Buck Vantage Pro Skeltonized... Updated (7/23)

Battle Creek Knives

Battle Creek Knives

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Feb 23, 2010
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I've had my VP now for about 2 months, of course when it was new I carried it more but have found myself reaching for it less..

While I think its one of the most comfortable knifes out there I find its a little heavier then I like.....

I'm going to be lightening the load by drilling out some of the liner and was curious if someone has done this and how much weight was removed..

By the looks of the liner I think I can remove at least 1oz without losing any integrity..

anyone done this??
 
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Okay I went ahead and drilled out the liners, I'm on my phone and when I get home later I will revise thread with pics!!

Edit: Here are the pics I took earlier before I left the house today for fireworks, ( I was in a hurry and didn't have my 3/8" bits near the press so I used the two nearest me 1/4" and a 3/16" bit..

Here is the knife apart.
IMG_2491.jpg


Here are the liners drilled.
IMG_2495.jpg


I haven't weighed it yet, so I will post back later..but I can tell the difference in hand.. Also the stock washers have little to be desired and intend to put in phosphor bronze washers so when I do I will fine tune some of my holes with a 3/8" bit as needed..
 
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Wow, what year is that Vantage? All mine (except my Vantage Force Avid) have had bronze phosphor washers, and I've taken apart Selects, Dymondwood Selects, Avids, and Pros from 2010 and 2011.

And nice job with the skeletonizing! I've messed with my Vantage so much I may try skeletonizing the liner too. Thanks for the pics!
 
Thanx for the pics of the innards! Been curious about this one. Won't be afraid to take mine apart now if the need arises.
 
GundaManiac said:
Wow, what year is that Vantage? All mine (except my Vantage Force Avid) have had bronze phosphor washers, and I've taken apart Selects, Dymondwood Selects, Avids, and Pros from 2010 and 2011.

And nice job with the skeletonizing! I've messed with my Vantage so much I may try skeletonizing the liner too. Thanks for the pics!
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to be honest I don't know how old the knife is or if the bushings are factory as I got the knife from a member here... maybe they were changed out to help with alignment IDK.. but they're getting changed eventually nonetheless :D

sitflyer said:
Thanx for the pics of the innards! Been curious about this one. Won't be afraid to take mine apart now if the need arises.
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no prob hope they help you out..
 
still don't have a scale up and going.. I need to get one of those things, seems they would come in handy more times then not..

tonight or tomorrow I'll post more pics of my skeletonizing, I intend to take the knife back apart and drill out some more holes..

does anyone know why Buck used the nylon bushings in my knife?? no big deal just curious as to maybe the PO put them in ........ or if its one of the originals..
 
IIRC, the early Vantages featured nylon washers. I don't know which year they switched to PB washers, but the current Vantages run PB washers.

The Vantage Force line, OTOH, currently runs some sort of grey synthetic washer (nylatron maybe?).

As for why, I dunno. I'll let those more knowledgeable chime in on that front. I will say that I haven't been able to get my Vantage Force (synthetic washers) as smooth as my Vantage (PB washers) yet, but then again I've had my Vantage for a few months and I've only had the Vantage Force for about a week. I'm expecting it to smooth out a lot more over time.
 
I switched some brass washers into my force pro and it seems to be worse than the dark grey washers. Go figure? I am going back to the original washers in my force pro.
 
I'm guessing that the blade coating offers some more resistance and that the synthetic washers have a lower friction coefficient than the pb washers so they're used to try and offset the higher friction blade coating. Of course, this is all conjecture on my part since I don't actually know what the friction coefficients of the pb and synthetic washers are in conjunction with a coated or uncoated blade.

Aaaaanyway, now that I've successfully completely derailed this thread, let's get it back on track! How many of all y'all Vantage owners feel like the Vantage is heavy, or on the borderline of acceptable weight?

When I first got my Vantage, I was of the opinion that its weight was perfect- not so heavy that I wouldn't want to carry it, but just heavy enough to give it a nice sense of heft and quality. In the months psince then though, I've played with a Kershaw Skyline and a Spyderco Tenacious; right after playing with the former, my Vantage felt incredibly heavy and thick compared to the ultra-thin-and-light Skyline; right after playing with the latter, my Vantage felt small in comparison but heavy for its size compared to the large(wide)-yet-light-for-its-sze Tenacious. As I type this, I'm also playing with my Vantage and I must note that those opinions only held true in the time directly after handling those knives. I'm digging the Vantage's heft at the moment.

