Chrisitian's Alaskan Guide Buck 110 upgrade

STR

STR

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Wow! First time I have seen one of these first hand. Buck did a fine job here. Great edge, nice looking black blade which I really like and this one is S30V blade steel added to all the rest of what makes this knife such a classic. Almost hard to scar one of these. Almost! Not quite enough to keep my hand off it though!:D

This one is here for a pocket clip and thumb stud. Funny I just noticed I have not been instructed on whether its for right hand or left carry or low rider or standard style pocket clip. Just tip up carry is all I got. I'll have to find out obviously before I can do it. I do know its here for an ambi thumb stud though and that will up soon.

Thanks

STR
 
He should be happy with the result. You've done three 110s and a 560 for me with those same mods, and they came out quite well.

One of these days we'll figure out a practical way to put a lanyard on a 110. Then I'll have my perfect Folding Hunter.

I'm looking forward to the pictures of the Alaskan Guide with your mods.
 
Here are a couple views of the ambi stud installed.

I tell you what. You think something is hard and get to know the ones that are usually that way the more that you drill or work with, and nothing is all that surprising. Everynow and then one is. I all but quit doing Wave mods to S30V blades due to the thickness and the fact that I may as well be grinding a rock but drilling it is difficult too at times. This black coating must be hard too or something on this one because it was extra tough. Yep, this S30V blade ruined a brand new $16 #44 carbide drilling this hole out even keeping it cool and lubed. Go figure.

It works but it requires a well seasoned thumb to be a user for one of these babies let alone a repeat customer for a mans knife like these are when done for one hand operation. Its not the kind of knife you will be flicking opened and closed for entertainment, but only when you need it for a job.

STR
 
Hey Steve,
Got your PM and thought I'd just reply here. Great job so far. It looks good. I was worried about that coating being hard to drill.

I had two thoughts about the pocket clip. And please correct me if your experience indicates different.

1. I thought that a wider clip on this knife would be more comfortable. I was thinking a wide clip, normal length. Not the short, fat ones like you did for the Little T. or the BM420, but wide and flat almost like a money clip.

2. I thought a buck 110 should always have a lanyard for outdoor, near water use. If the clip's wide, why not just put a whole near the top of the clip. That way, one could just run a piece of 550 cord though it for a tie off to a lanyard or a dummy cord.

I guess having a wide clip w/ a hole in the clip would rule out a low rider.

Does that sound good to you, Steve? Right hand, tip up carry, wide clip w/ a hole somewhere near the top near the screws, and anodized gold to match the brass.

If you feel I'm off on any of this please let me know.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Hey bob7, welcome to the forums! I've considered the hole-in-the-clip myself. It would simplify the lanyard hole problem. I tried to drill one of STR's clips on one of my 110s, but that clip defied my effort. I thought a little hole to accomodate a tiny split ring would do the job. A short lanyard, or more accurately, a fob, would help drawing the clipped knife from my waistband.

Here's a drawing I made of an idea for a replacement part on the 110 to attach a lanyard--previously posted twice before on the Buck forum, and the Toolshed forum:

Buck 110 Lanyard Idea.jpg

Not being a machinist, I can't say how feasible it would be. STR, and others, have told me that disassembling the 110 is easy, reassembling is a nightmare.

But we can dream.
 
TIZWIN,
I like your idea of the backspacer lanyard, and it would make a heck of a skull crusher, glass breaker, as well. Maybe the 560 would be the way to try it out. Steve drilled out the pivot pin on mine because of excessive blade movement and replaced it w/ an adjustable pivot. He could just drill out the other pins on the 560, mill out the replacement backspacer, and reassemble w/ torx screw bolts. Taking it down for cleaning would be easy after that.
chris
 
I'm following what you are saying but I'm also thinking that being .040 thickness that the titanium would eventually just fray your cord and eventually tear through it.

I could probably use some brass rod and heat it to bend it around and make a bail ring out of it and then flatten the ends to run a screw through a lot easier. For that matter I could probably bend some flat titanium around the back to make a bail ring also but I like the round ring idea better. Threading the brass of these handles is no problem so I can mount a bail across the back on each side with a screw on each side and being brass it should look like it matches. I would probably make it so it doesn't flip around by pivoting like you see them if I did it. So I may need to make the flat spot on each side so it could accomadate two screws one right above the other in line. I'd then mount the clip separate so you would be able to remove it if you wanted without losing the lanyard feature.

