Custom knife arrived, small problem...

C

Carl64

Joined
Apr 3, 2005
Messages
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The knife is a work of unimaginable beauty. I say that because when I opened the box somehow it was so much more appealing than I had expected. It's 100% amazing.

The problem is the sheath. I got the tan leather sheath because in the picture it was a flat design and generally different from the black one, which I never cared for. The one I got is basically just like the black one, but it's too small for the knife! It's too tight from the sides, squeezing the blade down into the handle. It's too short and I can't get it in enough to snap it shut. if I snap the sheath closed without the knife, I can see the knife would have to go down all the way to the stitching, which isn't possible because the bottom of the pocket tapers down at just under 45 degrees, so the leather would have to do some incredible stretching which I am not sure would be possible even if I soaked it in water first. Do NOT get the tan sheath, it sucks and it isn't the one pictured. It has a 111 on the back, which I think is the same as a 110 but with ironwood scales so I would think it would fit but it doesn't.


More good stuff on the knife itself...
The wood (cherrywood) looks great. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it happens to match some very expensive furniture a friend once had and I always liked.

The BG42 blade is just a little more polished than a standard 110, even though I think they are supposed to be the same level of finish. It's also more carefully finished than a 110 you would get from a store. They usually have a noticable different finish on part of the tang.

If anyone doesn't know, the BUCK stamp is similar to the old style stamp. Fancy schmancy letters instead of standard type of some sort. The front says CUSTOM and the back says DESIGNER'S CHOICE. I didn't get any engraving so I don't know how that turns out.

The edge is insanely sharp, although standard 110 comes that way too. I can't wait to see how the BG42 holds up.
 
Last year, before they closed down the custom shop, I ordered a custom 110 and selected the brown sheath. Like yours, it seemed too small for the knife. It took me the better part of a weeks worth of forcing to get the leather to stretch enough to accomodate the 110. As a second comment, there was no felt pad on the inside next to the snap. Check to see if yours has it. If it doesn't, there will be an impression created on the adjacent scale after only a few days. Get a round piece of felt meant for the bottom of a vase and use it in the sheath. You can get the little circles with adhesive from a drug store or hardware store.
 
My tan sheath says 110 and is a fold over design with stitching along the one side. It was tight but at least I got the knife to finally fit. This year I ordered the nylon sheath. For future 110's, I may just order the nylon but then look for custom sheaths.
 
Congrats on the Buck custom! I think you'll be pleased with the BG-42.

Send that sheath back for either a new leather or a nylon. Buck takes care of its customers. FWIW, I prefer the nylon sheaths actually. Not as "old school," but they're lighter, dry faster when wet, and can be carried vertically or horizontally. I have a Cabela's S30V coming, and I picked up a regular 110 today. Both have leather sheaths, but I'll be buying nylon for both of them.

That's a good tip on the felt pad, Mike.
 
Guys,

Keep an eye on those felt stickies. My wife has been putting them on all my sheaths. After a few months we noticed that some of the adhesive was coming off and smearing all over the knife and inside the sheath.

I don't know right now, but it looks like the tanning, or oil in the leather could be reacting to the adhesive on the felts.

Not a huge problem, just kind of a pain to clean the knives.
 
It occurs to me that, with the nylon sheath at least, you could easily sew in a piece of black non-sticky felt. Just use some black heavy thread and spot stitch it in a few places.
 
I ordered my bg42's with the brown sheath also. I managed to score a 110 in a brown sheath back in April. Maybe it is broke in enough to use in the new ones.

But sounds like the Stag handles I ordered may take up a touch more space. But have a few extra black ones so I may be ok. Looking for my new ones this week or early next week.
 
On Tuesday I ordered a custom 110 with the tan sheath. :(

I like the looks of it, so I may take the time to make it work.

Or maybe I should email the custom shop and ask them to send the black sheath instead? :confused:
 
KeithAM said:
On Tuesday I ordered a custom 110 with the tan sheath. :(

I like the looks of it, so I may take the time to make it work.

Or maybe I should email the custom shop and ask them to send the black sheath instead? :confused:
Click to expand...

You might not like the looks of it, because if you ordered it Tuesday you haven't actually seen it yet. It's not the one shown on the website. At least mine isn't.
 
Thanks Carl. I emailed Buck (both the custom shop address and the store address) and asked them to change the sheath to black. We'll see if it arrives that way.
 
Currently, and Buck will gasp at this, I am carrying my nice new 110 in a Schrade cheap nylon sheath. It fits fine and it's a velcro flap, so there is no internal metal snap part to scratch my little darling.

Back to my beautiful knife, the rivet-less handle looks great. I can understand why some people think it would not look strong without them, but not when you see it in person with perfectly finished wood and the bolsters and inserts fit together so well. When something is put together as nicely as this, it looks solid.

But I think I will get rivets on the next one. I am going to do a hard-use model with finger grooves, so I think the rivet look will fit well. I generally don't like serrated blades, but with a grooved handle maybe? And that ridged-looking black horn stuff?
 
I am going to attempt my first pic post here.

A while back I snagged a 110 that has nickle silver bolsters and the fiji orangewood handles. It started life as a Workman Model and was a serious user. It was beat all tocrap with a badly damaged blade.

It went to the repair guys at Buck and came back with a new blade with the Idaho tang and all nice and polished looking almost new. Previous to that I found a 110 in a blister pack with one of the brown sheaths with the curved bottom. Snatched it up just for the sheath.

With the ns and orangewood it goes beautifully in the brown sheath. It fits great as long as the blade edge is turned toward the seamed edge of the sheath. Doesn't bind at all when snapping closed.

I hope this is the sheath that comes with my two customs.

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Well, the corners are rounded but basically yes, it's square compared to the one you have. The back part of flat and the front part is boxed-out to hold the knife. Pretty much just like the black one, except the opening at the top of the pocket is cut at an angle. The flap and sheath are symetrical on the outside.
 
I got the curved bottom tan sheath with my custom last year. I'm wondering if Buck interchanges the style of sheath depending on what they have in stock. It may be worth a call into the custom shop to clarify what they actually will be sending out in the way of tan sheaths.
 
I just looked at the Custom Shop page and the sheath I posted is the one they show if you order the Tan. I will be ticked if something else shows up.
 
LFH said:
I just looked at the Custom Shop page and the sheath I posted is the one they show if you order the Tan. I will be ticked if something else shows up.
Click to expand...

Bad news. I just called talked to someone at Buck (Heather I think, but I always forget names when I talk on the phone) and got some info.

The picture is due to be changed soon. The one shown is discontinued and no longer available.

She said the sheath is made tight on purpose so it will stretch out to fit perfectly so the knife doesn't rattle in the sheath. I think it could be made to be closer to the right size to begin with, but I guess it makes sense because I have Schrades with sheaths that are too big and they do indeed flop back and forth. Still, I would prefer the flat sheath which would prevent rattling too.

She offered to send me either the black leather or cordura sheath, and I picked the cordura (I don't have to send the other one back). You should probably call if you don't want to end up with a 111 sheath.

Since I get to keep the tan leather sheath, I will use it for an experiment. I will soak it in water tonight and see if it can be stretched and shaped to fit nicely and let everyone know how that works out.

AND...we are due to get more "more options" for handles next year.
 
Too bad about those nice-looking tan sheaths. Glad Buck is taking care of you though.

Carl, I'm curious, how long did it take Buck to get the knife to you? I ordered one a couple of weeks ago and wondered about how much longer it would be.

BTW, I just got an email from the Buck Shoppe. They said they'd send me the black sheath instead of the tan one. I was pleased that they responded to my email within a couple of hours. :thumbup:
 
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