Getting Very Frustrated with Buck Knives!

[Daniel]

Let me preface this by stating that I love Buck Knives. I like the company and their product and have many of them since the early 70's. I even joined the BCCI!

I am getting increasingly frustrated, though, in their consistency in fit and finish.

I get one knife that functions perfectly and has wonderful fit and finish. The blade opening and closing is smooth and it locks up solid. Then, I get one that grinds on opening and closing and the blade rubs the liner. It has happened over and over. It is hit or miss for me lately.

I received one of the first auto 110's shipped. It was stellar--perfect in every way. Opened with authority and the finish was beautiful. But, the sheath put moderately deep scratches on both sides of the bolster when I tried putting the knife in it twice. One scratch on one side and when I tried it the other way, another scratch. Well, Buck made good and replaced it. They are great in customer service! But, the second one was not nearly as good as the first one. It opens a lot slower and the finish is not as good. Plus, the bolsters were already tarnished.

I received a 112 today. Not a regular one, but a limited edition-new. I can barely open it, it is so tight. I have been working the pivot with more oil-open and closed over and over, but it is still to tight. Now, I know that I can send it to Buck and they will do something to make it right. But, why should I have to???

I just received two more 112's a few weeks back and they were both perfect-sweet! I bought a Marksman Elite and it is perfect! Why can't they do this nearly every time??

I am getting very frustrated. I want to continue buying Buck knives, but I am seriously considering just selling the many that I have now and never buying any more.

 

[Old Hunter]

I'd keep the good ones and sell off the ones you don't like. I try not to mail order much anything that has more than two moving parts unless I have no other choice. One place I've done well has been buying knives off Blade and other knife forums from fellow collectors- the ones that describe the action of the knives that their selling. Most knife guys are pretty picky about their knives so you'll know what you are getting. OH

 

[ohen cepel]

I know where you're coming from on this. I had a custom shop knife I ordered directly from them which was not up to standard, especially for a custom shop knife. I won't make excuses for them but do agree with Old Hunter, I tend to go to my local shop to check things out before I buy them. They have a great selection and I can select the one I want rather than luck of the draw via mail order.

 

[jbmonkey]

the sheer lack of qualified labor, and/or that have pride of workmanship ethics while being able to produce fast is very rare today in all industries. combine that with high volume production needs of box stores like walmart and online like amazon at low prices...it doesnt allow for consistent high quality very easily if at all.

benchmade as one random example is having many of the same consistentcy problems. they arent alone. i buy and collect many brands and i see these same issues in many brands. some more than others.

until the robots are here in full force in manufacturing we wont see what everyone wants. i dont believe people will get back on the horse of high pride of workmanship and speed and consistency. hope im wrong but i see the future will be more robots and less good jobs.

 

[JD Bear]

I hear you on this. I just got a 110 that was a limited production and the price of a custom shop knife, which is not cheap for me. It was my first ever stag knife and I was so excited to get it. The grinds are horribly uneven, which normally wouldn't bother me that much but it was a black oxide blade and it really stands out and it's all I can see when I look at it. I know that's nit picky, but like I said, it was a lot of money for me. It was also way too tight when opened and it was actually rubbing some of the coating off the blade above the pivot. This might not bother me either, but I can see where the bolster was "over-peened" and basically is misshapen...if that makes sense. So I don't think it's something that will break in over time. It's in a box to go back to Buck today and hopefully they can help it out a little. I didn't want to send it back to where I got it because they took the time to hand pick stag that I specifically requested and the issues were out of their control. The function of the knife wasn't compromised, but it could have been done a little better. I'm sure Buck will come up with something to make it nicer for me. I got a limited run 112 from the same company a little while ago, and it was perfect. Same with a little 302 I got that was flawless. Goes to show that the price doesn't always affect the final outcome. Don't know it that's a good or a bad thing....

 

[VorpalRain]

Bottom line is that Buck should do better on quality control. Employees are allowing poorly made knives to leave the factory.
Now........the reason this works is that a fairly good percentage of the crappy knives are never returned to be replaced or repaired. Too many people are too busy or too lazy to take the time and trouble to return them to buck.
It's mostly just a few real knife nuts who care enough to take the time to get it resolved.
So......Buck has little incentive to improve quality control.
I do not see this as something that will change. A few rants here over the years have clearly had no impact.