It may take some experimentation but I can probably come up with something of that nature easier than incorporating it into the pocket clip.

I will toy with some ideas and we'll chat about it somemore. Post your thoughts. I'll check in in a bit.

STR
 
Tizwin your proposal is a great idea in theory but I'd have to remake the spring holder out of titanium and honestly, after having had experience playing with that spring and the inner working of that folder I'm not sure its strong enough to handle the spring in that thing. If someone had the means to make it out of steel and heat treat it like the one in it that would be the ticket but cost prohibitive for the backyard knife mechanic like myself.

STR
 
OK Steve,
I vizualize what you saying about the bail, but I'm concerned that it might be too complicated for an outdoors knife.

I'd like to use you knife in your signature line as an example, seeing that it has two holes in it already to get to the screws. In everyday carry, I'm not going to use a lanyard even though you signature line knife has two in the clip. However, when I go out fishing in a canoe I'm going to attach a dummy cord to the knife through the hole provided because I don't want to lose it overboard. The fraying of the cord would take a few days, at least, in my experience w/ 550 cord.

Maybe, the hole could be drilled in the titanium, a piece of brass inserted then drilled out, and then buffed out and flattened w/ a hammer ala Fred Perrin and some of his la griffe models. That way the sharp edges on the hole in the titanium are covered in a layer of smoother brass. Did I write that clearly?

Thanks,
Chris
 
Yes I follow you. I will make a clip as you want and do a hole that will overhang off for a cord to go through. I'll show you before drilling or mounting anything to the folder though. It will have to be tomorrow as I want to play with some card cut outs and sleep on it before moving forward with it. Some of my best ideas come to me at night. ;)

STR
 
Well, I've been toying with some ideas and all I can say is I'm going to cut out some samples of them in titanium later today and let you decide. I'll say now that I think this is going to give new meaning to the term 'fugly ugly' though. Nothing I've come up with is all that attractive at all Chris. Not that pocket clips are the easiest thing to make look good on a folder anyway. Many times they in fact take away from the knives which is a pet peve of many. I'll show you and we can discuss it more then.

STR
 
Steve,
I look forward to seeing what you have in mind. A lot of people say "Brass has No Class" and "Wood No Good" whenever they see the buck 110. It works and has lasted this long for a reason however. I think any type of pocket clip would make it more fuctional. Good Luck , Buddy.
Chris
 
I apologize. I got sidetracked away from shop jobs by my other half today. I'll try to get it done for you tomorrow so you can see what I am speaking of. Sorry.

STR
 
Ok Chris here are a couple of rough prototypes (keep in mind wide and rough yet) showing the two best ideas I could muster both cut out in titanium. Either will work and I'll leave which up to you.

STR
 
Hey Steve,
The second one looks like it would be more comfortable, and I like the looks of it more. Thanks for doing the roughcuts and showing the different ideas. I appreciate it.

Steve, I believe you're right about the hole being fugly above the screws. Can you just cut the section that contains the hole off, round it even w/ the rear bolster, and drill a hole below the screws like in your signature knife's clip? I am very sorry for being a pain in the behind about it, but the protrusion sticking up past the end of the knife would make it more obvious in the pocket. I often shy away from carrying my paramilitary because I think it shows too much in the pocket. Do you still plan to put three screws in instead of two?

Again, I'm sorry about being wishy washy, and I appreciate what you're doing for me.
Thanks,
Chris
 
I was just going to do two screws to hold it on the knife.

So I take it you will tie through the pocket clip hole? I am not sure where you want me to put this hole you speak of like the one in my signiture line.

STR
 
Hey Steve,
Yea, I'll just tie through the pocket clip hole. I think it would be best right where the clip bends to create the space for clipping.
Thanks,
Chris
 
Got it. I will have to get to it tomorrow my friend.

Thanks

STR
 
Well, I can only hope this is somewhere near what you have in mind Chris. Let me know.

Thanks

STR
 
Steve,
That's exactly what I had in mind. The knife looks great. How does it feel in the hand? What do you think about it? I know it's gonna be heavy in the pocket, but I've got other heavy knives that I've gotten used to carrying. Thanks very much,
Chris
 
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