A tale of 2 Bucks: Support issue or not?

[maximus83]

I'm a Buck fan, own a lot of Buck knives, and recently acquired a Vantage Pro. I already had the Vantage Select in 420HC, extremely satisfied with this model, the steel, everything about it. Added the Pro for the S30v.

The Pro works, but the blade is significantly off-centered in the channel when closed. If I tighten the pivot screw to the point the blade is centered, or even close to centered, the blade is then too tight to open or close--basically there's not enough adjustment to get it centered and still open/close reliably.

The knives are pictured below, with the Pro and its off-centered blade on the left in both pictures. The 2nd pic also shows the difference in the lockup position.

Does this seem like an issue worth contacting support for on the Vantage Pro? Or is it more like, this is in the range of normal for a $55 knife, just forget it? (The weird thing is, the Vantage Select which cost half as much, has better centering).

 

[MT_Pokt]

IMHO, if the blade isn’t rubbing the liner, no problem.

Now... if I had been saving my lunch money for months and months to buy the $55 knife... nope, still wouldn’t matter.

I’ve been buying, carrying, and using knives for decades and truth be told, centering was never on my radar until I started reading these forums.

That being said though; if you’re more sensitive about such things, I’m certain Buck (or the retailer) would be happy to exchange it for you.

 

[afishhunter]

While I am not familiar with this model, is it possible there is a washer missing on one side of the pivot?

 

[maximus83]

Good questions. I dunno, I am certainly not knocking Buck as I'm a satisfied customer for like the past 40 years, literally since childhood.

I decided to just send the knife back to the retailer where I purchased it for an exchange, they will do that no problem.

One thing this reinforced for me though: I still like the Buck Vantage design a lot, and the Vantage Select I've had for some time in 420HC is a heckuva lot of knife for a measly $26.

 

[DocT]

Try loosening the handle screws. Wedge a piece of paper between the blade and the liner until the blade is where you want it, then retighten the screws.

 

[300Bucks]

Talk for the benefit of maximus and anyone else who cares to read. The number one maintenance action for all brand new Bucks is to give it a good cleaning. Hot soapy water will work with no problems. Open and close the blade in the soapy water till your bored. Naturally, followed by a good blast of air hose or hairdryer till its warm enough to be too hot to hold. Then a good oiling or spraying and wipe down with p. towel or clean rag. Sometimes nothing is done to a new Buck but lots of 'gritty feeling' questions get answered with this procedure from lots of experienced Buck owners. I have 5 of these models and only one required screw management. I have worked on centering the spring on a couple but it takes a fine hand to torque everything just right to improve one. I have carried one slightly off center for several years now and it has given me no problem. I once took one completely apart and attempted to make a pair of jigged bone side scales. It was not a easy task for a knife mangler. I finally gave up and that knife sits in a sandwich bag awaiting some future re-birth. Maybe I will try burl wood. You can play with the screws but it sounds like you took a good course. Hope you got the knife back in the order you received it as it is likely to be re-shipped to someone else..... 300

 

[maximus83]

All great tips. If the replacement one has similar issue but otherwise works ok, I'll try these before returning it.

One thing I forgot to call out above, though one of the picture shows it: I was slightly concerned about safety involving the lockup on the new pro as well. The lockup is--I'm not sure the exact term to use here--"early" as in, it goes into a locked position with the lock bar only partly engaged on the tang of the blade. It was not consistent either, sometimes it was better or worse, and the above picture is not even one of the really bad instances of early lockup.

I observed this really carefully during some early flipping to test it, concerned about it because I've been badly cut before by a liner lock folder that disengaged. Sometimes the lockup was so "early" that if you wiggled and pushed on the locked blade, it would disengage. Bad! I then tried to adjust as mentioned above, but lock would get so stiff that it was unusable, you'd have to pry it open and manually push the lock bar into place. At this point, I could go into disassembly mode, start messing with it, etc., but this would of course invalidate the warranty and this is a brand new knife, $55, easy to return and I'm not that attached to it. Decided to return, hopefully the next one has safe lockup and if it does, I won't worry as much about being slightly off center.

 

[DocT]

The early lock up could have been truly the spring not being properly set. However, it is likely that it is either: there is some lock stick, in which case a #2 pencil scribbled on the lock face will take care of it until the knife naturally breaks in, or it might be that it is very tight and will break in after a couple of weeks of use.

I personally do not like liner locks or frame locks that much, though I have a few. I much prefer back locks (very strong and proven), axis locks, and caged ball bearing locks.

 

[Steve6387]

Even though my Vantage Pro wasn't rubbing, it was similar to yours and it bothered me. The lockup was pretty far in as well. No amount of adjusting fixed either so I took the whole thing apart and gently bent the lock liner back a touch and swapped washers (which probably did nothing) and it's perfectly centered now with a better liner lock position and the tension is spot on for me... but I ended up taking it apart to get there.

 

[brownshoe]

It's $50 and doesn't rub. Use it and if it starts rubbing, send it in. There's more to do in life than assuring a centered blade

 

[maximus83]

It's $50 and doesn't rub.

And it sometimes doesn't lockup/engage. That's an issue. But it's already returned, done deal.

 

[maximus83]

The replacement Vantage Pro resolved it. Blade centered, perfect lockup. As usual with Bucks, this is a great, high-value knife for sub $60.

 

[Makael]

The replacement Vantage Pro resolved it. Blade centered, perfect lockup. As usual with Bucks, this is a great, high-value knife for sub $60.

Awesome to hear.

 

[maximus83]

Geez, the S30v steel and blade grind in these Vantage Pro's is phenomenal. I haven't even sharpened mine yet, it would already shave arm hair out of the box. Took it and stropped it about 20x per side on plain wood block. It would push-cut magazine paper all the way through top-to-bottom and cut the page in half, leaving a smooth edge behind. I don't think I ever recall having a knife in this price range that could do that, so easily.