Isn there anyone at Buck that checks the quality of the knives anymore ?

RAZORBLADES

RAZORBLADES

Joined
Aug 14, 2006
Messages
2,247
Or do they just make them up ,pack them ,and get them out to the marketplace?I have bought 12 new buck knives just in the last 2 months,and i haven't found one that wasn't as good as it should be.There was anything from a loose rivet,sharp rivets,handles ground down way too much,and dull blades/loose blades.

My last buck purchase showed up today,a 110 alaskan guide with rosewood handles,and i've never been more disappointed in a knife as this one.I'll make a video and post it tonite so you can see my problems,and i'm aware you can just mail it back and they will make it right,but what i want to know is why can't they make it right the first time and avoid the hassle of sending a brand new knife back t be re-worked.

I'm over here in Canada,and its darn expensive to send back a knife now,plus the waiting and not having the knife i bought.I am not bashing ,i would like some answers as to why these are being shipped?The knife i opened this morning topped it off for me,i feel like it was built by someone with no care whatsoever about what they were building,just there to get a paycheck,assemble it ,and move it down the line,.

I am all done buying any bucks until they decide to make some changes to address the quality control,the knife was over $100 with taxes ,and in my opinion that is too much for what i got inn the mail today,I will address all my problems in the video i post tonite,and see if buck will decide to hire a person that will just check every knife before its packaged,its that simple,have a person that their sole purpose at the company is to look and check every knife,I bet that will save them a ton of costs in the long run.

See ya tonite!
 
This concerns me and is disheartening. I've been away from new Buck knives for a couple of years but was really considering putting one on my Christmas list. To be more specific I honestly was considering a AG 110, or a AG 192 or one of the leather handle 105s from llbean. But this really concerns me. May I ask what is wrong with the knife? i know your going to do a video but I'm really curious.
 
Everything is wrong with the knife.The blade is loose,the lock bar sticks up above the bolsters,that doesn't sound like much,but that alone causes the blade to be loose,the blade is wobbly from side to side,the blade is almost hitting the liner in closed position,its absolutely DULL,which i have never seen from a BUCK ever.

The handle slab is split on one side,not noticeable to most,plenty noticable to me.One handle is very light in color,the other almost black?It makes me think somebody just stood there going through the motions and never even looked at what they built.I purchased this for my nephew for his first real deer hunting knife ,and i wouldn't give this to anyone for a gift.I honestly can't understand how this happens at a company like Buck,they should have the quality on every knife that we have come to expect from them over the years.I have handled probably 75 old 2 dot 110's and not one ever had ANY type of defect i could see,and i go over a knife pretty well.

Its not even rosewood like the description says,its a plywood handle they label as real rosewood?why?
 
I talked to several people, some of which were former Buck employees and the same answers keep coming up. I've noticed it as well with the comments being made. The word is that after the move to Idaho, the level of training of the employee went out the window. It used to be that the employees were trained and possibly studied under somebody before left to work on their own. Now they just put a body in where they need one and hope for the best. After the move they lost allot of the older more experienced workers for the less experienced cheaper labor. I can honestly tell the difference and so can some of you. The QC is in the crapper, the knives that are built and make it out the door are substandard, and god help us, we are sitting here comparing the quality of Chinese made Bucks to the US made knives and saying that they aren't all that bad. In comparing them, the US made knives should be drastically better, regardless of the QC standards. The QC standards here should be doing the same high class work and not letting garbage out of the factory. Mostly fact but some opinion...
 
QC is about tooling and process, which is independent of country.

Victorinox fans will tell you that they achieve high levels of QC through highly automated processes and continual reinvestment in tooling. But this sort of automation tends to reduce and change the forms of labor.

If you don't automate, then obviously you need to invest more in labor and training.

Another dimension to this is consumer expectation in an internet age. My 2 dot 110 and 112 have many of the same issues that RAZORBLADES has named. The lockbars sit proud, the scales on the 112 don't come close to matching, there are rivets that are proud... When I compare my old 70s vintage Bucks to some of the knife porn shots in the Traditional sub-forum, all I can conclude is that a) my Bucks are rough working knives and b) a lot of people care for aesthetic perfection. I also don't worry about out of the box sharpness, as I pretty much plan on sharpening a knife. Add to this that Internet (or bubble wrapped) retailing makes it pretty hard to inspect an item before you plunk down the money.

