What exactly is boker's high carbon stainless steel?

TheChunk91

TheChunk91

Joined
Aug 15, 2013
Messages
4,897
So I got a boker tree brand large stockman with the brown bone and stainless blades but I cant find any info on the specific steel it may be. I looked at bokers website and from the steels they use im assuming its something along the lines of 4116, 440a or 420hc. If it was 440c im sure boker would let it be known since so many of their tree brand and plus knives have 440c. So far its doing decent performance but I havent used it enough to accurately compare it to c75, chrome vanadium, tru sharp or similar steels. I only bought the knife cause it was about $20 and I was getting a washboard bone copperhead with c75 steel so I threw it in for a good user, but I read somewhere the brown bone stainless ones are made in china and assembled in germany so im pretty stumped.
 
It depends on what Boker brand they have different sub brands that fall under the Boker umbrella

Here's a Boker steel chart

 
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Thats the same steel chart I used but theres several steels that could be used in the knife, it has a tang stamp on the sheepsfoot blade that says high carbon stainless steel but nothing more. Every description of the knife I have seen says the same thing so I cant find out for sure what kind it actually is. The knife is tree brand germany so that narrows down the steel that could be used.
 
Is your knife a Boker Tree Brand, Magnum, Boker Plus?
Does the tang stamp say SOLINGEN or German? What does the shield say? Is it a Tree that reads Germany or SOLINGEN ?
Help to narrow it down.
If it is SOLINGEN or Germany it is most likely 4116 pretty close to 420HC, if it's 440C they label it that way.


Pete
 
According to the chart, the two that it could be, if of German manufacture, both fall in the .45 - .50 % carbon and 54-56 hardness category, much like Case's Tru-sharp. For comparison, Buck, Queen and GEC all run their stainless from 2-4 points harder.
 
TheChunk91 said:
Thats the same steel chart I used but theres several steels that could be used in the knife, it has a tang stamp on the sheepsfoot blade that says high carbon stainless steel but nothing more. Every description of the knife I have seen says the same thing so I cant find out for sure what kind it actually is.
Click to expand...

I think Boker was pretty diligent about stamping or etching blades done with 440C, specifically, to emphasize the use of it (I've seen some Bokers etched as such). As for others that don't ID the steel, I think the only way to narrow it down, would be to figure out where the blade was actually made. If Germany, then I'd bet 4116 or 4034 (German manufacture and spec) or maybe 440A/420HC (Boker imported some US-made/spec'd steels to Germany). If blades are China-made, then one of the 'CR' variants would be likely, as those are all of Chinese manufacture, and spec'd as such.


David
 
TheChunk91 said:
So I got a boker tree brand large stockman with the brown bone and stainless blades but I cant find any info on the specific steel it may be.
Click to expand...

My best suggestion would to be to quit guessing and speculating and just call Boker. Believe it or not, you can actually speak to a real, live, human being. I bought a CINCH branded pattern I was quite fond of about a year ago, and they had not changed over their website to accurately tell you where each knife was made. At the time I called they had just changed the method of production on the CINCH line and I couldn't find anyone or anything to help me resolve where or how that knife was made. I called this guy as I got his info from the Boker subforum:


Terry Trahan
Boker USA Customer Service/Repair Rep
repair at bokerusa
1-800-992-6537 ext 21

Very nice fellow, and apparently I was lucky enough to catch him between knife shows and sales events. He was enormously annoyed at the bad information on their website, but didn't dodge telling me the truth one bit. He can tell you what you have.

And Stich, what a great chart! Thanks for posting that one. Boker is so huge and makes so many knives now you need a score card like that one to keep up.

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
My best suggestion would to be to quit guessing and speculating and just call Boker. Believe it or not, you can actually speak to a real, live, human being. I bought a CINCH branded pattern I was quite fond of about a year ago, and they had not changed over their website to accurately tell you where each knife was made. At the time I called they had just changed the method of production on the CINCH line and I couldn't find anyone or anything to help me resolve where or how that knife was made. I called this guy as I got his info from the Boker subforum:


Terry Trahan
Boker USA Customer Service/Repair Rep
repair at bokerusa
1-800-992-6537 ext 21

Very nice fellow, and apparently I was lucky enough to catch him between knife shows and sales events. He was enormously annoyed at the bad information on their website, but didn't dodge telling me the truth one bit. He can tell you what you have.

And Stich, what a great chart! Thanks for posting that one. Boker is so huge and makes so many knives now you need a score card like that one to keep up.

Robert
Click to expand...

Thanks, no problem, Terry is great, you could also contact Terry via the Boker forum

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/792-Boker-USA
Pete
 
possibly one of these?:
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$_57.JPG

$_57.JPG
 
jon_slider said:
possibly one of these?:
$_57.JPG

$_57.JPG

$_57.JPG
Click to expand...

