Buck 110 customs

[3wolves]

I think I have found the perfect minimalists edc, A swisstool X and a
Buck 110.Since this is the last knife I am going to buy (yeah right ), I want to get a custom 110.
I have a few questions.
1. what is the difference between BG42 and 440? will BG42 rust?
2. Will rivets in the handle make the knife stronger?
3. Witch is stronger nickel or brass?
4. If the knife breaks, will buck fix it exactly the same?
5. Do finger grooves help with the grip
Im looking at an elk handle black oxide or BG42 With nickel bolsters for Bg42 and brass for Black oxide. The only reason I dont want finger grooves Is that you get alot less stag and i love that stuff. (also the knife looks cooler without them. )

 

[wh4f]

I think I have found the perfect minimalists edc, A swisstool X and a
Buck 110.Since this is the last knife I am going to buy (yeah right ), I want to get a custom 110.
I have a few questions.
1. what is the difference between BG42 and 440? will BG42 rust?
2. Will rivets in the handle make the knife stronger?
3. Witch is stronger nickel or brass?
4. If the knife breaks, will buck fix it exactly the same?
5. Do finger grooves help with the grip
Im looking at an elk handle black oxide or BG42 With nickel bolsters for Bg42 and brass for Black oxide. The only reason I dont want finger grooves Is that you get alot less stag and i love that stuff. (also the knife looks cooler without them. )

Everyone has their own opinions, but i will take a stab at it
#1. BG-42 has different properties than 440. BG holds a better edge. Rust?
Is it going to soak in salt water?
#2 Rivets make it stronger? No, they are there for "looks" only. The elk antler can be epoxied on or riveted. No rivets may actually be stronger. (very little)
#3 Nickel or brass? Whatever you prefer the looks of, its not a prybar
Neither will go anywhere!
#4 Buck ahs a lifetrime warranty, but it will depend on what you do to the knife. If it is disassembled or abused it may well void the warranty, but if it just breaks they do replace them or repair!
#5. Finger grooves? I don't care for them, I think the antler will provide plenty of grip!

 

[3wolves]

Well I use my knives alot and i forget to dry them so it should be pretty stainless. How much harder is it to sharpen BG42 than 440?

 

[white_feather]

I use a Buck 110 and a Leatherman Blast. My overall goal is to get a Chris Reeve Sebenza in place of the Buck. But I am partial to my Bucks.

 

[allenC]

As far as I know.....

1. what is the difference between BG42 and 440? will BG42 rust?

I'm not sure that you can get a 110 in 440.
IIRC, the Custom Shoppe 110's come in 420HC, BG-42, ATS-34, and damascas.
You can get a 110 from Cabela's in S30V, and a 110 from BassPro Shop in 154CM.
I've think older 110's were available in 440C, but I could be wrong.
And even if they once were available in 440C, that was a long time ago.

But to answer your question....
440C is generally softer than BG-42.
And since it is softer, it will not hold an edge as well as the BG-42 when doing the same amount of work.
It is easier to sharpen however.
Neither steel is immune from rust, but neither one is especially prone to rust.

2. Will rivets in the handle make the knife stronger?

The scales are adhered to the liners whether pins are used or not.
Still, some folks think that the pins offer a little extra security....I can't honestly say; I've never had any problems with Buck's scales becoming loose, pinned or not.

3. Witch is stronger nickel or brass?

I don't know.
But one seems to scratch and ding just as much as the other.
However, the nice thing about the nickle-silver is that it does not show tarnish near as much as the Brass.
If you like to keep the bolsters looking nice and shiney, then the nickle-silver is the way to go.
If you choose brass, then expect to do some polishing every so often.
I use Maas metal polish with very good results.

4. If the knife breaks, will buck fix it exactly the same?

The Buck 110 has a lifetime warranty in which Buck will repair OR replace any broken knife IF the breakage occured due to a manufacturing defect.

5. Do finger grooves help with the grip

I think they do.
But since everyone's hand is different, this is a very subjective thing.

Good luck,
Allen

 

[Cougar Allen]

Welcome to Bladeforums!

Let’s see if we can find the right forum …

 

[3wolves]

I'm not sure that you can get a 110 in 440.

Sorry i meant 420. What I meant by the rivets are that is the knife actually riveted or are they just pushed in halfway. also for the stainlessness I cut blackberry vines and do alot of whittling with my knives and am usually quite far from a water source so I just close it and shove it in my pocket with some gunk on the blade and forget about it until I open it later.

 

[schiesz]

You do need an older 110 (pre 81 I think) to have 440C steel. Most current models are 420 HC, which is fine. BG42 however, is my favorite steel. I have 1 buck in BG42, gave another to a friend, have 3 other BG42 knives, and just made a deal on 2 more blades.

For me, it is about the same to sharpen as 440C or maybe closer to AUS8. Not hard to sharpen with the right equipment. I currently use a Spyderco Sharpmaker and it works very well. I think 420 HC and AUS6 are easier to sharpen, but not a ton easier. My limited experience with S30V was that it was harder to get sharp than BG42, and I felt like ATS34 and 154 CM were the toughest to get a decent edge on. BG42 seems to hold an edge well, better than 420HC, 440C, AUS6, and AUS8 and ATS34. All of my experience with these steels is just one or two knives for each type though, and heat treat and other factors can make a lot of difference between different makers.

My Buck BG42 blade is great though, at least as good if not better than the others for edge retension and sharpening ease. I'd definately say its work the $19 premium if you are already getting the custom shop knife.

schiesz

 

[3wolves]

Its not the money im just deathly afraid of rust.

