Vintage Buck 103 with Arkansas stone set

S

Skadi

Joined
Sep 22, 2016
Messages
3
Hi all,

I live in Denmark, am new to this place, and something as rare as a female knife enthusiast - I guess 12 blades is not enough to be a serious collector yet, but who knows where this will end? :rolleyes:

Recently I bought a Buck 103 skinner. The sellers father in law bought it at a US base in Greenland in 1969 when he was working for a civilian contractor. Along with the knife came a set with two Arkansas stones and Buck honing oil (approx. half full). This set even included what seems to be the original cardboard case. The plastic case is not intact though

Compared to todays great knives, everything about these items seems to have a little "extra". The blade is super thick, as is the sheath leather. Even the stone set plastic case and that cardboard are pretty massive.

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Skandi, hor mor dur e dogin? My Swedish is rusty and your english good. Welcome to the Buck forum. You have a early 103 skinner and model 133 sharpening set. A very good find. A great start toward a collection. Hope you enjoy your visit and feel free to ask questions. DM
 
Skadi, welcome to the Buck forum. Very nice Buck 103 you have found. I acquired one of the Buck sharpening kits about the time I bought my Buck 105 in 1976. I still have a little of the red honing oil left in the can, but have long lost the stone and plastic case. Good stuff! OH
 
Skadi, welcome to the forum. I have those same items, the knife, sheath, and sharpening kit. Very nice. You will enjoy them.

Your knife has 440C steel, if you are interested. With Buck's outstanding heat treatment it is a real good performer.
 
Buck's 440C steel holds a great edge but can be a challenge to sharpen on Arkansas hones; I must have worn out two or three Arkansas stones trying to put an edge on my buddy's and my Buck knives from that era. Diamond hones work better on 440C. The 103 Skinner is an excellent knife.
 
Hi Skadi, a kind hello from north east Germany. Nice to "see" another European
at the Blade Forums. Have fun with the buck fever infected BF-Members.

Haebbie

In sake of completeness: Nice knife , the 103. It is one of my favorites.
There is only a small difference in the time line. Buck started with the
so called three line stamp (the model number was added) in 1972.
That is the first date the sellers father in law could buy the knife.
 
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That is some valuable information! Thank you. Any other date marks you can spot on the 103 or sheath? The stamp lines are not inverted, that should rule out specific years.
 
Skadi, it is hard to nail it down when the knife was made. The knife has four
spacers. Two at the guard and two at the pommel. The later Version has three
spacers. Two at the pommel an one at the guard. Buck changed to three
spacers at 1980 or 1981. But some say the change was earlier. There are
some discussions because of the correct date. But it is in all propably that
your knife was made between 1972 and 1980. Do you have the box for the
knife? Buck changed from a two parts box to a one part box at 1978. That
will narrow the time frame down additionaly.

Haebbie
 
Alberta Ed said:
Buck's 440C steel holds a great edge but can be a challenge to sharpen on Arkansas hones; I must have worn out two or three Arkansas stones trying to put an edge on my buddy's and my Buck knives from that era. Diamond hones work better on 440C. The 103 Skinner is an excellent knife.
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Ed, I agree with both points. Buck's first stone they offered, their model 101 a SiC stone was the ideal route for the blade steel of that era and of today. DM
 
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