Yep thats the exact knife I have, im thinking its 440a, 440b, 420hc or 4116 based on performance so far and the pricepoint of the knife. Contacting boker would be a good idea so I will have to do that. How is the fit & finish of your model? Mine is quite sloppy, one of the bolsters in cracked, theres alot of gaps between the liners, the face where the blade tang meets the spring is quite uneven and the sheepsfoot and spey blades dont even snap open. For now im gonna carry and use it but I dont know yet if I want to mess with sending it back as its my cheapest traditional so automatically a beater.
 
TheChunk91 said:
Yep thats the exact knife I have, im thinking its 440a, 440b, 420hc or 4116 based on performance so far and the pricepoint of the knife. Contacting boker would be a good idea so I will have to do that. How is the fit & finish of your model? Mine is quite sloppy, one of the bolsters in cracked, theres alot of gaps between the liners, the face where the blade tang meets the spring is quite uneven and the sheepsfoot and spey blades dont even snap open. For now im gonna carry and use it but I dont know yet if I want to mess with sending it back as its my cheapest traditional so automatically a beater.
Click to expand...

If that is the knife the " Germany " on the shield means it was outsourced with parts from China and assembled in Germany, should have been sold at a lower price point, but there are some shady auction site sellers and venders that pass them off as the Solingen made ones, next time try to read the shield if it read SOLINGEN you have a 100% made in Germany knife.
Pete
 
TheChunk91 said:
So I got a boker tree brand large stockman with the brown bone and stainless blades but I cant find any info on the specific steel it may be. I looked at bokers website and from the steels they use im assuming its something along the lines of 4116, 440a or 420hc. If it was 440c im sure boker would let it be known since so many of their tree brand and plus knives have 440c. So far its doing decent performance but I havent used it enough to accurately compare it to c75, chrome vanadium, tru sharp or similar steels. I only bought the knife cause it was about $20 and I was getting a washboard bone copperhead with c75 steel so I threw it in for a good user, but I read somewhere the brown bone stainless ones are made in china and assembled in germany so im pretty stumped.
Click to expand...

If made in Germany, your Boker is 4116, which is similar in composition to 420HC.
If made in China, your Boker has Chinese alloy, which is likely reasonably similar to 440A.
 
TheChunk91 said:
I read somewhere the brown bone stainless ones are made in china and assembled in germany
Click to expand...

good guess!

Stich2442 said:
If that is the knife the " Germany " on the shield means it was outsourced with parts from China and assembled in Germany
Click to expand...

I figured Stich would know

Obsessed with Edges said:
If blades are China-made, then one of the 'CR' variants
Click to expand...

agree, possibly 8Cr13MoV like Rough Rider uses. Their fit and finish reputation is pretty good, and the price point is similar.

knarfeng said:
made in China, your Boker has Chinese alloy, which is likely reasonably similar to 440A.
Click to expand...

TheChunk91 said:
im thinking its 440a.
Click to expand...

you make very good guesses

sorry to hear your inexpensive China parts Boker has poor fit and finish, thanks for sharing your experience.
 
Thanks for the clarification everybody, I usually never buy a knife if I dont know the steel but this one was cheap and with the boker name I knew it would be decent so its a fun user when I dont want to scratch up my washboard bone handled (which I believe were a limited run) solingen knives. It seems pretty goofy for boker to make knives in china and assemble in germany to keep the cost down, I though thats what plus and magnum are for but whatever floats their boat. I suppose these china/german knives are decent value though.
 
Pete and Robert, thanks for the info. I have really neglected Boker as a whole, my first real nice knife when I was a kid was my Boker pen knife with the hunting dogs on it, it was labeled Tree Brand.

I'm going to look for some Bokers this weekend.
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Pete and Robert, thanks for the info. I have really neglected Boker as a whole, my first real nice knife when I was a kid was my Boker pen knife with the hunting dogs on it, it was labeled Tree Brand.

I'm going to look for some Bokers this weekend.
Click to expand...

Me, too!

My first knife was a Montgomery Wards Scout knife. All I needed and a little to spare back when I was 5. The celluloid shrank, the blades worked very loose, and the steel was so soft I had to sharpen it a lot. (It was good for that though, as the soft steel made it easier for me to learn on.)

When I was about 8, my Dad bought me a full sized (4") Boker stockman. Wow. I loved that knife and it was my first really nice knife, too. No doubt that started my affinity for the stockman pattern.

I have had several Boker Solingen knives over the years and all have been great. Even today the Boker Solingen knives seem to me to be an outstanding value. And using them for my construction work and all the other stuff they are required to do I never had one fail after years of service.

Lately I have really been looking around to see if I can find one of those old 4" stockman knives, kind of a trip down memory lane for me.

Robert
 
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SAK Guy said:
The Late 70's, early 80's model number for the Classic 4" Stockman was #7474 if that helps.

Here's mine in rosewood.

Boker7474_zpsda977c33.jpg
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That's it! The rounded bolsters make that four inches an easy carry.

The hunt is on!

Gorgeous example of that knife, too.

Robert
 
My new Boker German Tree Brand I just got a few months back is still a #7474, in appaloosa bone.

BO7474AppOpen_zps886c64c5.jpg~original
 
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