Buck 420HC w/ BOS heat treat. How does it compare?

[kuraki]

Paul Bos retired a few years ago. It's "Buck" heat treat now but I believe Buck has rights to the name.

It's still Bos. It's just operated by Paul Farner now, who worked for Paul Bos many years. AFAIK they are independent of Buck in regards to ownership. They'll HT anyone's knives, just like Peters.

 

[brownshoe]

It's still Bos. It's just operated by Paul Farner now, who worked for Paul Bos many years. AFAIK they are independent of Buck in regards to ownership. They'll HT anyone's knives, just like Peters.

Paul Bos sold his heat treat business to Buck in 2001 and stayed on for 9 years until 2010. Paul Bos has been retired for 8 years now. It's now Paul Farner's shop, owned by Buck but operating under the trade name Paul Bos.

Paul Bos was/is a "master" heat treater who custom knife makers all over the country (some quite famous) sent their blades to for heat treat. He was so good, unlike other heat treaters, custom makers sometimes asked for his stamp to be applied to their knives as well. I have a custom knife from a ABS Master Smith with the Bos heat treat stamp along with the maker's stamp on the blade. It dates from when Paul had an independent shop and the maker was not yet a master smith. I don't think many custom knife makers wants "Buck" on their blade.

 

[kuraki]

Ah, cool. Thank you for the clarification. It surprises me that Buck allows it to still operate as a job shop but I'm glad they do.

 

[skyhorse]

I've always been very happy with all Bucks blade steels in everyday use although thier 154CM maybe my favorite.

 

[Makael]

Yes, they offer HT for people. Pretty damn cool they do that.