New American high performance steels.

ugh, close this thread.. what a headache trying to understand wtf he means... and who cares.. now go cut something.
 
BG42EDGE said:
Buck is into making a lot of knives cheap. Mass production, maximum profit.

The steels you mention do not lend themselves to that.

Buck will not be interested.
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I really don't think you have a concept of what we are interested in or what we do that never sees public light
 
I read this thread.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/589139-New-testing-session.

The guy actually has some good points. Fascinating steel thread.

He was always quite accurate in his favorable statements about Buck knives. Obviously had great respect for the BOS heat treat.

Maybe that's why he stopped by here to post his suggestions on steels.

I never even heard of those steels before, but I'll have to Google them and learn a bit.
 
Just one of the benefits when you purchase a Buck Knife is knowing it's made out some of the best steel in the world.
 
I know Vassili ,not in person , but in general due to his posts on Russian knives forums, and on his own web site into Russian language of course.
He is really Russian, ex-Russian citizen, he has lived in USA for a long time.
I think he knows English very well, but his sentence sounds too sharply for this Buck forum because he is a bit not in course about the atmosphere on this Buck's forums.

Vassili is a real admirer of the novelties of Hi-Tec steels, of new knives etc.
I really like Hi-Tec steel too, but I would never start the threads with my opinion thrust down throat of anyone.

Typical point of Russian character is to do happy anyone , even he doesn't want to be happy.:D
 
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I noticed that his trouble started when he made the statement that Buck had the best heat treat. Then somebody who liked some other brand started harassing him that he had no evidence. Then somebody from one of the manufacturers started in on him.

Pretty soon there were four or five people insulting and stalking him.

He said his evidence that Buck had the best heat treat was his testing. Then the group started claiming that his testing was invalid and no good.

Like I said before, steel seems to be a hot-button and emotional topic on the Blade Forums, although it's not discussed a lot here on Buck Forums. We haven't had many steels to talk about lately.

I don't see that his suggestions here were at all out of line. They seemed friendly. Too bad Plumberdv and Dave M. reacted defensively when they had trouble understanding his meaning.

I guess today I'll Google his steel suggestions and see what the heck they are. It's hard for me to visualize improvements in the existing steels available, though. I just wish Buck would put out a limited amount of new knives in D2 or BG42 or ATS-34.

But, as I said before, Buck seems to be interested only in volume production these days, and those steels apparently don't lend themselves to efficient mass production with the latest equipment. Too bad.
 
Here's a thread that has info on some of that Carpenter steel that this guy was talking about. Seems like it has some supporters.

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41709

I figured it would be something other than powder, so Buck wouldn't be interested.

Heck, it sounds like this actually IS a powder steel like S30V. Maybe it has some advantages over S30V and still lends itself to mass production methods. Might be an improvement.

Maybe Buck WOULD be interested in that. I know Buck is always looking for improvements if they fit into the cheaper production but better performance paradigm.

Maybe I spoke too soon, Hubbard. :)
 
If you read the thread in the link just above, it's clear there's A LOT of excitement among knife folks about the Carpenter stuff.

Here's some more Carpenter steel info.

http://www.cartech.com/
 
BG42EDGE said:
Like I said before, steel seems to be a hot-button and emotional topic on the Blade Forums, although it's not discussed a lot here on Buck Forums. We haven't had many steels to talk about lately.
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Yes , it is. The comparison of steels is a theme for the hottest discussions on many others knives forums all around the world.
And tests of the steels on a rope are the same.
 
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Buck has a new knife called the Hoodlum which is getting some medium/average press at the moment. There are a couple of promotional videos which shed more light on the topic but from what I can tell, the Hoodlum will be a solid performer. The shock mitigation system in the handle is of interest to me as I always favor knives that don't 'bite' back during chopping. While not a super steel, Buck's 420 is a good, general all-rounder that gets high marks in my book. I have used a new (2011) Buck 119 in the field and done some light chopping and digging. The 420 seems to hold up well as a camp knife and I suspect that the HT is just about tops....in other words, they take a 'lower level' steel and squeeze the highest performance possible out of the metal. Buck is fully aware of what they are doing! I doubt they will stray too far from the path of medium grade steels.
 
Sorry, the powerful thunderstorm is starting in Saint-Petersburg ,I need to cut off the electricity.
 
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garryale said:
Yes , it is. The comparison of steels is a theme for the hottest discussions on many others knives forums all around the world.
And tests of the steels on a rope are the same.
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The Spyderco link I posted above turned out to give me a lot of laughs. Vassili has a great sense of humor and puts his detractors in their place with ease.

The other thing about steel threads is that you can almost feel the excitement some of the posters have about a new and potentially better steel.

Who's the guy on this forum who is still looking for the Vorpal blade?

I guess he's not the only one.

:)
 
garryale said:
Sorry, the greatest thunderstorm is in Saint-Petersburg ,I need to cut off the electrcity.
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LOL! I know the feeling.

However, now I have a laptop and I can just unplug it and keep on working on battery until the storm passes.

;)
 
The 420 seems to hold up well as a camp knife and I suspect that the HT is just about tops....in other words, they take a 'lower level' steel and squeeze the highest performance possible out of the metal. Buck is fully aware of what they are doing! I doubt they will stray too far from the path of medium grade steels.
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You are correct about the heat treat!

But I think Buck is well aware that a new, high performance steel can bring a surge in buying.

I think, for them, it's just a matter of finding one that is cost effective within their business plan.
 
J Hubbard said:
I really don't think you have a concept of what we are interested in or what we do that never sees public light
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I don't think BG42 meant any offense by his previous statement. He was just responding to what the business model in the public eye seems to suggest. Of course that does not mean that it is bucks actual model.

I enjoy the offerings of Buck. Especially since the introduction of the Vantage series. I am looking with great interest at what buck will be offering in the future.
 
Exactly, Zrfunited.

I'm enthusiastic about many things Buck.

They just seem to have a certain way of doing business that does not include making new knives in D2 or BG42 or any of the real premium steels.

I wish they'd at least offer a limited amount of knives with better steels at an increased cost to the buyer so they could make a profit.

Apparently, they don't feel it would be worth the trouble.

Hubbard is welcome to expand on his testy comment if there is another reason or if I have misunderstood something.

I'd welcome that. Honest communication is good.
 
Honest communication is good :). For the record, I really like their s30v, and am very happy with their selection of knives that offer it as a choice. I haven't looked at their site recently, but in previous views you can customize a 110 and s30v is one of the offerings. That's awesome in my opinion. As long as they continue to offer the choice of a premium steel in most of their models I will be thrilled. I don't have to have the latest and greatest, just a good proven selection so that I can have a reasonable choice with regards to performance.
 
I've seen a fair amount of complaints about S30V, but complaints about BUCK knives in S30V appear to be very rare.....and the thinking is that it's because of Buck's superior heat treat.

I would still prefer a non-powder premium steel, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
 
Bg42 I am curious about what your reservations with powdered steels are?

I have never been fortunate enough to have a knife in bg42. It seems that it fell out of favor about the time I really got into higher end knives. I do like a lot of steels that are common in the marketplace; D2, 1095, 154cm, ats34, Vg-10, 440c.
S30v has always performed quite well for me since I was introduced to it in 2007. I have always heard of the issues that others have had, but as of yet I have never experienced the issues. Edited to add; I have knives from 5 different manufacturers bladed in S30V and in all honesty each performs as well as the next; at least for the way I use them. Some do feel a bit different on the sharpener, but I can't say if that is due to anything other than blade geometry or a perceived non existent difference.
 
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