Buckcote

[Jack Goertz]

I'm a very new comer to this knife stuff and am at a frenetic information gathering stage. I saw and ad for "buckcote." It is described as molecules of titanium-nitride bonded to a stainless steel blade. Has anyone tested these knives? I'm assuming the nitride is electroplated onto the steel? Does it stay put, or chip, or wear off? It is described as extremely hard, as such, does it hold an edge, and once the edge goes the way off all edges, can it be resharpened? The ad indicates it is sharpened on one side only, "for superior edge retention." I guess I'm asking how all this technology works? Good? Bad? Whatever? Also, what steal does Buck typically use for its blades (when not coating them), and completely off the wall, what is AU56? I can't find it on the alloy charts of downloaded?

 

[Kodiak PA]

Hi Jack,
There is now a new Buck section here on Blade Forums but we can work on this question here.

First of all, welcome to the forum.

The Buck cote seems to work very well, stays sharp and though it's sharpen on just one side, it is free from the "buckcote" on the edge. I sharpen this knife as I would any Spyderco with serrations. I would strop it at the end to remove the burr to give it a real nice polished edge.

I think that overall this is an excellent knife at an affordable price. I got my wife one for Christmas this year.

Buck uses 420 HC for most of their knives, though their Master Series (now discontinued

) uses the prime BG-42. Check out Bucks steel composition at their website:
http://www.buckknives.com/Pages/tech_faqs.html

AU56 is probably AUS6 which is an OK steel that most of the forumites wouldn't want on their knives though I really like AUS8 since it holds a reasonable edge and is a sinch to resharpen.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Buckcote knife.

Regards,



------------------

~Greg~

 

Regarding BuckCote, Knives Illustrated magazine featured a thorough article on this process in the recent October 1998 edition. If you haven't a copy, write me at the magazine, 265 S. Anita Dr, Ste 120, Orange, CA 92868, and I'll send you a copy. Enclose a money order for $4.50 to cover costs, made out to the magazine. This article tells the whole story, and illustrates knives being used in evaluations and sharpening a blade on the EdgePro sharpener. The TiN coating is not electroplated onto the blades. It's sort of a vacuum coating process. The material is super hard. Imagine looking at a blade from the front end, being ground only on one side, sort of like a wood plane or chisel edge. The coating is on both sides of the blade steel, but the back side, even though it's microscopically thin, actually cuts into the material you're cutting or slicing before the steel does, if you can imagine this. Yes, the coating and steel do wear, but they can be sharpened as explained. Bud Lang