Buck 110 Factory Problem

I can't speak for anyone else so I won't try, but I can speak for myself and I will. I own over 100 Buck knives; not as many as some and more than others. Of that 100, over half are 110's with about half my 110's being either CKS or LE. I have never experienced a problem with any of them, or what I perceive to be a problem. I fact, my custom shop 110's and production 110's are practically functionally equal except for the superior aesthetics and higher end materials on the CKS ones. The LE's are superior to both. Maybe I have just been lucky but those are mighty high percentages that both I and BH have for it to just be luck. Additionally, it is rather short-sighted to say the least, to claim that an entire product line is "crap" simply because one may have had an isolated bad experience personally. As with every other major manufacturer there are times when less than acceptable products may slip through, however, those times are in the vast minority and when it does happen the warranty that Buck has and the fine people who work there make it right. Buck, just like every other company is in business to make money. If the 110 model as a whole were indeed "shoddy craftsmanship" then they wouldn't continue to sell as they do. It's simple economics, as is the fact you get what you pay for. No one with any reason about them can expect the fit and finish of a $5.00 Taiwan folder to be as good as a $60.00 Buck 110, nor can they expect that same $60.00 110 to be as good as $150.00 LE 110 (although most times they're fairly close), and that is as "honest" as it gets.
 
Last edited:
I understand that dude, and I'm not sure if I have higher 'standards' or if I was genuinely given the bad ones out of the many thousands being made. What I can confirm though is that Horenbeek and I, have both purchased 3 110 knives each, and all 6 were what we considered bad.

Yes, in this example it is only two people, but with 6 knvies and 100% dissatisfaction rate... that's pretty strange to consider it a one off or an unlucky run.

When the 110 model has improved it's pivot and nullified the iminenent blade play, stamped out the increasing trend of sloppy fit and finish, thickened the blade and improved the steel I will not be buying one.. :(

@ Hoorenbeek,

Mr.Hubbard is a really nice guy, he does a fine job at catering for customers and although I can imagine he'd have a heart attack if he saw another email from me he will certainly be happy to help you out! lol
 
This has little to do with the thread, BUT it is something that all should be aware of, especially those out of the US. Buck is selling there factory seconds and are not stamping or marking second on the knife. The only thing you see is the letters FS on the box label. So be aware of someone selling a knife that is a second but is only marked so on the box.....no box and a untruth and you have a second.

300
 
@300:
Thank you very much for the info. I buy most of my knives on Amazon or directly from Buck, because I have a postal address in Florida, and there is where I send my online purchases. During last August, I made a one month road trip through the midwest and I bought a couple of knives. And yes, of course.. when you are at the store, you can check them out and pick the one you like. Sadly, for customs and legal reasons, I had to send the knives to my address in Florida and then, send them where Im living now.
Ill do a similar trip on May, so Im looking forward what I can find.
 
This problem doesn't seem to be only limited to the regular 110's.
I've bought 5 custom 110's in my life.
2 were excellent, and 3 had blade play, non-centered blades, and fit/finish problems right out of the box.
(unfortunately I sold the 2 good ones)
The last 2 I bought were identical and were in the "not perfect" category.
I sent both back to Buck with the request that they both lock up solid, and be centered when closed.
About a month went by and Joe Houser emailed me saying that I'd be happy with one, but they couldn't get the
other one right.
He offered to refund my purchase price on the one and send the good one to me.
The good one is really nice; solid lock-up, centered blade, and excellent fit/finish.
Only minor problem is that there is blade play in the closed position.
Go figure.
So, there is definitely a quality control problem on all 110's.
YMMV
Lenny
 
300Bucks said:
This has little to do with the thread, BUT it is something that all should be aware of, especially those out of the US. Buck is selling there factory seconds and are not stamping or marking second on the knife. The only thing you see is the letters FS on the box label. So be aware of someone selling a knife that is a second but is only marked so on the box.....no box and a untruth and you have a second.

