Dig deep my Buck think tank. 1949 117

Makael

Makael

Loving wife, kids and life.
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Oct 17, 2015
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I ordered a old unidentifiable knife that looks similar to a 1949 Buck 117. The one I got for almost nothing is similar but no bolster. Does anyone know much about this ? The logo almost looks like a hammer and nail. Crappy pics. For 99 cents I'm sure its a cool old knife.Screenshot_20180702-200805.jpg Screenshot_20180702-200742.jpg Screenshot_20180702-200518.jpg
 
I believe it's a Hammer Brand. Should be a forearm holding a pony sledge? I change my mind...Can you make out what the image may be at all?
 
A historical 117 folder, generally was made from purchased surplus lifeboat knives available in San Diego after the war. Blades were hand made ground and BUCK only stamped on the tang. Usually in single letter stamping. ( Anyone who has ever tried that knows how hard it is to keep straight ) Scales were often jigged material of some type. The photo of a really nice one I pulled off web has a brass pin in the bolster. Let me see if I can find the photo because I don't have one in collection, too pricey in past. I was willing to go to $ 300 in mid 2000's but by then everyone was wanting $1,000 for good ones. Rumor was there was only about 300 to 350 ever made. 300Bucks

Very nice example of a 117 (I think the original offer on this one was $2000)
xlarge.jpg
 
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300Bucks said:
A historical 117 folder, generally was made from purchased surplus lifeboat knives available in San Diego after the war. Blades were hand made ground and BUCK only stamped on the tang. Usually in single letter stamping. ( Anyone who has ever tried that knows how hard it is to keep straight ) Scales were often jigged material of some type. The photo of a really nice I pulled off web has a brass pin in the bolster. Let me see if I can find the photo because I don't have one in collection, too pricey in past. I was willing to go to $ 300 in mid 2000's but by then everyone was wanting $1,000 for good ones. Rumor was there was only about 300 to 350 ever made. 300Bucks
Click to expand...

I have a couple of liferaft knives, 1 with the sheath. Mine has wooden handles that float and the tip of blade is blunt as to not poke a hole in the raft. They were made by Wes*ern...I didn't know there were other Manufacturers or styles...
 
You are correct in your description. Hoyt Buck 'took' some of those knives and 'rebladed' them with hand ground and tempered blades from old files ( took out your round tip blades) in an effort to make a sort of ' regular' folding (pocket) knife he offered for sale.
You will need a Prof. Peabody 'Way Back' machine to see how it was done.
 
300Bucks said:
You are correct in your description. Hoyt Buck 'took' some of those knives and 'rebladed' them with hand ground and tempered blades from old files ( took out your round tip blades) in an effort to make a sort of ' regular' folding (pocket) knife he offered for sale.
You will need a Prof. Peabody 'Way Back' machine to see how it was done.
Click to expand...

So are we talking apples to apples?
 
No that was a speciality life boat knife. The ones that H. Buck 'altered' had large sheepsfoot type single blades he removed and replaced with his hand made clip blade. Over in Traditional Forum they have a Lifeboat knife thread, I will see if I can find it and give a link. At the time there was some talk about these early Buck folders and how rare and high priced they were. As you will see in the link below the 'body' of the knife is not uncommon, only the BUCK modified ones were rare and $$. They can be easily faked so take high caution on buying one. I thought the one I am showing above was a fake because it was so nice but it had some provenance to go with it...The blade looked too shiny to me, most of the ones known as real have some patina.....300

Try post #26 In this link
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sailors-of-the-sheepsfoot-main.1585606/page-2
 
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300Bucks said:
No that was a speciality life boat knife. The ones that H. Buck 'altered' had large sheepsfoot type single blades he removed and replaced with his hand made clip blade. Over in Traditional Forum they have a Lifeboat knife thread, I will see if I can find it and give a link. At the time there was some talk about these early Buck folders and how rare and high priced they were. As you will see in the link below the 'body' of the knife is not uncommon, only the BUCK modified ones were rare and $$. They can be easily faked so take high caution on buying one. I thought the one I am showing above was a fake because it was so nice but it had some provenance to go with it...The blade looked too shiny to me, most of the ones known as real have some patina.....300

Try post #26 In this link
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sailors-of-the-sheepsfoot-main.1585606/page-2
Click to expand...

Thanks 300...
 
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