Dymondwood?

The Fort

The Fort

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
4,253
Does anyone know why Buck uses the laminated woods on their base model 110/111/112s? Is it less likely to warp? Is it more stable? Is it cheaper to manufacture? Just wondering!🤔
 
im guessing but it should be more cost effective(might cost more though?) more stable for moisture humidity drying etc and wear long term better than stabilized wood alone.
 
I'm sure it's cheaper using a laminate of very high quality available as sheets with much less waste in the manufacturing process than stabilized natural grain pieces of no standard size would be. The natural pieces would be fine in the custom shop but I really doubt it could compare to the effiency of the sheet goods for mainline manufacturing.
 
Fort, welcome here. The solid woods Buck used back in the 70's (shedua, macassar ebony...) got harder to come by. Their supplier was not dependable. From India. So, they approached local companies. Thus Dymondwood was struck on. The supplier is dependable, it is very strong and stable. Much more so than a solid wood. So, in 1994 the switch was made to a laminate. And it has been this wood for the past 23 years. DM
 
David Martin said:
Fort, welcome here. The solid woods Buck used back in the 70's (shedua, macassar ebony...) got harder to come by. Their supplier was not dependable. From India. So, they approached local companies. Thus Dymondwood was struck on. The supplier is dependable, it is very strong and stable. Much more so than a solid wood. So, in 1994 the switch was made to a laminate. And it has been this wood for the past 23 years. DM
Click to expand...

Thank you! I appreciate that. I'm really beginning to enjoy these iconic knives. I never realized that there were so many variants.
 
Your welcome. Now, laminate gun stocks and many others are made. In the 40's they began making spars on airplanes with laminates. DM
 
In the 40's they began making spars on airplanes with laminates. DM
Click to expand...

The deHavilland Mosquito was essentially an all wood plane. Of course the laminates were a little thicker than those in Dymondwood.

Bert
 
Having just got my new (and first) Buck 110, I was wondering the same about the Dymondwood handle. The info in this thread was interesting and helpful.

May I take a side road for a moment? My daughter is sending me an e-card Christmas gift from Blade HQ. I'm looking at two very similar new Bucks -- both are Open Season Small Game knives. One is a 539 with a Dymondwood handle; the other is a 538 with (as advertised on their web page) a "Thermoplastic, Stainless Steel handle." I've had some difficulty finding good description(s) of the thermoplastic handle -- how made, quality versus wood, how well it maintains, etc. Wondering which is a better product to have as a Buck handle in my two choices?

Thanks for posting the Q, Fort -- and also for the info you posted, DM.
 
Last edited:
There's more to those knives than just the handles.

The wood handles should be S30V and the plastic is 420HC.

That being said, the rubber feels more slip resistant in blood-n-guts duty, but it's not enough of a difference to lure me from the S30V.
 
Rutland Plywood owned the name and sold Dymondwood until their plant burned down in 2014. Does anyone know who makes Dymondwood now? I expect the Rutland owners have licensed the name and the process and are just collecting royalties. I am sure they did not rebuild the plant. The Rutland Plywood website still says, "We hope to rebuild."
 
Someone found and posted the company name that now has the contract offering the laminate product to Buck. I'll keep searching. DM
 
Bert, yes. The Mosquito was a fast airplane that had the malady of snapping spars. However it was British built. The first American aircraft that had the wood laminate spar was the Lockheed Electra. And that technology made a difference. Both came out near the same time frame. DM
 
Last edited:
David Martin said:
Your welcome. Now, laminate gun stocks and many others are made. In the 40's they began making spars on airplanes with laminates. DM
Click to expand...

Fun fact.... Howard Hughes Spruce Goose seaplane from the 1940's is made almost entirely of Birch..... :)
 
Last edited:
Fort, said, 'is it less likely to warp,-- ' is it more stable?' "Just wondering." Thus, I wrote examples to show early uses of laminates applicable to his questions. Just historical uses of the laminate product. DM
 
Last edited:
Dymondwood® Material properties:
Specific Gravity: 1.06 to 1.16 (measured from 2011 stock)
Density: 0.61 to 0.67 oz per cubic inch (measured from 2011 stock)
29 veneers per inch average
 
Last edited:
Even more irrelevant: Hughes despised the nickname Spruce Goose.

Bert
 
David Martin said:
..... In the 40's they began making spars on airplanes with laminates. DM
Click to expand...

David gave a pretty good example... read this comment about the Spruce Goose, built in the 1940's... Sounds like it was made out of laminated Birch similar to Dymondwood used in our knife handles.... Sometimes going off track can bring you right back to where you wanted to be... ;o)

The Spruce Goose was and is amazing. Its made almost entirely out of birch veneer strips which were heated and compressed together with epoxy. Tests showed that it was more durable and stronger than aluminum. This was used mainly because the military wouldn't allow aluminum to be used for the prototype due to war needs.
 
Last edited:
I believe you're correct. My Father in Law has seen it and verified that. It flew one time and was put back in it's hanger in Long Beach. Not moved until just recently. Some commented that the wood laminates were still sound. Someone on this Forum posted a picture of a 110 they found in a Idaho river (underwater)and it's wood handles were fine. No telling how long it had laid in the gravel and water. I wish that knife could talk. Ha, DM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top