i have a puma 975 trail boss folder. it was given to me by a friend so i have no idea what it's worth although i think it would be expensive to buy one if they still make them. can anyone tell me how much it'd worth and anything else of interest about it? any comments/opinions are appreciated...bud
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puma 975 trail boss
- Thread starter budiceale
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2000
- Messages
- 1,044
I have a Puma Trail Master, made in the early 90-ies. I belive, your knife is made in the same period. The Trail Master features a 5# sable ground, modified clip point blade, stag (horn) scales and a nice leather sheath. The knife is today worth something like $50-60. When new, the price was about $150. I think that the price difference is the same regarding your knife.
Most of the Pumas are made of German DIN 14.110 steel, very similar (if not the same) to the common 440A. The main steel suppliers for Puma (as well as for Victorinox, Wengen and other middle european companies) are; Ugine (France), Krupp/Thyssen (Germany), Bonpertuis (France), in smaller quantities also Böhler (Austria).
The main difference regarding QC, is that the Puma crew is testing each and every blade, looking for flaws, mainly caused by poor heat treatment. If the blade manages to pass this control, the blade is stamped with a tiny diamond needle (checking the hardness on RC), somewhere close to the guard. I am sure that if you´d take a closer look, you will find this little spot.
The fact that Puma uses sable ground on most of their fixed blade models, suggests that those are mainly designed for chopping chores rather than cutting ones. I have found that it is quite a hard job to sharpen my Puma (I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204). Don´t know if it depends on the edge geometry or the steel. However, in the end the blade will take a decent edge.
Regards!
Most of the Pumas are made of German DIN 14.110 steel, very similar (if not the same) to the common 440A. The main steel suppliers for Puma (as well as for Victorinox, Wengen and other middle european companies) are; Ugine (France), Krupp/Thyssen (Germany), Bonpertuis (France), in smaller quantities also Böhler (Austria).
The main difference regarding QC, is that the Puma crew is testing each and every blade, looking for flaws, mainly caused by poor heat treatment. If the blade manages to pass this control, the blade is stamped with a tiny diamond needle (checking the hardness on RC), somewhere close to the guard. I am sure that if you´d take a closer look, you will find this little spot.
The fact that Puma uses sable ground on most of their fixed blade models, suggests that those are mainly designed for chopping chores rather than cutting ones. I have found that it is quite a hard job to sharpen my Puma (I use the Spyderco Sharpmaker 204). Don´t know if it depends on the edge geometry or the steel. However, in the end the blade will take a decent edge.
Regards!