Ionfusion Bucks - What happened?

DaveH

DaveH

Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Messages
12,249
Whatever happened to this technology, that was the one sided coating correct?

I don't hear much about it anymore.

TIA,
DaveH
 
Dave, it's alive and well on 4 or 5 different models, I was looking at them in the 2K catalog recently. It's on, let's see, where is that thing, ah here it is. The models are;
110CH Folding Hunter
119X1 Special
180X4 Solitaire
180CH Crosslock (2 blades)
192CH Vanguard
I have the older model Solitare with the gold coating, it's held up fine, but I have not used it that hard, to tell the truth. It does seem to hold an edge for a long time though.
Hope this helps.

------------------
Buck Collectors Club Member
Knifeknut(just ask my wife)
Cetan Blood Brother
Military & Moran Admiration Society
 
Ionfusion is the old Buckcote. Same process, different name. It really works. I heard that during the development testing on the CATRA machine, they got some phenominal results with different coatings, occasionally, as much as 1000 times edge life.

Actual advertized edge retention is said to be about 8 times normal edge life under normal use, providing the knife is sharpened properly on one side only. (Kind of a chisel grind.) It works.

------------------
Dennis Wright
Wright Knife & Sporting Goods
1-800-400-1980
("Have a knife day!")
wrightknife@ixpres.com
 
This is one of those bits of technology that really deliver.

It has not been as successful as we had hoped and we thought that the gold color might be a turnoff for people. Gold looks like decoration and not something that should be on a "working" knife. We eliminated Gold and went to a Champagne color that is actually a zirconium impregnation of the surface. We still use the Aluminum/Titanium black on the sheath knives with black handles. It just looked better.

The lab tests we did had readings where we got bored waiting for these knives to dull. I have taken the knives in the field and in real life you flatten your edge as much as you wear it off. On applications where the edge wear is dramatic, the improvement with IonFusion will be that much more impressive.

I had a hunting guide that said his norm was to skin and quarter an elk and only have to sharpen his knife twice. He did two elk and wrote me back that the knife was still sharp. I asked him to let me know how far he went before needing to resharpen but did not hear from him again. The guy that developed this is Nathan Meckel and his business is only about a mile away from us. We are always testing things.

The technology impregnates the surface of the steel with a layer of ceramic, piled on top of itself one atom at a time. We have some graphics on our website. It is not a coating, which was why we moved away from the buckcote name.

I have forgotten how to send this as a link but the address is www.buckknives.com

I may have to go back to Moderator 101...again



------------------
CJ Buck
Buck Knives, Inc.
AKTI Member #PR00003


 
Indeed, 7 years! Wow! But..................The manufacturer's forums are to ask questions about the products are they not? And if one wants to know about a manufacture's processes/features, and if they are current, then where better to ask?
 
The Last Confederate said:
Wow, that's gotta be a new record, someone dragging up a 7+ year old thread. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think it's an interesting question...One that I'd like to hear answered...Perhaps with an explanation on why or why not... :):thumbup:

Hey, it's actually a pleasant surprise that someone else knows what the Search button is for... ;)
 
I posted here because of C. J. Buck's post in the above where he discussed the performance advantage.

-Cliff
 
A more transparent way of resurrecting an old thread would be to begin a new thread with a link to the old one, identifying its age, perhaps linking to a specific page or post number.

But in a case like this, that would be a lot of work for little gain -- the original thread is brief and to the point and an effective way to get new readers up to speed on the question.
 
The Ionfusion is no longer being made.
BUT, let me tell you, it is one wicked blade.
One of my favorite EDCs is a 110 Buckcote.
 
Did Buck release an official statement about why they were discontinued? It seems from the various forum responses that it was due to issues with sharpening and durability.

-Cliff
 
the hard edge is on only the color..
if you sharpen on both sides you loose all advantage
and (maybe) as it is miss use buck did not replace them
the edge will chip on hitting a bone as in a strike
the sharpe on one side also direct the cut to slant away from the bevel
japansse kitchen knives do this a lot but
meat cutters here dont seem to like it ,,,
it wont do well on wood i dont think ...
if it would i should think it would see it on planer blades which are
only sharpen on one side ...
but you dont so maby there is a reason you dont see it
also supper steels seem to not need it ...
i dont think it is rockwelling that much harder then D2 or BG 42 is it?
 
334dave said:
the hard edge is on only the color..
if you sharpen on both sides you loose all advantage
and (maybe) as it is miss use buck did not replace them
the edge will chip on hitting a bone as in a strike
the sharpe on one side also direct the cut to slant away from the bevel
japansse kitchen knives do this a lot but
meat cutters here dont seem to like it ,,,
it wont do well on wood i dont think ...
if it would i should think it would see it on planer blades which are
only sharpen on one side ...
but you dont so maby there is a reason you dont see it
also supper steels seem to not need it ...
i dont think it is rockwelling that much harder then D2 or BG 42 is it?
Click to expand...

Dave,
You're close!
The edge does not like cutting bone! It is awesome for cutting soft and coarse materials as a knife is designed, but hard surfaces deform the cutting edge a little bit. I breasted out a doven doves yesterday, and I didnt go and get my Buck game shears, I just used my 110 Ionfusion to cut through the small wish bones... It did deform the edge a little bit. I have done this before with my 420HC 110's and never had a deformity.
The ionfusion will stay sharp darn near forever if cutting game, cardboard, or carpeting ;) but bone is tough. I have just now had to sharpen it after all these months!
As far as hardness the Ionfusion surface is way harder than Bg-42 etc. It is off the chart! I believe 80-82 RC. (Don't quote me, thats off the top of my head) I first used mine to field dress rabbits last winter. I just now sharpened it today. (really only because I dinged the edge- very minor)
I believe Buck discontinued the Ionfusion process because it wasn't a hot seller - not because of warranty issues but again I could be wrong.
I believe most people are used to seeing knives with a double bevel not one side only and things like that are tradition to alot of people!
 
If the edge is deforming as it is too acute, then that isn't a problem inherent with the coating, just change the angle on the blade. The initial edge retention results were off the scale on CATRA and even in the hand testing the blades were improved by 6-8 times. It would seem to me that they could also be improved by using a strong steel which is low carbide, run AEBL at 65 HRC, that should solve the denting problems.

-Cliff
 
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