Who designed the 124 Frontiersman?

Ok I guess the info online is wrong or I miss understood it the way it was written.



So I want to say Frank Buck had great ideas for knives, I really like the 124 design. The real reason I was asking these questions was to bring recognition to the one that dreamed this great knife up.
 
One can read all kinds of Wrong information on-line. Also, I don't know 'for sure' who designed that model. Yet, if Chuck doesn't remember, Frank would make my short list of possibles as he liked big knives and had a flair to design them. Plus, the onset of production of that model puts Frank alive and in the picture. Paul Boss would know and one or two others and Frank and he were good friends. DM
 
Seems to me I read on-line that Tucker Buck (who was Chuck's nephew's wife's second cousin) was in a Chinese restaurant in San Diego one night and he saw a cook chopping veggies with a big, hefty knife that really caught his eye.

So he asked the cook (One Hot Sun Yang) where he got it and One Hot said he made it himself from the fluke from a discarded lifeboat anchor that he found in a locker on the boat from China.

So Tucker says, "Can I trace it on this napkin and make a few notes?"

One Hot says, "Ok, but I want loyalties if you sell knife."

Tucker, thinking "Loyalty" just meant he'd have to remain a steady customer at that restaurant, says, "Sure."

Tucker brought the info to the rest of the family and they liked it so much they put it into immediate production.

So......anyhow......make a long story short......it ended up that the early 124 (Nemo, really) was designed by a Chinese cook and there was a protracted fight over the royalties he had demanded and Tucker Buck had misunderstood.

Sort of ironic, with China now copying lots of Buck knives. Guess they figure they deserve it, being that they didn't get all the royalties they wanted for the 124.

Guess that wraps it.......I read it on the internet, so it must be true.

:)
 
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I guess post #24 explains why no one knows who designed this knife. Another very funny post BG, you should try stand up!
 
Standing up.......too much work.

I can type sitting down.

BTW......Joe Houser will probably deny that my story is true.......just like he does with all my good stories.

:)
 
BG42EDGE said:
Seems to me I read on-line that Tucker Buck (who was Chuck's nephew's wife's second cousin) was in a Chinese restaurant in San Diego one night and he saw a cook chopping veggies with a big, hefty knife that really caught his eye.

So he asked the cook (One Hot Sun Yang) where he got it and One Hot said he made it himself from the fluke from a discarded lifeboat anchor that he found in a locker on the boat from China.

So Tucker says, "Can I trace it on this napkin and make a few notes?"

One Hot says, "Ok, but I want loyalties if you sell knife."

Tucker, thinking "Loyalty" just meant he'd have to remain a steady customer at that restaurant, says, "Sure."

Tucker brought the info to the rest of the family and they liked it so much they put it into immediate production.

So......anyhow......make a long story short......it ended up that the early 124 (Nemo, really) was designed by a Chinese cook and there was a protracted fight over the royalties he had demanded and Tucker Buck had misunderstood.

Sort of ironic, with China now copying lots of Buck knives. Guess they figure they deserve it, being that they didn't get all the royalties they wanted for the 124.

Guess that wraps it.......I read it on the internet, so it must be true.

:)
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That' a pretty far fetched story. I just figured the design was passed along from an alien civilization far more advanced than ours. :D :D
 
Jeff, what aspect of the Frontiersman's "design" are you interested in?

I'm quite interested in and interested in learning more about the ebbs and flows of different variations of the American "Bowie/Ka-Bar" style knife through the years. One thing I find interesting (and relevant to Bucks) is how dramatically different amounts of "clip" have been used, from none or nearly none like on the Frontiersman, to a lot like on some old Westerns and Schrades.

Here is my grandfather's old deer knife. It has no brand markings on it anywhere. I posted to Levine's sub-forum and BL suggested this knife was probably a 50s to 60s vintage import from Japan. Based on conversations with my dad, I think it's more like early 50s. It's almost exactly the same size as the 124 and has a very similar blade shape.

grandpas-hunter by Pinnah, on Flickr

You can also search the auction sites for the Western L46-5, which has a similar (slightly different) tip.

