How does Buck make good knives out of 420HC?

When visiting friends in the PNW in the late 80s, we talked about the decline in mill jobs. They told me it was cheaper to send logs by boat to the pacific rim, have them milled into lumber and sent back as lumber. When I worked in software around 2000, you could hire 8 programmers in India for the price of 1 in the US.
 
Plumb you make a good point, about the marking made in China, when or if the blades are made in the US.
 
Dare I say that there is a level of "marketying hype" involved in the knife steel debate, also. Yes, there are differences between different grades of metal, but don't forget that man managed to survive a long time (and pretty well I might add) with only stone blades, and then later with much lesser metals than our "lowly" 420HC. Maybe it's more about function than form. Kinda like Honda versus "insert luxury car brand here"...I'll take a Honda that I can run for 250,000 miles without much difficulty, even if it is perceived as being less than some others.
 
Last edited:
It doesn't matter to me if Buck was using rusty old re-bar....their USA made knives are made to cut & last. Buy one, find out what the rest of us already know
 
Scott Hartman said:
It doesn't matter to me if Buck was using rusty old re-bar....their USA made knives are made to cut & last. Buy one, find out what the rest of us already know
Click to expand...

Problem is we aren't talking about Us made knives. The discussion is on the 420j2 steel and how it preforms, where it's made and so on. Everybody loves 420HC but not much is known about the steel being used in the off shore produced Buck knives.
 
mbjannusch said:
Problem is we aren't talking about Us made knives. The discussion is on the 420j2 steel and how it preforms, where it's made and so on. Everybody loves 420HC but not much is known about the steel being used in the off shore produced Buck knives.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry...I thought pastormarty started the thread and asked: "How does Buck make good knives out of 420HC?"

Seems the thread turned towords a 420J2 discussion
 
Scott Hartman said:
I'm sorry...I thought pastormarty started the thread and asked: "How does Buck make good knives out of 420HC?"

Seems the thread turned towords a 420J2 discussion
Click to expand...

No need to be sorry. You actually were going with the original topic and not what it morphed into and that's fine.
 
scott, my mistake, I guess I got caught up in the thread as it morphed. Threads have a way of morphing into other topics.
 
It's all good, my point is; it shouldn't matter if Buck is using a sub-standard steel by "current" industry standards, as long as their heat treat process gets their knives to a level that keeps them sharp & customers happy.
Possibly, if Frank Richtig had not taken his heat treat process to the grave with him, current production knives could have benefitted from his secret process. Maybe 420J2 could be the next super steel, if given the right heat treat & temper. Now I know it's not very likely, but it does make for interesting conversation
 
I have always heard Latrobe has a special recipe for the Buck 420hc contract. Maybe a wee bit of Molybdenum or Vandium...not sure. Could be just a super double secret wive's tale too, but I know folks. ;)

Latrobe 420 HC Stainless Steel

Manufacturer: Latrobe Specialty Steel

420HC is a medium carbon stainless steel used extensively by Buck knives, and more specifically in the popular Buck 110. Paul Bos of Buck Knives does the heat treatment of 420HC and is considered to be one of the best, allowing the steel to take an extremely fine edge, rivaling even some of the premium steels in edge sharpness.

However, that sharp edge will not last as long with 420HC as with many other steels. It is only hardenable to RC55 and has fairly low wear resistance, so will require sharpening quite regularly. Compared with 440C, 420HC is much tougher and more corrosion resistant, even with its lower chromium content.
 
Last edited:
However, that sharp edge will not last as long with 420HC as with many other steels. It is only hardenable to RC55
Click to expand...

Buck says it can be hardened to 58 and I believe them based on my use.

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top