 

[Badhammer]

While I can agree to some extent the fact is we have no idea how many knives get returned to Buck for warranty/quality issues. Last figure I saw from 2011 was that Buck produces 1,5000,000 knives annually. If 15,000 were returned that's what, 1%? Buck and every other maker needs to improve but is it really as bad as it might seem based on posts in this forum?

 

[Xr6x]

Bottom line is that Buck should do better on quality control. Employees are allowing poorly made knives to leave the factory.
Now........the reason this works is that a fairly good percentage of the crappy knives are never returned to be replaced or repaired. Too many people are too busy or too lazy to take the time and trouble to return them to buck.
It's mostly just a few real knife nuts who care enough to take the time to get it resolved.
So......Buck has little incentive to improve quality control.
I do not see this as something that will change. A few rants here over the years have clearly had no impact.

Your right, I sent some 722s with s30v blades from c&c that I bought some time ago back to Buck they fixed them . Buck knows that knife model has issues with the use of the weak spring lock arm. You think they would go ahead and put the upgrade part in. I recently bought the Red one from c&c thinking the issues should be history (NOT) this time I just sent back to c&c for a refund. Red is my grandsons favorite color is why wanted it in the first place. Oh well. It's a huge Bummer this crap seems to not matter like it should. QC needs help at Buck

 

[Makael]

While I can agree to some extent the fact is we have no idea how many knives get returned to Buck for warranty/quality issues. Last figure I saw from 2011 was that Buck produces 1,5000,000 knives annually. If 15,000 were returned that's what, 1%? Buck and every other maker needs to improve but is it really as bad as it might seem based on posts in this forum?

Thats probably about right. There is always going to be a percentage of culls.

 

[JD Bear]

While I can agree to some extent the fact is we have no idea how many knives get returned to Buck for warranty/quality issues. Last figure I saw from 2011 was that Buck produces 1,5000,000 knives annually. If 15,000 were returned that's what, 1%? Buck and every other maker needs to improve but is it really as bad as it might seem based on posts in this forum?

You're right, and it's a small percentage. I mentioned in my post that out of the past three I've gotten from C&C, two were great and one wasn't. And it wasn't their problem at all so I'll make sure I'm clear about that. I'm taking a break from Case, which is my second favorite brand because every other knife I got from them was borderline junk in regards to QC. I don't want to see the same happen to Buck. I know that even if something isn't right, all I have to do is contact them and it will be taken care of. That being said, I hate having to wait six to eight weeks to get my knife back when it should be good to begin with. Luck of the draw I reckon...

 

[JayC783]

I, too, have some Buck knives that are up and down on the quality. I've got two Spitfires that are noticeably different from each other when handling them. I love the Spitfire, but we're all rather familiar with what they're like, so I'll leave it at that. The Buck that I have that really surprised me in the quality was my Alaskan Guide 110. That knife isn't cheap. It looks amazing. When it arrived I was not disappointed with how it looks. However, the blade sharpening left a lot to be desired. The father back from the tip you went, the duller the blade got. By the time you got to the tang it was, well, blunt. For a knife that cost that much it was disappointing to say the least. I have the Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System with upgrade kit which uses diamond plates. It was easy to sharpen up with the diamond plates, but on a knife that expensive it shouldn't have needed anything. Since S30V is rather hard, the Alaskan Guide knives come with free lifetime sharpening from Buck. I'm sure Buck would have taken care of it, but again, it shouldn't have to be that way with a brand new knife like that. I keep thinking about a non-knife enthusiast that might by one because of the Cabela's name or something, and find out he has an extremely hard time sharpening his new knife with a dull edge. I know I'm overthinking it, and like I said, I did fix the problem easy enough. In all honesty, since I had the tools, it was a minor issue. It's just bugged me, though. With that said, Buck is still really the only brand of knife I want to buy.

 

[Makael]

Bottom line is that Buck should do better on quality control. Employees are allowing poorly made knives to leave the factory.
Now........the reason this works is that a fairly good percentage of the crappy knives are never returned to be replaced or repaired. Too many people are too busy or too lazy to take the time and trouble to return them to buck.
It's mostly just a few real knife nuts who care enough to take the time to get it resolved.
So......Buck has little incentive to improve quality control.
I do not see this as something that will change. A few rants here over the years have clearly had no impact.

