BUCK 531 SAWBY

K

KANMBAR

Joined
Mar 5, 2018
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I just scored a beautiful BUCK 531 SAWBY at the flea market. After doing a little googling, I'm not clear about whether there were 100 or 2000 of these that were released? I've read that 25 of the 100 recalled were returned, but where does the 2000 released number come from?

My knife has the "PAT. NO. 4,604,803" on one side of the tang, and on the other side, "BUCK 531" (with an upside down V with a dot) and "U.S.A.".

medium_2711_30_04_19_3_55_13.jpeg
medium_2711_01_05_19_6_06_46.jpeg


FYI, this is the 531 that first appeared in the 1988 catalog as the model 531 Bucklock-1, with a Sawby locking mechanism. They were quickly recalled due to safety concerns over the locking mechanism that placed fingers below the blade.
 
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KANMBAR said:
I just scored a beautiful BUCK 531 SAWBY at the flea market. After doing a little googling, I'm not clear about whether there were 100 or 2000 of these that were released? I've read that 25 of the 100 recalled were returned, but where does the 2000 released number come from?

My knife has the "PAT. NO. 4,604,803" on one side of the tang, and on the other side, "BUCK 531" (with an upside down V with a dot) and "U.S.A.".

FYI, this is the 531 that first appeared in the 1988 catalog as the model 531 Bucklock-1, with a Sawby locking mechanism. They were quickly recalled due to safety concerns over the locking mechanism that placed fingers below the blade.
Click to expand...
Pics?

Zieg
 
Ok, I put off looking / searching for the articles on this model long enough. I'll give it to you since no one else is: the 531 Sawby was brought out in 1990 as the brain child of Scott Sawby, a custom knife maker in Idaho. But a flaw with the locking mechanism was discovered after the first 100 had been shipped. So, Buck issued a recall on these and about 25% were returned. Those 25% that were returned became the first Buck Collectors Club knife. The new improved version known as the BuckLock 531 came later. I have one of these
in my collection with a 1993 stamp. A very handsome model with a nice folded one side stitched sheath. My reference is from a article written by Vern Taylor in the May 1995 Buck Collectors newletter. DM
 
David Martin said:
Ok, I put off looking / searching for the articles on this model long enough. I'll give it to you since no one else is: the 531 Sawby was brought out in 1990 as the brain child of Scott Sawby, a custom knife maker in Idaho. But a flaw with the locking mechanism was discovered after the first 100 had been shipped. So, Buck issued a recall on these and about 25% were returned. Those 25% that were returned became the first Buck Collectors Club knife. The new improved version known as the BuckLock 531 came later. I have one of these
in my collection with a 1993 stamp. A very handsome model with a nice folded one side stitched sheath. My reference is from a article written by Vern Taylor in the May 1995 Buck Collectors newletter. DM
Click to expand...
thanks for the info David. appreciated Sir. I've been googling and found this thread on the sawby lock and how it works....even link to patent pics.......

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/scott-sawby-self-lock.702702/

pretty neat, never seen one myself......
 
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David Martin said:
But a flaw with the locking mechanism was discovered after the first 100 had been shipped. So, Buck issued a recall on these and about 25% were returned.
Click to expand...

Thank DM, not sure, but there seems to be some disagreement on the 100 released number. Maybe the 2000 pieces shipped numbers also extended to the fillet knife or maybe it includes all the commemorative/collectors versions that were later released on condition of buyers signing a liability waiver?

In any case, I guess I have one of the original unaltered versions. Can't believe this was sitting unsold for so long at the flea market. I bought it just for the Buck brand, not suspecting it was a rarity. Wish I had the sheath, box and papers too!
 
KAN, yes there is some disagreement on the 2000 number shipped. I did not come across that number during my research on this model.
Yes, on the 25 the buyers had to sign a waiver.
Yes, I would say you have one of the 25. (Or 1 of the 75. Or one that was stolen) Wishing for the sheath, box and papers is too much. You got that knife at that price because it
didn't have those additional items. Because if it did have the additional items someone would have connected the dots and likely you would
not have been willing to fork over what they wanted for it. Be glad for what you got. DM
 
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More likely I got one of the 75 that were never returned, I would guess the other 25 are still in their complete kits (box, etc). Believe me I'm very happy with my purchase!
 
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