October BOTM bets and guesses

Funny some of the BOTM knives take days to sell out and others are gone in hours. I was late to the party and they were gone when I came to buy one.

Wonder what next month will be, maybe a Turkey carving set?
 
jb4570 said:
Funny some of the BOTM knives take days to sell out and others are gone in hours. I was late to the party and they were gone when I came to buy one.

Wonder what next month will be, maybe a Turkey carving set?
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The last two BotM's in November have been kitchen knives in 12c27m and ebony. Honestly, I'd love to see a matching bread or carving knife.
 
This BOTM is a perfect example of why some sell out quickly. First it is a popular model in a premium steel with a unique blade profile. Second the handle is also different being bareheaded and in a quality wood. I can't remember seeing a 500 in Ironwood before. And finally it was reasonably priced. Added up there was a lot of 'collectabilty' and value with this one. If I had seen it before it sold out even I would have seriously consideed buying one if for no other reason than to trade it for a 112 down the road. If this had been a 110 or a 112 it would have been gone even faster! Buck has used some really special Ironwood this year and I think that was a factor in folks decision to buy this one too. In the 500 series this was definitely special and a lot of collectors who don't normally use or collect the 500 bought one simply because it was a great looking knife at a fair price. I don't think we will see many on Ebay either and the few that show up will have a big premium/markup..
 
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Mine arrived today, 1 day earlier than what USPS tracking projected.

As a woodworker, the finish on the Ironwood left a lot to be desired by me. So with a bit of "fettling" (as the British say), by hand rubbing with a polishing compound and then a few coats of Renaissance Wax, it made the wood pop more to my liking, and smoothed out the "orange peel"
surface of the finish that was sprayed on. I'm sure Buck could have done a better job, but then the cost of the knife would have been higher with the extra labor... so I did not mind putting some "sweat equity" into it as I like tinkering with stuff.

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Mine came in earlier today while I was at work. :)

It's a beautiful knife! I'm very pleased with DI chosen for my knife. A little figure is always a bonus! My specimen has one of the better grinds that I've received from buck, and the knife is very sharp. I wasn't sure how I felt about the swedge, but after handling the knife in person, I really dig it. And the stainless steel bolster... I absolutely love it! It has this wonderful brushed finish on it, and I think it really makes the knife pop. I really hope we see more barehead offerings from Buck, because boy do they look great!

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I do have a few things to nitpick about though. First, the long pull. When I first saw the knife, I really liked it. After handling it, it's kind of positioned in an awkward place. I find myself just pinching the knife open by the swedge. A nail nick would have worked better imo, but I understand why they didn't use one (that gorgeous swedge!). The pull could be a bit firmer, but that's not a big deal. I'd call the pull on mine a 3 or 4 out of 10. The finish on the DI could have been a fair bit better as caquino caquino said. Nothing a little elbow grease can't fix though. :) The blade has a bit more recurve than I'd prefer, but again... Not a big deal. The big one is that there is a pretty nasty gap between the bolster and the covers on the pile side of the knife. That's kind of a bummer. :(

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