Did buck make a “real’ Cocobolo knive

Jsega51 said:
Is the walnut option in the custom shop not walnut?
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Not real walnut. Aside from the Palm, and now Ebony, (and possibly the Iron Wood) Buck's wood covers are stained laminated birch.
For years the Ebony covers were stained laminated birch as well.
 
afishhunter said:
For years the Ebony covers were stained laminated birch as well.
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I'm pretty sure that the laminated ebony 110 handles still had actual ebony as the top layer for appearance. Oak comes to mind also. They could do this on "flat" handles where it was not necessay to shape the handles like on a fixed blade exposing the lower layers. That is what gives the fixed blade handles the distinctive bulls eye appearance.
 
I think they should have used other names like burnt carmel or dark chocolate or wheat or something like that instead of a name of a wood species. That would have eliminated the confusion. But who am I to know what sells better 😆 there’s probably a multitude of customers who don’t know the difference and maybe don’t care but for the more discerning customer it makes a difference.
 
If you want the 'Real Thing' there is a host of Custom Makers that will do it. Many at a reasonable cost too! As time goes on I'm less inclined to search for 100% factory knives and just have made exactly what I want. The biggest best part of that is you control the quality of the wood/horn/handle material. Buck has used some fantastic Ironwood in the last few years but it's still a crapshoot what you will get. Same with Rams horn or stag. Just do a search on Ebay or your computer for what you want and you can find SPECTACULAR looking handle materials.
 
jbmonkey said:
I like the dymondwood. doesn't bother me as its a quality product that is strong, water resistant, doesn't swell or shrink and durable. nothing to not like for a user.......
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I agree, for my user knives I prefer the diamond wood laminate or a stablized material like micarta. I still think the diamond wood looks good but I’m not worried about it much cuz it’s gonna get marks on them anyway. But I can certainly understand if a person is expecting the real wood for a collection.
 
Lesknife said:
I agree, for my user knives I prefer the diamond wood laminate or a stablized material like micarta. I still think the diamond wood looks good but I’m not worried about it much cuz it’s gonna get marks on them anyway. But I can certainly understand if a person is expecting the real wood for a collection.
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I’m with you there. I have no issues with Dymondwood, and actually just went out of my way to buy some Spyderco Mule scales out of Tek-Wood. It’s really durable, and looks great.

Getting one thing, when you’re expecting something else is a huge bummer though. A lot of people who have experience with Buck’s way of naming finishes have been aware of this for ages, but it still catches some people new to Buck, and even some old hats, off guard.

I think it would be a good thing if Buck was a little more careful in their descriptions, so people know what they are getting…. I agree that they probably should have just went with different names from the start, lol. At this point, I’d personally prefer them to just add Dymondwood* to the description of knives that use it. Not a huge change or anything.
 
zippo123 said:
Scored a old timer 1990 buck 119 ha, uh Cocobolo. Nice old beauty. Hower read the more honest description in the 1990 catelog
View attachment 1769822
https://flic.kr/p/2n9kRKj
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Wow. To be cynical (my go to reflex) - honesty has been replaced by $. I'm sure the marketing/sales departments figured out that Cocobolo or Walnut or Oak sells are much higher than "Laminated birchwood . . . coloring . . . of cocobola".

I wonder if it was a typo - "Cocobola". Instead of calling the new handles "Cocobolo" ?

EDIT: a quick search finds

Other Common Names: Black rosewood, cocobola, cocobolo, cocobolo nambar, cocobolo negro, cocobolo prieto, cocoboloholz, foseholz, funera, granadillo, granadillo de chontales, manarizoby, namba, nambar, nambar de agui, nambar legitimo, Nicaraguan cocobolo, Nicaraguan rosewood, nambar, palisandro, palissandre cocobolo, palo negro, prieto, red foxwood, rosewood, yellow rosewood.

Museum Conservation Institute | Museum Conservation Institute

www.si.edu www.si.edu

EDIT 2: Nice knife and cool sheath !
 
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zippo123 said:
Funny thing is, if you buy a basic bare bones 110 or 112, you get REAL ebony.

You buy a custom shop Bluewood, Oak or Walnut or any of the CooperClad exclusives, you pay a lot more and you get colored birchwood laminate.
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ya didn't a handful or so years ago....the real ebony just started again recently........
 
Another problem with the laminated handles is drastic color differences.

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These all came from the custom shop. All are CherryWood. The skinner is not even close to matching the others.
 
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