buck 110 buckcote questions

B

Bart student

Joined
Nov 17, 1999
Messages
676
hello folks,


I have had such a knife for some time now... I've always kept it because it was the only buck 110 I had, and I felt it is a classic.
But now I have a few questions when i dug it up.

1. I never used it, but should I? I am no hunter, and i know it would shine in skinning, but I am currently carrying a REKAT SIFU in D2-E and a Al mar SERE 2K. What can I expect from it compared to these two?

2. what is it's value now? I got it as a gift.

3. Maybe i can create a center ground edge on my grinder, but i have no clue what steel is below the coating. then i would have a nice coated 110, but would that be worth it? I mean...is the edgeholding that much better with the coating then without?

greetz & thanks in advance, bart.
 
If your buck is a buckcoted knife, then the edge holding will be better with the coting than without. It is now called Ionfusion. It is sharpened on one side to help with the edge retention because the steel underneath is only 420HC. The problem with it only sharpened on one side is that if you do more chopping that just slicing then the edge might get bent a little, because it is not as sturdy with just one side sharpened. There are a number of old post about this, you can just search under Ionfusion. The one good thing about the ionfusion is that Buck conservatively estimates that the blade will stay sharp about 5 times as long. No idea on current value though
 
I have not used my for heavy use as I dont do much that would require it. But from what I have heard it will hold up longer for stuff like slicing.
 
If you want a hard use/chopper Ionfusion is not the way to go. If you want a knife that will slice all day long, Ionfusion is a good choice.

I have found that it is hard to get a "hair-popping" edge on an Ionfusion blade, but the key is in the stropping. I can't seem to get it "hair-splitting" sharp like a BG42 or standard 420HC blade, however.
 
O.K. so hard use is acceptable but not much different then actual cutting... ah hell..i'm a student..i ain't gonna chop trees or stuff.

but another matter..it is hard to do a straight cut trough paper, because of the assymetrical edge. any thougts/solutions to that?

Oh..about the ionfusion... maybe the reason that you can't get it hairpopping is the fact that the cutting carbides are much bigger then steel carbides?

Greetz & thanks for the replies folks.

bart
 
I think it is hard to sharpen because the Ionfusion stuff is so hard that it is difficult to get a nice clean cut through the coating...even with a ceramic stone. You can see parts of the edge that are not sharp because the coating is bent and it is difficult to get it straightened out in these areas. I suspect that these areas are from hitting grains of sand that are embedded in the fish-gutting tables at the lake.

You also have to consider that where the bur forms on the edge, its hardness is lingering on the outer reaches of the Rc scale.

Overall I have to say that I am happy with it. It takes a good "working edge" very easily and holds it along time. If you want a fine edge, you really have to work at it though. I have had no problems with the blade drifting to one side, but others mileage may vary.

Oh, yeah… I have also noticed that when you get little nicks in the edge it still cuts well because the coating acts like thin, sharp, little serrations.
 
The REKAT and AL MAR are tactical knives. They are in a different ballpark than the Buck 110s. If you need a knife for defense then they are probably not such a good idea, as there are other knives such as the ones you listed that have better features for defense. I have a few tactical knives and I like them just fine, but they just don't turn me on like the classic stylings of knives like the 110. I don't carry a knife for defense, that is what my gun is for, and you know what they say about someone who brings a knife to a gunfight. I prefer knives with natural scales such as bone and wood. They just look better and they cut the same for the purposes I need. I just can't fall in love with a black hunk of plastic, although I carry one for duty. I guess I look at pocket knives as jewelry with a purpose. If it has good steel and looks nice then that is all I really need for EDC.
 
Honestly, I've yet to have to sharpen a buckcote blade!

I don't hack with mine, but cut quite a bit on things like cardboard etc. It honestly holds an edge for an incredible amount of time. The asymmetry is small, and I've never noticed any problem controlling the cut when working on something subtle. I do some fancy knotting (turksheads) which requires close cutting to hide the ends, and the buckcote blades are fine for that.

My next PCKS knife (isn't it buy 10, get one free? :D ) will have red bone, and a gray ion-fusion blade.
 
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