I'm sure Buck does a great job on quality control. You have to be real and look how many they produce on a daily basis. And yes there are going to be a certain amount of bad knives go out the door. That cannot be helped. Its a fact that everything manufactured has a certain amount of bad product. No one likes waiting for a knife to arrive in the mail and Im sure the thought of sending one out for service is more frustrating. Its a good thing the Buck service department is second to none.

 

[JOEBLACKS]

QUESTION, How many knives does Buck Knives produce daily in the U.S. Oh HELLO my first post. Is there an answer for that?

 

[kossetx]

Howdy joe, given the estimate of 1.5 mil a year it would come to 4110 per 365 days.

Every company gives disappointments but drove to waco to look at the AG 110's. The Dymondwood scales were all chamfered to meet the bolsters. I asked to see 3 and they were all like that. I didn't understand that. I seems like it would be a lot easier to thickness them to match the bolsters.

 

[Makael]

Howdy joe, given the estimate of 1.5 mil a year it would come to 4110 per 365 days.

Every company gives disappointments but drove to waco to look at the AG 110's. The Dymondwood scales were all chamfered to meet the bolsters. I asked to see 3 and they were all like that. I didn't understand that. I seems like it would be a lot easier to thickness them to match the bolsters.

Im not sure if that qualifies as a defect. Some do and some dont. But I do tend to like the ones that dont have the chamfer.
Bought at different times.

All bought on the same day at the factory.

 

[JOEBLACKS]

Thank You for your answer kossetx. How long of a drive to Waco. I just looked and my AG's 110's have a minor taper to the bolster hardly noticeable. The ones above look all over the board. Are those AG's they don't have a label on the blade.Still nice 110's. I guess some pieces of laminate are thicker than others.


WOW!! Thats like a whole collection bought at once. Must be nice to live close to the factory store. I like the one without the nail nick. I bet that was a costly knife.

 

[Makael]

Thank You for your answer kossetx. How long of a drive to Waco. I just looked and my AG's 110's have a minor taper to the bolster hardly noticeable. The ones above look all over the board. Are those AG's they don't have a label on the blade.Still nice 110's. I guess some pieces of laminate are thicker than others.


WOW!! Thats like a whole collection bought at once. Must be nice to live close to the factory store. I like the one without the nail nick. I bet that was a costly knife.

Love the AG series.

 

[scottyj]

Bottom line is that Buck should do better on quality control. Employees are allowing poorly made knives to leave the factory.
Now........the reason this works is that a fairly good percentage of the crappy knives are never returned to be replaced or repaired. Too many people are too busy or too lazy to take the time and trouble to return them to buck.
It's mostly just a few real knife nuts who care enough to take the time to get it resolved.
So......Buck has little incentive to improve quality control.
I do not see this as something that will change. A few rants here over the years have clearly had no impact.

In red. I LOVE the 110, and would buy perfect examples all day long. The problem is finding one free of flaws. Buck slams these together in fifteen minutes. The other part I feel is that if a guy gets a 110 with a wobbly blade, or a badly leaning blade to one side he figures oh well its only like $40 bucks....I'll just throw it in my tool box, or glove compartment and forget about it. Like its not worth the time and hassle of sending it back to Buck. I hate to admit......I've gotten brand new 110's out of the box, found a serious flaw, and either gave it away, or tossed it into the junk drawer. I wont buy a 110 without putting hands, and eyes on it first. And for 40 bucks its not worth returning.
Edit: In that video of how Buck builds the 110.....the person responsible for final inspection is some kid....Mike. It's actually shocking to see a kid in that position. Correct me if I'm wrong....but shouldn't the final inspection person be someone of experience, and have a working knowledge of what a 110 is supposed to be? I'm pretty sure that the 110 is the knife that has carried this company for this long, and they deserve to be perfect.

 

[DocT]

This is far from the first thread on this subject. If this is happening, and I know all of these people are not make this stuff up, I hope someone from Buck reads these threads and Buck addresses the issues, especially in the Custom Shop. Great customer service is fine, but a company should strive towards being so high quality that customer service warrantee is no longer used.

 

[Makael]

I wish I knew the ratio of warranty vs production. There is going to be a certain amount of Blem knives. Most of the blems I see are impossible to find the Blem. So standards are high but somehow some get out the door.