But... I didn't just spend $100 for a knife like RAZORBLADES did. At that price, I'd want the knife to sparkle too.

RAZORBLADES, can you post pictures?
 
mbjannusch said:
I talked to several people, some of which were former Buck employees and the same answers keep coming up. I've noticed it as well with the comments being made. The word is that after the move to Idaho, the level of training of the employee went out the window. It used to be that the employees were trained and possibly studied under somebody before left to work on their own. Now they just put a body in where they need one and hope for the best. After the move they lost allot of the older more experienced workers for the less experienced cheaper labor. I can honestly tell the difference and so can some of you. The QC is in the crapper, the knives that are built and make it out the door are substandard, and god help us, we are sitting here comparing the quality of Chinese made Bucks to the US made knives and saying that they aren't all that bad. In comparing them, the US made knives should be drastically better, regardless of the QC standards. The QC standards here should be doing the same high class work and not letting garbage out of the factory. Mostly fact but some opinion...
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I've stopped buying Bucks after having (3) 110's have horrible vertical play. Had one Vantage Select blade so off center, it rubbed the liner. I do however have one Vantage Force Select that is excellent quality.

Someone will pop in and say send it to their warranty dept; because they have the best customer service. If I bought a new knife, I bought it to use it. Not to find it's flawed and send it to be repaired. Then you spend money on shipping and wait weeks to get it back...
 
RAZORBLADES said:
Or do they just make them up ,pack them ,and get them out to the marketplace?I have bought 12 new buck knives just in the last 2 months,and i haven't found one that wasn't as good as it should be.There was anything from a loose rivet,sharp rivets,handles ground down way too much,and dull blades/loose blades.

My last buck purchase showed up today,a 110 alaskan guide with rosewood handles,and i've never been more disappointed in a knife as this one.I'll make a video and post it tonite so you can see my problems,and i'm aware you can just mail it back and they will make it right,but what i want to know is why can't they make it right the first time and avoid the hassle of sending a brand new knife back t be re-worked.

I'm over here in Canada,and its darn expensive to send back a knife now,plus the waiting and not having the knife i bought.I am not bashing ,i would like some answers as to why these are being shipped?The knife i opened this morning topped it off for me,i feel like it was built by someone with no care whatsoever about what they were building,just there to get a paycheck,assemble it ,and move it down the line,.

I am all done buying any bucks until they decide to make some changes to address the quality control,the knife was over $100 with taxes ,and in my opinion that is too much for what i got inn the mail today,I will address all my problems in the video i post tonite,and see if buck will decide to hire a person that will just check every knife before its packaged,its that simple,have a person that their sole purpose at the company is to look and check every knife,I bet that will save them a ton of costs in the long run.

See ya tonite!
Click to expand...

You do know that Buck produces over 1,000,000 knives a year just out of the Post Falls factory right? Figure a minute a knife and that's one employee eight hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year. You cannot inspect quality into a product, you can only build quality. If I had just purchased twelve straight flops in a row I'd quit buying Buck too though to be completely honest out of the 300+ knives I own from CRK, Buck, ZT, etc. I have to say if I wanted to I could find a flaw or issue with every single one, just depends on how motivated I am to find that flaw. Still it's better to walk away then keep being disappointed/unhappy.
 
Badhammer said:
You do know that Buck produces over 1,000,000 knives a year just out of the Post Falls factory right? Figure a minute a knife and that's one employee eight hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year. You cannot inspect quality into a product, you can only build quality. If I had just purchased twelve straight flops in a row I'd quit buying Buck too though to be completely honest out of the 300+ knives I own from CRK, Buck, ZT, etc. I have to say if I wanted to I could find a flaw or issue with every single one, just depends on how motivated I am to find that flaw. Still it's better to walk away then keep being disappointed/unhappy.
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Though you can't inspect quality into a knife, you can insure that the factory is producing quality. If there is a flaw in the system, you fix the flaw you don't just let it ride and fix it later. That cost money to the company, and the consumer. If they did it right the first time, they would save money in the long run and keep the tradition of having a superior product. Maybe they should slow production and work on producing quality. You don't see too many people bitching that a Chris Reeves knife is going down hill. Production is low, quality is high, and I wouldn't mind paying more for a way better product.
 
