- Joined
- Jan 25, 2005
- Messages
- 437
I finally decided to try one of Buck's slip-joint folders that are currently being made in China. I was expecting it to be just another Chinese made junk-pile. I was fairly surprised at the initial quality when examining it before buying it.
The fit and finish is not quite up to what you might be used to when they were made here, but it is not all that bad. The backsprings (3 of them, one for each blade) do not sit flush with the back of the knife. It does not affect the function at all, but its kind of annoying when you notice it. The blades are pretty well ground and the edges were shaving sharp out of the box. The backsprings are plenty strong enough to help give good walk-and-talk while not being to stiff to make opening difficult. There are a few small machining marks on the inside of the knife, and unfortunately a few also on the spine of the clip point blade. Again, they dont affect the function.
I used it for about an hour and a half on a whittling project I am working on (the ball-in-cage one). It worked quite well and did not seem to dull the edges at all. I also used it to cut up a box. The box was an old priority mail box, and I cut about 10 strips of about 8-10 inches in length with each blade. It did seem to knock the blades shaving edge off, but all were still sharp enough to continue easily using the knife.
I would prefer to see these still being made here, but in todays economy it is understandable why Buck has moved them to China. The knife is solid and well put together making it well worth the 14 bucks I paid for it. I just hope the quality is kept up over the long term.
The fit and finish is not quite up to what you might be used to when they were made here, but it is not all that bad. The backsprings (3 of them, one for each blade) do not sit flush with the back of the knife. It does not affect the function at all, but its kind of annoying when you notice it. The blades are pretty well ground and the edges were shaving sharp out of the box. The backsprings are plenty strong enough to help give good walk-and-talk while not being to stiff to make opening difficult. There are a few small machining marks on the inside of the knife, and unfortunately a few also on the spine of the clip point blade. Again, they dont affect the function.
I used it for about an hour and a half on a whittling project I am working on (the ball-in-cage one). It worked quite well and did not seem to dull the edges at all. I also used it to cut up a box. The box was an old priority mail box, and I cut about 10 strips of about 8-10 inches in length with each blade. It did seem to knock the blades shaving edge off, but all were still sharp enough to continue easily using the knife.
I would prefer to see these still being made here, but in todays economy it is understandable why Buck has moved them to China. The knife is solid and well put together making it well worth the 14 bucks I paid for it. I just hope the quality is kept up over the long term.
