Buck 124 Pre 1986?

J

Joshua Bartosiewicz

Joined
Aug 22, 2020
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103
Hi guys, I have an awesome buck 124 that's pre 1986 as there's no date code. What was the steel used for this, anybody know? 420? 425? Thanks!

josh
 
425m is a good steel. Won't hold an edge like 440c but between 440c and 420. Plus, those have a full hollow grind.
DM
 
A while back someone asked about the steel history. It took me a little while to pin Chuck Sr. down with all his travel, but here it is...
My grandfather and father did make knives out of files up to 1961 when we incorporated. Grandpa Hoyt died in 1949 and my father continued making the knives using Lignum Vitae wood for the handles. In the 40’s he used Lucite and you know how that looks with the new Buck replica Hoyt Buck knife.
For the collectors, all of these wood handle and Lucite knives were made primarily out of files. Few were power hacksaw blades. You are correct that in 1961 we started using 440C, which is a very high-carbon, high chrome steel. I think the carbon is at 1.02 with a chrome of about 18%. It was an excellent steel but the carbides on the edge were very large and dulled reasonable quick. That is why we moved to the 425 modified (around 1985) so that the “homogenized” steel with the smaller carbides would not affect the edge so badly when they wore off the edge. (We went to 420hc in 1994)
True stainless is like tableware made with nickel and absolutely has no carbon whatsoever, and obviously would not hold an edge at all. This is not what we used. It was not a stainless; it was a rust-resistant material even today, of course.
You could tell when a knife was made and whether it was made of files. The files would be the ones with the wood and/or Lucite handles. We have made wooden handles and we are making them now, but these I think are a copy from the page out of our book that shows the different emblems next to the model numbers and would give him the actual year it was made. Anything made from 1961 and forward is made out of a 400 series rust-resistant steel.
I hope this answers the question, let me know if we need more..
Jeff Hubbard, Buck Knives
 
An earlier writing on this is; Buck went to 425m when they moved to fine blanking as 440c steel ate up the bits/tooling.
In 1981.
Then Camillus and Buck went to 420 steel at the same time in 92 . And the carbon in 440c is 1.20%.
I have a 124 that is dated 89/ and it has a fuller hollow grind. Not the earlier semi- hollow grind. Which helps it cut better. DM
 
David Martin said:
An earlier writing on this is; Buck went to 425m when they moved to fine blanking as 440c steel ate up the bits/tooling.
In 1981.
Then Camillus and Buck went to 420 steel at the same time in 92 . And the carbon in 440c is 1.20%.
I have a 124 that is dated 89/ and it has a fuller hollow grind. Not the earlier semi- hollow grind. Which helps it cut better. DM
Click to expand...
Thank you here is a picture of mine in this link, can you tell me which one mine has? https://postimg.cc/jD7B7YfL
 
Here are a couple of photos of 124s, an older one and a newer one. Hope they show what David is talking about...
YrwLJTb.jpg

CjLZUXD.jpg
 
Mister Coffee said:
Here's mine. Purchased ca. 1981. 7-in. blade. They told me the handle was cherrywood.
Click to expand...

Anything is possible, especially the possibility of customization, but I do not believe Buck has manufactured a 124 with a Cherrywood handle.

That said, if Buck were to make a Cherrywood handled 124, perhaps with a S30V blade, I would buy two.
 
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