300
Click to expand...
Buck factory seconds only have COSMETIC blemishes. Buck will not sell a knife with a MECHANICAL blemish. BTW boxes are marked "FB". This was told to me by Joe Hauser.
 
What exactly is a "mechanical blemish", blade play? I presume Buck will not sell anything, blem or otherwise that would be considered unsafe to use.
 
Yes blade play would fall into the mechanical side of things. If it has to much blade play Buck would not sell it as a blemish, it would need to be repaired before it could be sold. I am not saying knives do not leave the factory with problems,we all know it happens. It is just that Buck does not intend for that to happen. If it has a scratch on the blade or cracked inlay then it will be sold as a blemish. Buck has made over 1 million knives so far this year, people assemble the knives by hand and as we all know it is not a perfect world, so some times things are not perfect.
 
For many years, people have purchased 110 Buck knives. Many have always been impressed with the quality and workmanship of the knives, especially considering the price point they were sold at.
They are still a great value, but there is no reason the quality should suffer. For those that say some are expecting to much, because they bought a 40 dollar knife, that is just a way to justify possible product issues, some may experience.

A 40 dollar 110 that has a loose blade, or bad edge grind, is no longer a bargain. YMMV of course
 
338375 said:
For many years, people have purchased 110 Buck knives. Many have always been impressed with the quality and workmanship of the knives, especially considering the price point they were sold at.
They are still a great value, but there is no reason the quality should suffer. For those that say some are expecting to much, because they bought a 40 dollar knife, that is just a way to justify possible product issues, some may experience.

A 40 dollar 110 that has a loose blade, or bad edge grind, is no longer a bargain. YMMV of course
Click to expand...

I have purchased 48 Buck knives all made in USA since 2003. I have had two with issues that I also was very disappointed with. I took both with me to a knife show that I read Buck had a table at. I could have just mailed both back to Buck.

A new Buck 846 Vantage Force - Avid blade upon closing scraped along left side all the way shut (common issue I read in the first ones). I meet Joe Houser at this knife show and he showed me to tighten which torx screw. I went home and used a Craftsman Green T6 (Torx) Screwdriver 1-1/2 USA #41651 to tighten torx screw and it was fixed:thumbup:

A new Buck 286 Pink Bantam had many "Dye Trail marks" all over the new blade. This was going to be an Xmas gift to a female and Buck mailed me a new one!:D

So were my 48 Bucks all 100% flawless? No, but Buck customer service took care of both.;) I was so impressed with the made in USA and great customer service that I joined BCCI.
 
First Thanks for serving.
Buck does stick by there products. Buy a used one, if cracks a handle or something other than operator error it gets fixed or replaced. Sometimes even human error gets good...no GREAT service.
Congrats on join Blade Forums and BCCI,
ChicoMike
Blade Forum Gold Member
BCCI Life Member
Vietnam Veterans of America Life Member
Disabled American Veterans Life Member
Contributor Wounded Warrior Program
Member NRA
 
ChicoMike said:
First Thanks for serving.
Buck does stick by there products. Buy a used one, if cracks a handle or something other than operator error it gets fixed or replaced. Sometimes even human error gets good...no GREAT service.
Congrats on join Blade Forums and BCCI,
ChicoMike
Blade Forum Gold Member
BCCI Life Member
Vietnam Veterans of America Life Member
Disabled American Veterans Life Member
Contributor Wounded Warrior Program
Member NRA
Click to expand...

ChicoMike, the BCCI is a good deal. I wish other USA made knife companies had a BCCI. The loyalty to Buck is impressive in this group. Buck also was great in hosting the 25th BCCI in Spokane/Idaho last Summer. Every organization makes mistakes to include my beloved Army.:eek: Thank you also for your Vietnam service.:thumbup:
 
Hoorenbeek,

You have cosmetic problems, based on the photos you posted. Did you think you were getting flawless collector's items? A little blade play is annoying, I agree. But the knife still cuts stuff, right? If you want cosmetically perfect knives, I suggest you go to a custom knife maker, who will take the time and care to deliver a flawless knife.

