I have bought a Buck 120 pro about a month ago and it’s in pretty much perfect conditions, if it wasn’t for the fact that the guard, which is made in aluminum afaik, is absolutely beat up and scratched by, I am fairly sure, the faulty sheath that came with it, which tightens down on the handle/guard way too much, allowing the leather to “bite” into the aluminum. It bugs me, as I own several other buck knives, let alone from lower end lines such as the 119 special, and none of them have this issue. I was thinking of either polishing the guard, then getting a new sheath to see if that solves it, or maybe have some kind of customization done to it. I know the brass guard/pommel bucks are much more rugged and scratch/wear resistant, but is there any way to have some kind of layer of tougher steel laid down over the original aluminum guard or is it pure fantasy? I was thinking of also maybe getting it rehandled with better guard/pommel materials, though I worry that so much drama being put on the tang may compromise its overall stability. It’s honestly so baffling that they use aluminum on their high end knives when even some basic 420j2 will put up much better to stress and scratches, which is something you’d like to see easily handled by a knife in this pricerange.
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Coating/Layer for Buck aluminium guard?
- Thread starter y53p
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Bill DeShivs
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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No, there is nothing you can put over the guard to make it harder.
Yes there is.
It's called anodising and it develops aluminium oxide (Al2O3) 2 to 50 microns thick on the surface of the aluminium workpiece.
This coat protects aluminium from oxidation but this coat is also very hard and gives high wear resistance.
I use anodising on work when parts for certain applications needs to be light but also wear resistant.
But… in this case (knife guard) the knife should be dissasembled so the owner of the knife would sent only the guard to be anodised and not the whole knife.
Bill DeShivs
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I was speaking in practical terms.
The guard could be removed and anodized and/or hard chrome plated, but that is much less practical than just making a new guard-which is also much less practical than leaving it alone.
And, it's anodize, not anodise.
The guard could be removed and anodized and/or hard chrome plated, but that is much less practical than just making a new guard-which is also much less practical than leaving it alone.
And, it's anodize, not anodise.
“anodise” in UK English, “anodize” in US English
Like most of the Buck fixed blades, the 120 Pro has a guard made of two thin pieces of aluminum with a thin piece of micarta epoxied in between. So unless someone can figure out how to separate all three pieces without ruining them, you're not going to be anodizing the guard of the Buck 120 Pro.
A piece of aluminum can be anodized, but if someone asked me if the guard of the Buck 120 Pro can be anodized, I'd say no.
But then there's this, they also epoxy the handle and pommel in place. The whole knife is epoxied together. There's no way of removing the handles without destroying them. And if a person were going to go through the trouble of destroying the handle in order to remove the guard, they might as well do what Bill said and make a new guard.
Buck didn't make the knife to be taken apart. If you can't take it apart without destroying the handle, and if you can't take the guard apart without destroying it, then again, like Bill said, the most practical thing to do is leave the knife as-is.
I've read on another forum about a person who wanted to send a 119 to Buck to have the handle replaced, and Buck refused saying that the handles of their fixed-blades are not replaceable. Even Buck won't take their fixed-blades apart.
A piece of aluminum can be anodized, but if someone asked me if the guard of the Buck 120 Pro can be anodized, I'd say no.
But then there's this, they also epoxy the handle and pommel in place. The whole knife is epoxied together. There's no way of removing the handles without destroying them. And if a person were going to go through the trouble of destroying the handle in order to remove the guard, they might as well do what Bill said and make a new guard.
Buck didn't make the knife to be taken apart. If you can't take it apart without destroying the handle, and if you can't take the guard apart without destroying it, then again, like Bill said, the most practical thing to do is leave the knife as-is.
I've read on another forum about a person who wanted to send a 119 to Buck to have the handle replaced, and Buck refused saying that the handles of their fixed-blades are not replaceable. Even Buck won't take their fixed-blades apart.
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That's a bummer.
I take all I wrote back.
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Sounds like most of the issue is with the sheath itself - perhaps with some dirt or grit embedded in the leather, which is making the rubbing/scratching more noticeable. I'd address that first, either by replacing the sheath or placing a layer of something softer, like cloth or glove leather in between the guard and the sheath.
Aluminum also polishes up very easily and will also quickly respond to some high-grit sanding (800+) to clean up any deeper scratches.
I have an old Western fixed blade with a brass guard. I'd noticed years ago, the guard seemed to have been coated with a lacquer-type finish from manufacture. The guard never stained, scratched or oxidized over the 50+ years I've had it (given to me as new, back in late '60s or early '70s), having ALWAYS been stored in the sheath. Didn't realize it was coated until many years later, when some of the coating started to rub off and the brass underneath started to stain green (with verdigris) in contact with the leather snap strap on the sheath. Maybe some sort of clearcoat might help a bit and might be worth considering.
Aluminum also polishes up very easily and will also quickly respond to some high-grit sanding (800+) to clean up any deeper scratches.
I have an old Western fixed blade with a brass guard. I'd noticed years ago, the guard seemed to have been coated with a lacquer-type finish from manufacture. The guard never stained, scratched or oxidized over the 50+ years I've had it (given to me as new, back in late '60s or early '70s), having ALWAYS been stored in the sheath. Didn't realize it was coated until many years later, when some of the coating started to rub off and the brass underneath started to stain green (with verdigris) in contact with the leather snap strap on the sheath. Maybe some sort of clearcoat might help a bit and might be worth considering.
Thank you for the in depth insight and advice, much appreciated. I’ve already polished the guard with some flitz and ordered a new sheath, so I’ll see if that fixes it. If not I’ll try some aluminum clear coating and/or something between the guard and sheath as you suggested.
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Back in the day I had a few Western fixed blades and if my feeble memory serves me the instructions in the box mentioned parts were coated with jeweler's lacquer.I don't know specifically what that is though.