110C - Found in River

300Bucks said:
I don't know what I would do. Maybe contact Joe Houser to see if he would like to put in the Buck Factory museum with her name and story on the ID card. And send her a special 110 or other knife of choice in return.... Would be great for her to go visit and see it sometime in future.....300
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That's a great idea 300. I've got an old 124 I'm thinking of sending to Joe in the near future. I'll run your idea by him.
Thanks, Mike
 
MWallace said:
I was thinking that chip was kinda weird too. I flicked off the loose flake and took another photo... it looks like I could chip off more.

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Mike
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Interesting Mike. Hard to believe solid brass would flake off in layers like that. Hopefully, someone from Buck or on this forum can give an explanation.
 
Liquid metal embrittlement.

I placer mined, worked in rivers & streams, for 20 years. Some small amount of the gold mined had mercury stuck to it. Mercury is in the stream/river. Mercury attacks brass. The brass takes on a red/pink color as it degrades.
 
Sorry oregon. I'm not following you. Are you saying that the stuff that is chipping off is mercury that has encased the brass bolsters and the red/pink color is the brass underneath?

Thanks!
 
No problem.

The most common liquid metal to cause embrittlement of a normally ductile metal, such as brass (zinc & copper) is mercury. However, some pollutants can cause similar results. The OP doesn't tell us which river so I speculate, notice the red/pink color of the brass, based on direct personal knowledge that trace amounts of mercury could have caused the brass to chip.

Need more? Simply google the three key words I gave you & read about it. The red/pink color of the brass is a known hallmark of "liquid metal embrittlement." I hope that I have been helpful.
 
Interesting stuff oregon, thank you. The river, which I did mention in my initial post, is the North Umpqua... your backyard?
Mike
 
Hi ron, The blade was open, it's stuck open, it's a 110 fixed blade with pebble bling. Now oregon's got me worried about my grandkids eating crawdads out of the N. Umpqua. If mercury does that to brass whats it do to children... just kidding. OK ron now our post numbers match 411!!
Mike
 
MWallace said:
Interesting stuff oregon, thank you. The river, which I did mention in my initial post, is the North Umpqua... your backyard?
Mike
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That river has been mined for gold and it has mercury in it.

I worked the Josephine mostly. Near the great Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Lousy with gold. Mined over by our friends from the orient & others over a century ago. Their mercury is still in the river.

Want to see what mercury can do? YouTube "mercury attacks aluminum" for amusement. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY

Vial of mercury, gold nugget on necklace and mercury covered gold flakes (gold from Illinois River Valley in Southern Oregon, sold most of it when price hit around $2k/oz, wife wore necklass while in Post Falls so some of you saw it, kept mercury gold because gold buyer wouldn't recognize it as gold):

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Gold looks pretty on a green background. I've seen it thru clear clean cold water as it lay upon smooth green serpentine bedrock, just waiting to be picked up by me, with the Summer sunlight filtering thru the trees lining the banks of the swiftly moving remote stream. Very pretty.
 
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Thanks Oregon. I think I understand now. Bottom line: Don't leave your knife in the river. :D
 
My pleasure. You are welcome.

That tricky and toxic mercury can make brass brittle.

The 110 dated 1995 dates the knife in the river. I used pennies showing the year that the river was mined. When we put the river/stream back together, after removing everything in order to get the gold that was on the bedrock, we would leave a penny to date our mining activity for the next miners to work it. BTW, we put the river/stream back better than we found it with fish and fisherman in mind as we all love nature and fishing and took pride in our work.

Sidebar: A fellow who lived alone on a claim up on the Josephine found a large old glass jar 2/3 full of mercury in the crouch of a tree. I tried to buy it but he wouldn't sell unless I also paid for any gold that might have been in the amalgam. The jar was very very heavy. I wondered how it had survived over the many years without being discovered or broken. Still think about the fellow, who taught my young boys to snipe for gold with very little gear, rest in peace.
 
Great stuff oregon:thumbup: Thanks for those interesting facts about the mercury and the gold mining! I always appreciate the things that I learn from your posts.
 
Fascinating, thanks for posting. I think I would keep the knife as is as a "wall hanger" and buy her a new 110 if she likes the knife. It would make a great hand me down for generations.
 
MWallace said:
Great info Oregon, thanks for your input. Mike
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It is my pleasure. You are welcome.

sitflyer said:
Great stuff oregon:thumbup: Thanks for those interesting facts about the mercury and the gold mining! I always appreciate the things that I learn from your posts.
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Thank you sit. The hawkbill is in a place of honor on display. You find stuff while mining. Often it is old mining gear, pick heads, metal pans and such. Here is a Chinese coin found by another fellow from the mining group but not me but I cleaned it up for the photos (thought that I had lost it years ago):

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I would clean it up enough so it would be functional and leave it at that. Forever a great conversation starter.
 
Awesome thread! Learned a lot about mining, thanks Oregon! That 110 might not be able to close due to the pebbles not allowing the rocker to move? If you wanted to clean it up, I would dig those pebbles out first. I bet it would open and close after that. Ive never seen the brass flake like that. It is solid cintered brass. Thats about as technical as I can get. I was happy to see how well the inlays held up. When we get older 110's that spent a lot of time in water, with macassar ebony inlays, usually the inlays are done. They get very brittle and you can dig them away with your fingernail.
 
Joe, would Buck refurbish the knife if he sent it in under warranty? Or would it be better served as a museum piece? I was impressed as heck more at the condition of the blade. All that time submerged and still looks great.
 
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