For $40 dollar, mass produced knife, I expect to do a little touch up work. Burrs on the the swedge are easily removed with a ceramic rod. Loose pins are easily tightened up with a ball peen hammer.

The usual suspects always bring up Opinel and Victorinox. I agree, for the money they are top of the class in terms of the quality delivered. They have invested in modern CNC equipment, blah-dee-blah-blah... This is common knowledge. Everyone else is behind them in terms of manufacturing, including Buck. Does that mean Buck knives are not worth owning? I guess it does for some people, but not me.

Good heat treat and simple, sound construction are what I look for in knives. The Bucks I've purchased at very reasonable price point have not disappointed me. I will continue to support Buck knives.
 
Buck is one of the last, great, family owned knife companies we have left... I think it is safe to say, that the folks at Buck would be less than thrilled that knives are going out the door, having obvious imperfections. It doesn't matter that it can still cut, the fact is the flaws that were listed, are still flaws.
I'm not bashing Buck, I really like, and respect the company. But saying because the knife only cost 40 dollars, that lack of QC or workmanship is acceptable, is ludicrous. There is no reason to accept mediocrity. That is not what made this country great...

Just to use a different example than Victorinox, There is a company that makes knives called Rough Rider. Most are slip joints.They are certainly not what I think of, when I think of traditional style pocket knives. I think Case, Schrade, GEC and Buck.... That said, they seem to have quite a following here on BF's.
The knives I am talking about are made overseas, and cost around 12-15 dollars. The reviews have been outstanding. Workmanship has been said to be equal, and in some cases better than some of the knives I listed. So if a 12-15 dollar knife can be delivered with very good fit and finish, there is no reason a 40 dollar knife made right here in the U.S can't be the same.

All companies have knives that slip through, when they shouldn't have. Hopefully that is what happened here, and not a sign of things to come.
 
Lol why is everyone thanking each other for taking part in the army?.. This thread is about the sloppy quality of knives, not invading third world countries!

It seems like people would rather good customer service than a good knife!

Now I personally can vouch for Buck's cs being the best I've ever experienced. And the employees at Buck have been nothing but polite, helpful and honest. However, this doesn't detract from the fact the knives that I (and a multitude of others) have received have not been up to modern standards. I feel as though Buck were good to me when I had my problems, and I'm sure others feel the same way. But I can not allow this to delude me into thinking anything more of their products. And at the end of it all, it's the product you wanted to buy, not a dozen emails and a new knife with the same faults..

A company could send me replacments all day long, but I will still be honest about the quality. And although the 110 model is the only Buck knife I've had that I thought was terrible, the others were actually very nice. They were fixed blades though.

And the example of opinel (made in France! not somehwere in asia in a slum!) is not to fanboy the knives, but to understand that for a quarter of the price you can get a honest working mans tool that isn't hemeraging faults! So yeah, if they and many many other companies can do it ethically, why can't the big names?
 
Samon said:
Lol why is everyone thanking each other for taking part in the army?.. This thread is about the sloppy quality of knives, not invading third world countries!

It seems like people would rather good customer service than a good knife!
Click to expand...

First of all you seem to consistently lose sight of the fact that you are in the vast minority. Secondly, thanking someone who has self-sacrificed for the benefit of others is called respect. You should learn some.
 
mwputnam said:
First of all you seem to consistently lose sight of the fact that you are in the vast minority. Secondly, thanking someone who has self-sacrificed for the benefit of others is called respect. You should learn some.
Click to expand...

*removed my comment on the political/moral injustice of War as not to break any forum rules.*

BACK TO THE KNIFE!


I don't beleive I'm in the vast majority here, I believe I may be in the lower percentages but that doesn't mean these constant failures are 'one offs'. They are simply how the knives are made, atleast in certain factories anyway. Now if we could examine 20 110 models from one factory and 20 from another, we could slowly find the weak link in the manufactoring chain!
 
Last edited:
Congratulations, Samon. You just ventured into troll territory. Show a little more restraint if you want to be taken seriously.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top