Can a member explain to me why the BOS Heat Treat is always labelled legendary?

Of course there is the maintenance section of BF, but on that note, there literally hasn't been another steel that I haven't been able to get hair whittling sharp including D2. Quite literally this Buck Yearling 709's steel is literally tough as nails. Which is why part of my question asked about the qualities of Buck/BOS heat treated steel of that era. And when I say qualities I mean scientific properties i.e. hardness, size of carbides etc...etc...
 
Possibly your 709 blade is thick at the edge and needs to be re-beveled. Which using an Arkansas stone would be difficult because of it's grain structure and how they cut, not because of the steel. A man made stone will cut the steel quicker. There is nothing in 425M steel that makes it magical. 425 steels were hardened to 58-59rc. It is a slight step up from 420HC with more C, Cr and some V. DM
 
The Yearling came in, virtually like new condition for a 30 year old knife. I sucked it up and ordered a set of course and fine Dmt stones after not being able to pit a scratch on the bevel with my arkansas stones lets see how this goes!
 
Your Arkansas stones may need a cleaning, as the pores could be clogged with metal particles. A coarser stone couldn't hurt either.
 
Buck's 440C was always very difficult to hone, at least without diamond hones, which were hard to find if they even existed back when Buck was using that steel. I wore out a Buck Ranger and few carborundum stones trying to put an edge on that stuff (although, once it was sharp it stayed sharp a long time). I much prefer today's 420HC, the way Buck heat treats it.
 
Alberta Ed, will DMT sharpening set fix this or was the Buck's steel from that period fubar'd from the heat treat? I don't mean to be irreverent I just find it really odd that this 440C has such odd qualities.
 
cchu518 said:
Alberta Ed, will DMT sharpening set fix this or was the Buck's steel from that period fubar'd from the heat treat? I don't mean to be irreverent I just find it really odd that this 440C has such odd qualities.
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Diamond stones will do it no problem.
Shoot, I have one of those grey colored cheapo dual sided stone that sharpens that steel type with little effort....
The arkansas stones just aren't up to the task. Other types are.
Just set a new bevel with the courser grit and work up to the fine grits.
 
DesertChris said:
Diamond stones will do it no problem.
Shoot, I have one of those grey colored cheapo dual sided stone that sharpens that steel type with little effort....
The arkansas stones just aren't up to the task. Other types are.
Just set a new bevel with the courser grit and work up to the fine grits.
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Those are carborundum, aka silicon carbide, will sharpen any steel.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
Those are carborundum, aka silicon carbide, will sharpen any steel.
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Thank you.
I couldn't remember what the heck it was called! Just remembered it was super cheap.
And yep, it quickly sharpens all the steel types I have, including the "super steels".

Although most of the time I just need to touch up my blades with a very fine grit ceramic stone.... also super cheap :)
 
Thanks for this info, I went looking for a SIC stone locally and couldn't find any. Although a chain of Harbor Freight tools have opened up in the NJ area and I'm pretty excited about that.
 
Check "wally world", hardware stores, sporting goods stores......
If all that turns up nothing, search "silicon carbide sharpening stone" on ebay.
That search turned up lots of them in different sizes and manufacturers.
(And many were cheap :) )
 
I will do that sir! The Mrs. and myself have been hibernating the past two days having off from work, I think she is feeling the need to do a little shopping. Will report back when the DMT sharpener comes in as well.

Obligatory photo of the little pen knife, I'm quite fond of this particular pattern! It looks like a Peanut size 110!

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Nice 709 :)

Here is my cheapo stone :)
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and the cheapo ceramic stone
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and my rescaled 709 from 1990 :) 425 steel with Amboyna Burl. I love these little 700 series. Perfect for going to town when dressed up.
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Ohhhnpretty knives. Chris, is that the same wood from you 112 Frankenstein?
Cchu, diamond grit is the way to go. I have he diamond lansky crock sticks and a eze-lap diamond stone that I do most of my reprofiling. I recently discovered that freehand is the way to go. So,'eze-lap, buck 134washita, buck135 hard Arkansas gives it a nice polish. Then a slight microbevel on the sharpmaker fine rods at 30 degrees inclusive. Strop on felt with crox spray and then leather. Stupid sharp every time. My CS Buck 110 in s30v will whittle hairs after that treatment
 
Bighaze51 said:
Ohhhnpretty knives. Chris, is that the same wood from you 112 Frankenstein?
Cchu, diamond grit is the way to go. I have he diamond lansky crock sticks and a eze-lap diamond stone that I do most of my reprofiling. I recently discovered that freehand is the way to go. So,'eze-lap, buck 134washita, buck135 hard Arkansas gives it a nice polish. Then a slight microbevel on the sharpmaker fine rods at 30 degrees inclusive. Strop on felt with crox spray and then leather. Stupid sharp every time. My CS Buck 110 in s30v will whittle hairs after that treatment
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yep, literally from the same piece of wood! Used the leftover bits on the 709.
I used another piece of the same type of wood on the 279 I made scales for.

cchu518 said:
I've seen that one before when you first made it pretty sweet 709!
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Thanks! I really like this little knife, and it went to town in my pocket today when we visited friends :)
 
I have all of my stainless steel custom blades Hted by Paul Varner at Bos heat treating.

Paul Bos still consults when they have a new steel at Buck and he has worked with steel companies figiring out the best HTing for the steels application.

They never assume anything. I have had Mr Varner call me if he has the slightest question about any knives in a batch I have sent for Hting. There is no better service or level of competence than Paul Bos Heat Treatment.
 
The DMT did the trick! Sharpened the Buck quite fast actually. It still has a tooth edge. The fine hone gets it to 600 grit if I want it any smoother I'm going to have to a much higher grit as it's the only way to smooth out this old Buck 440C steel. The carbides are just huge! On other steels the 600 is enough for the steel to have that smooth non-toothy edge but that isn't the property of this old 440C.


I'm going to carry the Yearling as is with a 600 grit edge. Thanks for the help all!

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