 

[schiesz]

Well, if you are DEATHLY afraid of rust, i'd get one of the coated blades. My Grandfather's 110s and fixed blade bucks from the 70's and maybe before don't have a bit of rust though, and they went through countless hunting trips, snow, streams, blood, and quite a bit of vegetables and grapevines. Not sure how those stack up against blackberry vines, but I wouldn't be too worried about it. Can you clean the blade after 1 day of this exposure, or do you plan on just leaving it on there indefinitely? Even the coated blades have the steel exposed at the edge.

I don't know enough about the different steels Buck offers from the custom shop, with regards to their stain resistance, to help much here i'm afraid. I'm sure someone knows more about them though.

schiesz

 

[3wolves]

well the normal buck steel is good enough for me but I have never tried BG42 but everyone who has a buck custom uses BG42 so I guess there must be something too it. About how much percent easier will the BG42 rust compared to 420? I am just not very good at maintaning knives so I always try to keep it stainless.

 

[Pack Rat]

I think most of us here have used a 110 in all kinds of conditions. The real question is... does anyone have a 110 that rusted, and if so, why?

I never have and have carried 440, 425, 420, and now of late S30V and CPM154. The BG42 goes with me next time. No signs of rust.

But I do wash them down in hot soapy water after a really hard use of fish or deer.

 

[schiesz]

Something you might want to look at: On the Spyderco site, there is a link to Edge-U-Cation. In here you can find steel element information and a steel chart. It looks like the more chromium the steel has (and Molybdenum), the better its stain resistance.

The steel chart shows the amount of these elements in some different steels.

Just from a quick look over the steel chart, it looks like BG42 has similar CR content to the other steels (none really appear higher than the others here, and 420HC is not specifically listed) and BG42, ATS34 and 154 CM all have the same amount of MO. S30V has slightly less MO, but I don't know that makes a big difference.

It appears that most of the steels buck uses have a very similar corrosion resistance.

I know I have seen other charts in other places, even ranking steels for abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance, but I can't find them right now.

schiesz

 

[Buckaholic]

1. what is the difference between BG42 and 440? will BG42 rust?

According to Buck's site, 420HC is more resistant to corrosion. http://www.buckknives.com/technical_steel.php

2. Will rivets in the handle make the knife stronger?

Nope. They are for show mostly. Scales are epoxied on. I like pins in my horn knives, some don't. Some report breakage/cracks around pins with stag.

3. Witch is stronger nickel or brass?

Here's an article that is too wordy for my attention span. Maybe an answer there. I do think that my NS bolsters are harder to ding than my brass.
http://books.google.com/books?id=6f...T-M&sig=Wp_2I_ZisRtP_EVQQ7XaH_DXu7E#PPA864,M1

4. If the knife breaks, will buck fix it exactly the same?

They will do what they can. BUT it depends...example; scales cannot always be replaced like ya may have had before.
My FAVORITE elk BG-42 scales got messed up. Buck replaced them...I have no problems with the new scales, but I preferred the originals.
I do like the fixed up knife as it is one of a kind (I think)...silver bolsters but came back with brass pins. FWIW, the repair turn around was impressive.

NOTE:So far as "Exactly", in addition to the pins being brass w/ silver bolsters. Pop open both pics. Put 'em both up on you screen, side by side, and look closely at the FGs at the bolsters and see if you see what I see.

ORIGINAL - Click the pic:


REPAIRED - Click the pic:

5. Do finger grooves help with the grip

If your fingers fit the grooves, then yes. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.

Most of your answers were already answered but I wanted to provide the steel comparison chart from Buck and show ya my knife in response to your 4th question.

 

[The Mastiff]

3wolves said:

Its not the money im just deathly afraid of rust.

I know this was probably said tongue in cheek but I just thought I'd mention that Spyderco makes a knife with true rust free steel, not just rust resistant to varying degrees like regular stainless steels.

This new(ish) steel is called H-1 and spyderco uses it in their "Salt" series of knives. This steel CANNOT RUST. Like anything you can break it, burn it, crush it, everything but make it rust. It takes a good edge, and sharpens pretty easily. Go to this link and type salt in the search box. http://www.spyderco.com/ Good luck, Joe

 

[3wolves]

Yeah it was tounge in cheek but but at one time when I was new to knife collecting I kept hearing about how great spyderco was so I went to the website but changed my mind completly after seeing all of them. I think they are way too ugly (no offence Sal). I was about to place my order last night and I had it all built up, Just ready to click make when a horrible thought struck me as they always do in times of exitement. Canadian customs. I decided to wait a bit and think because I would hate to lose $140 for nothing to those pests. Has anyone ever got a knife confiscated by customs? Thanks for the link buckaholic but i was too wordy for me too. And your custom is the same one I made. I guess great minds think alike.

 

[Tin Sue]

Pop open both pics. Put 'em both up on you screen, side by side, and look closely at the FGs at the bolsters and see if you see what I see.

ORIGINAL - Click the pic:


REPAIRED - Click the pic:


Goose, obviously the finger grooves on the "repair" are cut into the front and rear bolsters where they were not on the "original." I have noticed this quite a bit lately on FG 110's from the custom shop (but not standard production), so maybe this is something a little unique that Pete has started in custom. Personally, I like it. In addition, it also looks like the finger grooves in the scale region have been cut a bit deeper in the "repair" as well.

 

[allenC]

Goose, obviously the finger grooves on the "repair" are cut into the front and rear bolsters where they were not on the "original." I have noticed this quite a bit lately on FG 110's from the custom shop (but not standard production), so maybe this is something a little unique that Pete has started in custom.

I've noticed as well....

My 1st Custom 110 has finger-grooves, but they do not extend in to the bolsters:

However, my 2nd Custom 110 has slightly deeper grooves, and they extend in to the bolsters: