Magnetic blades?

TAH

TAH

Joined
Jul 3, 2001
Messages
6,135
Why are some Buck blades so magnetic compared to other Bucks and other knife brands in my collection? I started noticing this phenomenon when laying my Buck knives next to compasses. The blades make compass dials go BERSERK! I am aware that most steels will affect the performance of a compass, but these Buck knives are much more powerful. If I lay the 124 and 105 side by side on a hard surface with blades about one inch apart, the magnetic pull is strong enough to make the 105's blade move to the 124 blade and stick to it. :eek:

None of my knives have ever been stored next to magnets. I've owned the 112 and 105 since the 70s. Just got my 1977 124 a few weeks ago and it is magnetic as well. My 1977 110, that I acquired a few weeks ago, has hardly any magnetic property. Thoughts? :confused:

Here are the knives being held upright against a wall.

IMG_6926_zpsef5c922d.jpg
 
I know my Damascus Sebenza, Kyle Hanson customs are magnetic. But I use super strong magnets on my edge pro.

I'll go to take a picture, and they will spin toward other knives lol
 
Its working on two hours since you posted I suspected by now we would have folks talking a space, time vortex or some such at your house. I didn't get to take the factory tour last time BCCI had factory meeting maybe someone who did heard about or noticed blade blanks being held for work or movement between stations by magnets. I am pretty sure I saw that on the one tour I have done several years ago.... Or it could be the space thing.......Don't keep your 110 and a memory stick in the same pocket......300
 
Nothing to do with the abrasives. If your grinding and the metal in the disc or tool gets passed over the blade thousands of times in the right way, it can be magnetized.
 
Well friction can cause static as well as a very small magnetic field. Yes i have grinding and polishing. Its not much but its there.
 
Just found this. That may explain my knives.


"If certain metals are heated and hammered they become magnetised by the Earth's magnetic field:-"

" Placing a steel bar in a magnetic field, then heating it to a high temperature and then finally hammering it as it cools. This can be done by laying the magnet in a North-South direction in the Earth's magnetic field. In this case, the magnet is not very strong but the effect is permanent. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet
 
Also found this.

"You can magnetise a knife/screwdriver/coin etc... etc... with just a couple of sweeps of a magnet or by passing it into and out of a magnetiser.
I use a magnetiser/demagnetiser on screwdrivers occasionally."


This may explain the grinder theory. Electric motors have strong magnets in them. It's not too hard to conclude that it may pass that to the spinning portion of the tool, which would then pass it to the blade.


And yes, some magnets are made by passing metals through a magnetic field in the same direction repeatedly.
 
300Bucks is correct. Many of the machines at the Buck Factory use magnets to hold the knife blanks in place while machining.
 
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Thanks for the replies. Is Buck the only company using magnets to hold blades in place? Spyderco, Benchmade, Marbles USA, Case, Camillus - these blades are not magnetic.

Tmack said:
"If certain metals are heated and hammered they become magnetised by the Earth's magnetic field:-"

" Placing a steel bar in a magnetic field, then heating it to a high temperature and then finally hammering it as it cools. . "
Click to expand...

My two Randalls are made this way and they are not magnetic. :confused:
 
I understand that it is a weird occurrence but why exactly does it matter? Is the magnetic field really strong enough where it could damage electronics? Furthermore, does it matter at all if a fixed blade is magnetic?
 
Someone can go to a Buck factory tour video, here somewhere or U-tube, and likely see some of the magnetic equipment in operation. I seem to remember a large wheel with many blade blanks in a circle. I think they were being edge ground.

I made a quick search for mag/de-mag devices and they are everywhere if you want to do screwdrivers. My father was going to watch making school before WW2 and my whole life and in my current possession is a device using 110 v to mag/demag anything the diameter of a coffee cup or smaller. You plug in the old woven string skin cord, flip a spring controlled toggle switch and pass the item thru a 2 in thick copper wire wound circle. He told me as a child it was used to pass watch parts thru, or watches, to de-mag them as magnetism effects accuracy of a mechanical watch. He also said not to touch it, when I got old enough he showed me how to mag. screwdrivers with it. When you put the electricity to it you feel its power in your hand. I am only guessing, but if you put a disc or thumb drive thru it I would think something bad would occur. If I ever use it I will also make sure no one with a pace maker is in the area. If I need to do screwdrivers I think I would just get the Craftsman one as it is only a small square magnet. On one U-tube post where a guy was trying to make one of these electric ones, electrical engineers were all over him about safety. FYI.

Life is funny I think our family was better off with him being a aircraft mechanic trained by the war, rather than a watch repairman with the rise of the electronic digital age. I was a youngster when he had to go thru retraining from cylinder motors to jets. My wife took his personal pocketwatch to antique roadshow and I just knew I had a gold mine. They said $300 dollars, sort of funny there with my interest being 300 series Bucks...ha 300
 
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Shankshank said:
I understand that it is a weird occurrence but why exactly does it matter? Is the magnetic field really strong enough where it could damage electronics? Furthermore, does it matter at all if a fixed blade is magnetic?
Click to expand...

Welcome 2 Shanks. To answer your questions:

1) It doesn't matter at all.
2) Absolutely not.
3) Not one little bit.

As you spend more time on BFC, I think you will find that 95% of what is discussed here doesn't matter at all in the big picture. After all, knives are just objects, but for folks like me who have a deep passion for knives and are eternally curious about every aspect of them, we enjoy discussing/analyzing small observations and discovering why things are the way they are. The nice part about internet forums is that we can pick and choose which threads are of interest to us and which ones we decide to contribute to in a positive way.


300Bucks,

Enjoyed your story. Thank you! :) :thumbup:
 
TAH said:
Thanks for the replies. Is Buck the only company using magnets to hold blades in place? Spyderco, Benchmade, Marbles USA, Case, Camillus - these blades are not magnetic.



My two Randalls are made this way and they are not magnetic. :confused:
Click to expand...
Oh I couldn't give you a definitive answer, but from what I was reading, it depends on the conditions during forging. But like I said, just something I found with a quick search.
. The magnetic holder sounds like the best theory.

Just a couple weeks ago, I was taking a picture, and my edc fixed blade was creeping toward it's neighbor in the picture. Struck me as strange, but I just figure my edge pro was the culprit. Wasn't till this thread did I actually try to find any other reason it could happen.

And yeah, it doesn't matter, but what's wrong with being curious, and asking?
 
I just noticed the same type of thing with my Esee 4. I was working on a light rust patch with some steel wool, and noticed that when the wool that came apart the strands would stick to the knife and hang off the edge like they would with a magnet.
 
Tmack said:
Oh I couldn't give you a definitive answer, but from what I was reading, it depends on the conditions during forging. But like I said, just something I found with a quick search.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate your interest and help. Thanks! :thumbup:


Tmack said:
Just a couple weeks ago, I was taking a picture, and my edc fixed blade was creeping toward it's neighbor in the picture. Struck me as strange, but I just figure my edge pro was the culprit. Wasn't till this thread did I actually try to find any other reason it could happen.
Click to expand...
yakantosh said:
I just noticed the same type of thing with my Esee 4. I was working on a light rust patch with some steel wool, and noticed that when the wool that came apart the strands would stick to the knife and hang off the edge like they would with a magnet.
Click to expand...

Glad to see that I'm not the only one with frisky blades. :D


Tmack said:
And yeah, it doesn't matter, but what's wrong with being curious, and asking?
Click to expand...

Exactly, that's what this hobby is all about. :)
 
TAH said:
Thanks for the replies. Is Buck the only company using magnets to hold blades in place? Spyderco, Benchmade, Marbles USA, Case, Camillus - these blades are not magnetic.
Click to expand...

All of my older Benchmades are pretty strongly magnetic (haven't tried checking any newer ones), and way way back when (original Benchmade forum on their own site, anyone?), they acknowledged this was an artifact of their manufacturing process, presumably blades being held in place by strong magnets.

Memory sticks, flash drives and such shouldn't be a problem - but keep them away from your credit cards.
 
No need to worry about credit cards or flash drives being sensitive to most any magnetic you find around your home. Flash drives operate with a completely different tech than a spinning disk found in your computer. No magnetics. Most any card you will find these days and certainly credit cards will be high coercion, meaning it takes a very strong magnetic field to modify it. If the strip is nearly black or silver, no need to worry, if it's brown... worry.
T
 
Joe_Lane said:
Most any card you will find these days and certainly credit cards will be high coercion, meaning it takes a very strong magnetic field to modify it. If the strip is nearly black or siver, no need to worry, if it's brown... worry.
Click to expand...

Interesting - did not know that. Thanks!
 
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