One thing I like about the knife is that it is currently handle-heavy with the balance point somewhere between my index and middle finger when holding the knife. BattleCreek, did you notice a significant shift in the balance point of the knife after you drilled out the liners? I'm still toying with the idea of skeletonizing my Vantage, but I'm afraid of making the knife blade-heavy; I'd prefer that the balance point moves no further forward than the little finger choil area on the handle where my index finger sits.
 
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Hogger:
Is the nylon and PB washers thickness the same?? also do you happen to know the diameter of the PB so I can order a pair??

Gun:
I don't think you can compare hardly any knife to the skyline, its weight is that of a feather 2.2oz... I've had one for almost 2yrs, bought another here from a member just in case my old one breaks, great knives I've used it extremely hard and will cut anything with it, its pretty thrashed.. One of my all time favorites just wished it would ride low and that's about the only improvement needed..

I normally carry a delica, sage 1, and the skyline.. with those three in mind the vantage is heavier and I can feel it.. actually so much so that I don't carry it as much at all...

enter skelotonized liners.. last night I took the knife apart again and drilled about four more holes, deburred, and sanded the liners down..

IMG_2499.jpg


I guess I'll have to measure the washers to get the size as I can't find reference anywhere on sizing... the knife will remain apart until I get new washers, I may buy both bronze and nylon just in case the bronze doesn't work for some reason.......

I have never checked the balance point so IDK, but I will check it once the knifes back together
 
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sorry for the delay, had to get some sleep.

non metalic .312 od x .136 id x .015 thick
brass .312 od x .134 id x .017 thick
 
we started with Teflon to give the flipper action some glide. At that thickness of Teflon, we found that the washer had a tendency to distort immediately. We then moved to Phos Bronze which solved the deformation, but negatively affected the action (not drastically). The washers used now are nylotron.
 
Interesting. I know the Force has nylotron washers, but my 2011 Vantage Pro has Phosphor Bronze washers and its action is silky smooth. Was that just leftover stock being used up before the switch to nylotron? I guess my real question is: it sounds like you're saying that all Vantages are now being made with nylotron washers, even the non-Force model. Did I read that correctly?

As a side note: Cool, I apparently now own a knife with nylotron washers! Never had one before, the Force would be my first. From what I've read on the topic of washers, some people favor PB for durability and longevity because it's metal, and some people favor nylotron for its smoothness and apparently the lack of a need to lube it and potentially gunk up the pivot with pocket lint, dirt, etc. Now I get to see for myself.
 
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FWIW: I have three Vantage Forces -- both Pro and Avid. Not sure what kind of washers but all three are wicked fast -- faster than my regular Vantages.
 
GundaManiac said:
Interesting. I know the Force has nylotron washers, but my 2011 Vantage Pro has Phosphor Bronze washers and its action is silky smooth. Was that just leftover stock being used up before the switch to nylotron? I guess my real question is: it sounds like you're saying that all Vantages are now being made with nylotron washers, even the non-Force model. Did I read that correctly?

As a side note: Cool, I apparently now own a knife with nylotron washers! Never had one before, the Force would be my first. From what I've read on the topic of washers, some people favor PB for durability and longevity because it's metal, and some people favor nylotron for its smoothness and apparently the lack of a need to lube it and potentially gunk up the pivot with pocket lint, dirt, etc. Now I get to see for myself.
Click to expand...

I'm sure we would use up the old washer stock before moving to Nyaltron. I'll check and see if we have cut over yet on the non Force models

ed_bltn said:
J Hubbard: Do you mean Nylatron? Seems like it would be a good choice.
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yep, that's what I meant
 
I have new washers coming with a supply order I put in.. I will have update with weight, and action when they arrive early next week..
 
I've added the nylatron washers that I ordered from a vendor with other supplies..

since they weren't "Buck" replacement washers they were a little big on the OD.. I trimmed them up and I'm still not happy..it seems to have a slight drag even with the pivot loosened up a tad..

Maybe someone has some OEM washers they'd like to send me :)

My knife now weighs 4oz even... although I didn't weight the knife before I did this I believe its suppose to weigh 4.8oz...

can someone please tell me the exact weight of their pro??

I will post pics later when my batteries charge..
 
I just weighed three of them.
#1= 4.24 oz
#2= 4.23 oz
#3= 4.34 oz

#3 surprised me (:confused:) so I went through them again and the results were the same. All are brand new in the box, never carried. It appears that the advertised weight is off by 1/2 oz or so.
 
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