Is this normal on my Buck 501?

Looks great. Too bad you had to mess with it but it is cool that you had the nerve and it worked out. I predict you will modify one even more in the future.
 
Not trying to take over the thread, but I just received a 500 and 503 yesterday new directly from Buck. They were both the same way. Very disappointing. I don't know whether to send them back for repair, exchange, or return them altogether, especially if they are going to send them back in the same condition. I don't have the tools to repair it myself. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
EagleIH said:
Not trying to take over the thread, but I just received a 500 and 503 yesterday new directly from Buck. They were both the same way. Very disappointing. I don't know whether to send them back for repair, exchange, or return them altogether, especially if they are going to send them back in the same condition. I don't have the tools to repair it myself. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Are you talking about the back spring sticking up a little bit?
 
Guys, this little item doesn't require any tools to fix. Just some sand paper and elbow grease. ? DM
 
EagleIH said:
Not trying to take over the thread, but I just received a 500 and 503 yesterday new directly from Buck. They were both the same way. Very disappointing. I don't know whether to send them back for repair, exchange, or return them altogether, especially if they are going to send them back in the same condition. I don't have the tools to repair it myself. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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I just checked a 500, 2 501's, a 503, a 505 and 2 55's
The rocker sticks up a tiny bit on each when the blade is closed on every one of them.
The rocker is perfectly flush when the blade is open on every one of them.

I checked a 424 (basically a lightweight 501), and on that one the whole length of the rocker is slightly exposed from the handle when opened or closed.

I never noticed before, and it certainly does not bother me, or affect the knifes' performance.

Is this what is going on with your 2 knives?
If it bothers you, and tools are limited, just use some course ( 100 grit) sandpaper to sand it down. Then use some 150, then 200 etc to pretty it up
you can make primitive sanding blocks by wrapping sandpaper onto a piece of wood, and tacking it on with thumb tacks or black tacks or nails etc.....

shoot, I once made a sander for getting inside of a folding knife by glueing sandpaper onto a popsicle stick.
 
One of the forum members on here mentioned that he owns two 501's. The regular production 501 has the rocker sticking up or exposed and the custom 501 is perfectly flush. So if you go for the custom 501, they put that extra finishing touch on the knife where the rocker isn't sticking up. I decided to do my own custom work and I hope you like it. :D
 
When the 500 series first came out(in the 70's) I bought one of each and none of mine has this protruding lock-bar. Even later on the Duke. No raised lock bar. So, it must be more recent. Anyway an easy fix, should it be of concern. DM
 
David Martin said:
When the 500 series first came out(in the 70's) I bought one of each and none of mine has this protruding lock-bar. Even later on the Duke. No raised lock bar. So, it must be more recent. Anyway an easy fix, should it be of concern. DM
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The ones I checked are all 2004 and up..... and the raised bit on them is very very small, can feel it with a fingernail, but otherwise not really noticeable without looking for it.... I also checked a 2013 110, and it is perfectly flush opened and closed.
 
I wonder why the bar sticks up on some and not others. Maybe certain bars that they install aren't perfectly concave and aren't perfectly fitted for the knife.
 
sunandsteel said:
I wonder why the bar sticks up on some and not others. Maybe certain bars that they install aren't perfectly concave and aren't perfectly fitted for the knife.
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I think it has more to do with the tab on the lockbar, or perhaps the blade tang section where the lockbar tab rests when the blade is closed.
 
If I send these back to Buck, and explain my concerns (perhaps over the phone), do you think it will be fixed? I hate to sand on brand new knives unless I had no other choice. Not knocking Buck because I love their knives and the company, but I fear that their quality control has declined. I didn't use to have these problems when I opened a new Buck knife.
 
EagleIH said:
If I send these back to Buck, and explain my concerns (perhaps over the phone), do you think it will be fixed? I hate to sand on brand new knives unless I had no other choice. Not knocking Buck because I love their knives and the company, but I fear that their quality control has declined. I didn't use to have these problems when I opened a new Buck knife.
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If you decided to send your knife/knives back to Buck for a possible repair, there's an area of the online form on the Buck website where you explain your problem with the knife. You can leave your phone number, and maybe make a note to have them call you when they get to looking at your knife. If the knife is unrepairable, they might give you the option of exchanging it for another. I took matters into my own hands because I sent the same knife in twice, once for centering issue and the other was for the lock bar exposed, and I didn't want to spend more money and time on sending it back a third time. Not sure if they can fix the lock bar being exposed a little, because I got my knife back from them the same way I sent it out.
 
EagleIH said:
If I send these back to Buck, and explain my concerns (perhaps over the phone), do you think it will be fixed? I hate to sand on brand new knives unless I had no other choice. Not knocking Buck because I love their knives and the company, but I fear that their quality control has declined. I didn't use to have these problems when I opened a new Buck knife.
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I'm sure they will try.
 
It's funny, I feel a real connection with my 501 after doing some of the custom work myself. It's like you bond with the knife.:p
 
sunandsteel said:
If you decided to send your knife/knives back to Buck for a possible repair, there's an area of the online form on the Buck website where you explain your problem with the knife. You can leave your phone number, and maybe make a note to have them call you when they get to looking at your knife. If the knife is unrepairable, they might give you the option of exchanging it for another. I took matters into my own hands because I sent the same knife in twice, once for centering issue and the other was for the lock bar exposed, and I didn't want to spend more money and time on sending it back a third time. Not sure if they can fix the lock bar being exposed a little, because I got my knife back from them the same way I sent it out.
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I think the exposed lockbar is a harder fix than centering etc.... The lockbar pivot pin is hidden under the scales, so that would require removing the scales to get to it.


sunandsteel said:
It's funny, I feel a real connection with my 501 after doing some of the custom work myself. It's like you bond with the knife.:p
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Heck yeah!
Just wait, pretty soon you will be eying the handle and wanting to put fancy scales on there too 🔧🔨🔩
 
I'm guessing that as time went on they removed or drastically shortened the step of the process where that protruding section gets fixed. Everybody is cutting corners and the "Made in the USA" stuff is under the most pressure. So what was standard on all knives years ago may be "custom shop only" on selected knives today.
 
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DesertChris said:
I think the exposed lockbar is a harder fix than centering etc.... The lockbar pivot pin is hidden under the scales, so that would require removing the scales to get to it.
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I believe you're right, and is why my knife came back the same way I sent it out. I suppose if one wants, they could ask for an exchange and have them hand pick one, but I'm happy with mine. We've been through so much together and I learned something along the way.:p
 
Pondoro2310 said:
I'm guessing that as time went on they removed or drastically shortened the step of the process where that protruding section gets fixed. Everybody is cutting corners and the "Made in the USA" stuff is under the most pressure. So what was standard on all knives years ago may be "custom shop only" on selected knives today.
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I guess that's why some get the custom, which is for the extra treatment.
 
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