October BOTM bets and guesses

[Uncle Slayton]

All these slabs are looking great, please keep them coming

 

[IDhorace]

Mine are due today. Really appreciate the pictures so far, and love to see others finishing the wood... the first few pictures showed some less than perfectly finished handles so I had already gotten the wax and the "stuff" out to finish my own off. "Great minds" and all that Thanks gentlemen!

 

[Scott J.]

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 finished that was sprayed on. I'm sure Buck could have done a better job, but then the cost of knife would have been higher with the extra labor... so I did not mind putting some "sweat equity" into it.

That looks great!!!
Do you mind a couple questions?
Specifically what rubbing compound?
Did you just use a rag to rub it?
I'm assuming the spray on finish is poly so you couldn't use Tung oil?
Thanks!!

 

[Makael]

That looks great!!!
Do you mind a couple questions?
Specifically what rubbing compound?
Did you just use a rag to rub it?
I'm assuming the spray on finish is poly so you couldn't use Tung oil?
Thanks!!

Poly?

 

[Scott J.]

Poly?

Polyurethane. Like if I was making some wood trim like baseboards or windowsills I'd finish with a couple coats of polyurethane.
I was wondering if Buck did the same for durability and ease. If so, then tung or linseed oil wouldn't penetrate.

 

[Makael]

Polyurethane. Like if I was making some wood trim like baseboards or windowsills I'd finish with a couple coats of polyurethane.
I was wondering if Buck did the same for durability and ease. If so, then tung or linseed oil wouldn't penetrate.

I dont think so but I could be mistaken

 

[JW225]

Wow! I couldn't be happier with this BOTM purchase. Love the "barehead" look -- and these Ironwood scales are just beautiful, with a smooth satin finish. The blade shape is a nice change of pace -- has a distinctive look and is nicely proportioned to the knife as a whole. Kudos to the folks at Buck for this one!

 

[jb4570]

Thank you all for the photos! That is a sweet looking 500, the fitting of the wood to bolsters leaves alot to be desired though.

 

[timbits588]

JW225 Those are by far the coolest looking scales I have seen yet! I really like those. Mine are very mild by comparison.

 

[pjsjr]

Wow! I couldn't be happier with this BOTM purchase. Love the "barehead" look -- and these Ironwood scales are just beautiful, with a smooth satin finish.

Those are fantastic, you have surely won the DI sweepstakes, congrats!

 

[Daniel]

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!

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 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.

This is a very large gap.

 

[bucklife301]

Nice knives everyone mines fine just has a gap just like the one Fixall’s in the same place, and I noticed it soon as I pulled it out of the pouch,

 

[JW225]

Nice knives everyone mines fine just has a gap just like the one Fixall’s in the same place, and I noticed it soon as I pulled it out of the pouch,
View attachment 1666238View attachment 1666242
View attachment 1666243

Gap aside, those scales are fantastic!

 

[caquino]

That looks great!!!
Do you mind a couple questions?
Specifically what rubbing compound?
Did you just use a rag to rub it?
I'm assuming the spray on finish is poly so you couldn't use Tung oil?
Thanks!!

I used what I had on hand, good 'ol Semichrome paste, applied sparingly with a cotton cloth. Other fine media polishing compounds would work as well.

The way the finished looked, I believe it's some kind of polyurethane based finish, which make sense for a mass produced product.... cheap, quick and easy to apply, and durable.

Dessert Ironwood has a very tight and dense grain structure that does not lend itself well to a penetrating oil like Tung or BLO, which is why most Ironwood is left unfinished with the wood buffed/polished, or wax applied afterwards. Polyurethane type finishes don't penetrate (unless modified by thinning them way the heck down with solvent, which then becomes the so called "Wiping Poly" stuff sold at ridiculous prices.

 

[Scott J.]

I used what I had on hand, good 'ol Semichrome paste, applied sparingly with a cotton cloth. Other fine media polishing compounds would work as well.

The way the finished looked, I believe it's some kind of polyurethane based finish, which make sense for a mass produced product.... cheap, quick and easy to apply, and durable.

Dessert Ironwood has a very tight and dense grain structure that does not lend itself well to a penetrating oil like Tung or BLO, which is why most Ironwood is left unfinished with the wood buffed/polished, or wax applied afterwards. Polyurethane type finishes don't penetrate (unless modified by thinning them way the heck down with solvent, which then become the so called "Wiping Poly" stuff sold at ridiculous prices).

Thanks for the knowledge, I appreciate it

 

[Bastler]

Nice knives everyone mines fine just has a gap just like the one Fixall’s in the same place, and I noticed it soon as I pulled it out of the pouch,
View attachment 1666238View attachment 1666242
View attachment 1666243

It looks to me like some adhesive squeezed out onto the bolster and it makes the gap look wider than it really is.

 

[GPyro]

Or a rough edge on the bolster.
Could be either from the pic.

I still like it!

 

[Jsega51]

Well, I got mine and was working the action wondering if I loved this knife or not, and my wife decided she liked it more so she’s going to carry and use it. She doesn’t like a lot of my other folders (slipjoints and Sebenzas) but she liked how easy the Buck opened and locked, plus she was real happy with the wood grain.

I may try to pick another up because the more I oiled and worked the action, the more I liked the knife!

 

[pjsjr]

my wife decided she liked it more so she’s going to carry and use it.

Good move...
...happy wife, happy life...

 

[texpat]

Got mine Friday, super fast shipping (but I do live in Idaho so it's a short ship), knife looks great! As others have mentioned the finish on the wood was somewhat dull, which surprised me because the ironwood on my August BOTM really shined right out of the box, but no biggie, headed to hardware store to pick up a little wax...wonder if plain ol carwax would do? Got some of that laying around...but I do need to pick up some super lightweight polishing compound.