Obviously, somebody or some team at Buck had to draw up the plans for the 124 and that person or team had to make specific choices that make the 124 unique (and beautiful, imo - easily the best looking fixed blade Buck to my eyes). But it bears recalling that the basic "design" of the blade was pretty well established before Buck started making them.
 
BG42EDGE said:
So he asked the cook (One Hot Sun Yang) where he got it and One Hot said he made it himself from the fluke from a discarded lifeboat anchor that he found in a locker on the boat from China.
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BG, I thought the cook's name was Won Hung Lo. And the way I heard it he was formerly in a Chinese Naval Special Warfare unit, basically a Chinese knock off of our Navy SEALS. His design was a copy of a chinese copy of the USN MK II utility knife.
 
Cool pic Pinnah, thanks. It would be interesting to know who developed the knife and why. It is a big blade with a big handle, almost to the point of being impractical. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about knives from that era (a bit before my time) so I failed consider it was simply a product of the times. Anyway, it is a nice looking knife and this thread piqued my curiosity.
 
Guess Joe can't catch Chuck.

Can he be that hard to catch? How do you sign knives while moving?

:)
 
An online dealer, I will not say which one, says in their write up for the 124 that it was designed by a guy called wilde Bill Cody who designes knives for Buck. What say the Buck guys?
 
RickJ said:
An online dealer, I will not say which one, says in their write up for the 124 that it was designed by a guy called wilde Bill Cody who designes knives for Buck. What say the Buck guys?
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Just speculation on my part but they must be talking about some special edition designed by Wild Bill. I don't know if Bill has been associated with Buck long enough to have been the original designer????
 
RickJ said:
The write up says 40 years
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OK, I see that. Well, if it was almost 40 years ago as they say, that would have been around 1972 and the Nemo/Frontiersman 122/124 was introduced in '67. I doesn't seem likely that he was the designer unless Buck bought his design 5 years before he went to work for them. :confused: Perhaps they mean that he has something to do with the new version. They don't actually say that he had anything to do with either one if you read it.

"Wilde Bill Cody has been custom designing Buck knives for nearly 40 years. His Native American heritage and superior artistry skills have made him famous as a custom knife designer. This elegant, ergonomic knife is ideal for hunting and field applications. The 420HC stainless steel blade has a satin finish. Black Micarta® handle with aluminum butt and finger guard. Black, genuine-leather sheath included."
 
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Plumberdv said:
OK, I see that. Well, if it was almost 40 years ago as they say, that would have been around 1972 and the Nemo/Frontiersman 122/124 was introduced in '67. I doesn't seem likely that he was the designer unless Buck bought his design 5 years before he went to work for them. :confused: Perhaps they mean that he has something to do with the new version. They don't actually say that he had anything to do with either one if you read it.

"Wilde Bill Cody has been custom designing Buck knives for nearly 40 years. His Native American heritage and superior artistry skills have made him famous as a custom knife designer. This elegant, ergonomic knife is ideal for hunting and field applications. The 420HC stainless steel blade has a satin finish. Black Micarta® handle with aluminum butt and finger guard. Black, genuine-leather sheath included."
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Yes I agree but they way they word it is like he was "THE GUY" Yep BG still unsolved.
 
RickJ said:
Yes I agree but they way they word it is like he was "THE GUY" Yep BG still unsolved.
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I don't see it. If they'd have even added a word or two saying that he had something to do with it, maybe. Pretty much all they did was say he's been designing for Buck for nearly 40 years and that he's a famous custom knife designer. That may imply he had a hand in it but it sure doesn't say so.

He may have had a word or two about them when they were in the planning stage for the new ones but Joe Houser said here on the forum that he himself furnished some old 124's to the staff to use as models for the new ones. No need for Wilde Bill if that's the case, there was no need to reinvent or design something that's already been designed.
 
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