stamp on the blade just on the bolster ? It's supposed to be 25 years old. Is this for real, Any comments? <A HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=285461076m=285461076Z

 

[Joe Houser]

I have looked at the pictures of this knife and showed them around. Chuck does not remember seeing the knife. We both agreed that it "might" be original, from Buck but neither of us would sign a certificate verifying its authenticity. There are some items that don't make sense in regards to its construction.
Hope this helps,


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Joe Houser
Director of Quality, Buck Knives Inc.
Buck Collectors club Administrator

 

[V44]

(see below, inadvertent double post)

[This message has been edited by V44 (edited 03-22-2000).]

 

[V44]

Originally posted by V44:
I am not a Buck expert, but coincidently I received yesterday "The Story of Buck Knives", the authorized history of the company by Tom Ables, published by Buck Knives, Inc. The book was a prize I won from Knife Outlet in a contest held last week on the Exchange forum.

According to this historical perspective, in the 1970s when the knife shown on ebay was supposed to have been made, Buck was producing the first of the slimline series 500. The company was involved during that decade with reevaluating its traditional pocket knive line, the 300 series. The company was also concerned that some law enforcement agencies had classified the Buck Folding Hunter (model 110) as a switchblade. It was during this time that the company said it would "change the design of our knife to increase the spring tension even more." This seemed to satisfy a Solano County (CA) assistant DA, who had been pushing the idea that the 110 was a gravity knife. But there was never any indication in the text that the company would convert their most popular seller into a non-folder or produce a non-folder version of the 110. However that does not mean a prototype was not fabricated.

The design of the original 110, a decade earlier, fell into the baliwick of a Buck engineer by the name of Guy Hooser. Buck was interested in marketing a locking folder and purchased examples of available locking folders from other companies to have a look at them, and to determine why they hadn't been "embraced by the general public."

Hooser's prototype included a 4-inch blade, a high-tension lock and a low-pressure release, which he presented to the board on Aug. 8, 1963. On a facing page in the Buck book, is a picture of the earliest known 110. It has BUCK along the spine of the blade, the pin pattern on the handles is different from the pattern shown on the ebay knife and different from the version that went into production, and there are no finger grooves. There were subsequent refinements and modifications through the years on this basic design.

Pictures shown in color at the end of the book in a section called "A Portfolio of Buck Products..." show what is a later (no date is indicated) production version of the 110 and the 112 "Ranger" with the common four-pin handle placement, one near the blade bolster, one high on the handle near the spring back, and two at the lock back bolster. Each of these models was available in an un-finger-grooved and a finger-grooved configuration.

The above may not help in answering your question, but it may add information in your quest.

[This message has been edited by V44 (edited 03-22-2000).]

 

[CJ Buck]

That was a long time ago. I do remember Byron McKinney, our custom knife shop supervisor, making at least one of these to show me. I was custom sales manager at the time in the early 80's. Byron was always working with found materials and the reason it might have no stamp on the blade was it was already heat treated before being shaped into the knife pictured on the ebay link. I did notice that there was a blade rivet hole, again suggesting reclaimed parts.

I would think it definitely 15-20 years old at least and could be genuine. Hard to keep track of all the development projects and prototypes etc.

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CJ Buck
Buck Knives, Inc.
AKTI Member #PR00003

 

[mike o]

Ahh, guess I shouldn't have been so conservative , well my satisfaction was being high bidder even though I didn't meet the reserve on it I guess.