The last two 110' that I ordered from Amazon (2012 production) were not nearly as well put together as what I've come to expect from Buck. Prior to those two, I had bought 3 112' (2011 vintage), and 5 other Buck 110' (between 2008-10), and all of those were great. I'm hoping the last two 110' were a fluke, but I do have to say I'm a little nervous about ordering another.
 
This is so sad as I really was hoping to get back into Buck knives.
 
kyhunt said:
This is so sad as I really was hoping to get back into Buck knives.
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FWIW the last six Bucks I bought, five Vantage and one Mayo were all just fine. Most times it's about perspective or lack of. There are probably 100 happy customers that don't post for every unhappy customer who does.
 
Badhammer said:
FWIW the last six Bucks I bought, five Vantage and one Mayo were all just fine. Most times it's about perspective or lack of. There are probably 100 happy customers that don't post for every unhappy customer who does.
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+1 here. I've bought several new, 2011 and 2012 models with no problems.

I sent Joe Houser a link to this thread and received this reply:

"Dave,

I sent the link to our general manager and asked that he respond directly to the thread. I think it needs to come from him. He might not be here today so a response may not come until Monday.

Thanks for the heads up!

Joe Houser
Director of Customer Relations
Buck Collectors Club Liaison
Company Historian"
 
Was going over my collecting in my head and as best I can recall out of about 70 new Bucks I've bought there are only two I can think of that had issues. One is a 110 AG like the OP's that has just a little side to side blade play. It also had kind of a funny grind, hard to remember since it was a year or to ago. The other was a GEN-5 skinner that had scratches on the blade a the sheath had a slit cut in it from the blade. It wasn't formed or lined quite right. Decided as an intended user the scratches were something I could live with even though Buck offered to take care of me. Two out of 70+ isn't what I would consider a QC issue especially since the scratches on the GEN-5 could have happened at the retailer I bought it from after it left Buck.
 
I got two 124s and they were as perfect as anyone could want a knife to be.

My last 112s and 110s were excellent......maybe not quite up to the absolutely amazing 124s, but up to standard.

I don't buy the tactical, plasticky flippy knives......the closest I've ever been to that was the Folding Kalinga Pros......I think I bought five of those and they were superb.

Maybe the key thing is choosing a good design.

;)

Oh......I'd have to add that the blood grooves on the 120s and the 119s since 2005 have been crappy. I stay away from them now.
 
Badhammer said:
FWIW the last six Bucks I bought, five Vantage and one Mayo were all just fine. Most times it's about perspective or lack of. There are probably 100 happy customers that don't post for every unhappy customer who does.
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My concern is that like so many others I have to order online.Ever Buck I currently have I love. I strayed away for a couple of years except for a few older ones I bought on the "bay". One may go on my list and have my fingers crossed.
 
kyhunt said:
My concern is that like so many others I have to order online.Ever Buck I currently have I love. I strayed away for a couple of years except for a few older ones I bought on the "bay". One may go on my list and have my fingers crossed.
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Your chance of getting a new, defective Buck is very slim. I wouldn't be overly concerned by one or two folks that find fault.

As most regulars here can tell you, I buy a LOT of Bucks and have had few if any to complain about, but then, maybe I'm just not as picky as some. :)
 
Most times it's about perspective or lack of. There are probably 100 happy customers that don't post for every unhappy customer who does.
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I figure this is right, and I'm really not allowing my two less than perfect Buck's to change my opinion of Buck as a whole...one of, if not my all time favorite knife company.
 
Bg42 your comment about choosing a good design makes sense. But I would consider the 110 AG a great design.
 
Plumberdv said:
Your chance of getting a new, defective Buck is very slim. I wouldn't be overly concerned by one or two folks that find fault.

As most regulars here can tell you, I buy a LOT of Bucks and have had few if any to complain about, but then, maybe I'm just not as picky as some. :)
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The last 110 I got at WM was fine. F&F fine and sharp.

I am not worried about "one or two folks that find fault."

I am concerned about members here who find clear defects. A blade that hits the liner is not a moral judgment. It's a negative fact.
 
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