Buck 110/112 with oak scales (or not)

S

silvaticus

Joined
Aug 26, 2016
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372
I'm a big fan of the 112 Ranger, and carry one regularly. Also, I do love oak as a handle material. It's not one of the fancy woods, I know, but it kind of conveys the matter-of-fact, tool-like appearance to me that I like in a knife. So it might come as no surprise that I recently orderd a oak-scaled 112 from Copper and Clad.

Service from C&C was impeccably, and the knife is perfect in the F&F department. However, the scales have me a bit puzzled - as far as I can see they are not oak. Now I should say that I am working with wood professionally, and have received university training on id-ing different woods. The one thing that sets oak woods apart from many other species is its ring-porous nature. And that distinct pattern is totally absent on my Buck.

Based on the pin-striped pattern and the more reddish hue I would say that the wood is actually beech - see the attached images with the knife compared to my reference wood id pieces for oak (EI) and beech (BU) (see also https://www.wood-database.com/american-beech/ and https://www.wood-database.com/white-oak/).

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So I'd be interested to hear from our Buck representatives here about this. Also, would be great to see other oak-scaled Bucks, just to see how varied the wood grains are that are labeled oak.

And just to add - I'm not whining about the knife in general, or about the vendor. I emailed C&C about this and they were really nice and helpful. Also, they offered to exchange the knife, but as I'm in Europe right now shipping would have been 1.5 times the value of the knife. In the end there is nothing wrong with the knife functionally, it just doesn't scratch my oak itch the way I had hoped it would...
 
It probably is Beech with a red oak stain to it. A real Oak scaled 110/112 or any other 100 series would be cool...I would be interested in something like that. I know you're more knowledgable but for conversation purposes, couldn't those scales can be an end cut of Oak?
 
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I don't think it is an end cut - you'd see the growth rings on it. C&C mentioned that Buck uses some kind of laminate wood that they source from a company named Altamont... I can see why that makes sense (less chance of cracks developing = more happy customers), but it would still be nice if it would be a laminate of the wood that's advertised, I guess.
 
It certainly has the same grain as the beechwood sample.
To me your knife looks like beechwood. It’s still very attractive.

I was looking at the 110’s on the same website trying to decide between the oak or rosewood. I chose the rosewood and I’m very happy with my choice.
 
wws said:
It certainly has the same grain as the beechwood sample.
To me your knife looks like beechwood. It’s still very attractive.

I was looking at the 110’s on the same website trying to decide between the oak or rosewood. I chose the rosewood and I’m very happy with my choice.
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I chose the oak and ordered both the 110 and 112 with drop point blades. Sadly, they seem to be beech and laminated to boot. I'm disappointed but decided to keep them as users. Would have been nice to have a bit of truth in advertising on the sellers part.
 
the oak is only the coloring of the dymondwood/laminate/whichever brand it is currently. which is layers of birch I think and coloring and some sort of binder/epoxy like product.
 
Not that this will sway your opinions either way, but here’s my 112 in “Oak”. When I first received it, I thought the same thing. It doesn’t look like oak to me either, but I still love the knife. As you can see, it gets carried and used regularly. 2FD55448-1E25-4897-B72D-F14341DF895C.jpeg
 
I have both a 110 and a 112 in oak, and will have to go home now and look at the grain! Either way, it holds up well in use and overall I really like it. I do agree that your looks like beech.
 
silvaticus said:
I don't think it is an end cut - you'd see the growth rings on it. C&C mentioned that Buck uses some kind of laminate wood that they source from a company named Altamont... I can see why that makes sense (less chance of cracks developing = more happy customers), but it would still be nice if it would be a laminate of the wood that's advertised, I guess.
Click to expand...

You know how it is, if a diamond chip fell off of a grinding wheel and got embedded, they could say it has diamonds in it...:D:D:D:D Marketing...:eek:
 
It may not be a laminate. Altamont makes some very high end rifle stocks and pistol grips...

My wife has her Gma's 100 year old Oak Buffet... It's all Veneer....Go Figure...
 
I believe the oak is rather oak "dymondwood," which is layers of birch and epoxy with a dye added to it. Most of Buck's wood handles are dymondwood such as the rosewood, indigo wood, charcoal wood, cherry wood, and the ebony prior to 2019.
 
I could easily see it as a red oak darkened by the laminating process because I have seen red oak that looks like your beech sample. There are so many factors that could contribute to that grain structure. I'll try to get some pics of some this weekend or maybe if BP will show his thinned 112. It's a little more radical than yours but shows the same grain pattern.
 
I always thought the walnut and oak were real would for some reason. Even though I knew Cherrywood and Indigo were dyamond wood. I don’t know why I thought that. One thing about the dyamond wood is it is very stable no shrinking no cracks. It really is a rugged premium handle material.

Something to think about for the OP. It is definitely doable at home to rehandle a 110.
 
I was wondering the same thing about that same oak 112, and almost ordered one a week or so ago. I ended up deciding against it because I wasn't really interested in the 5160 blade at this point in time.

To determine if the scales are laminated, look at the edge. If laminated, you will see the horizontal parallel lines of glue where 4 or 5 layers of veneer are glued together. If solid, you can tell where dark & light areas follow through the whole thickness of the slab.

My first photo shows two ebony handled 112s, solid on top, and laminated on bottom. The second pic is the stock pic for the oak 112. It looks like oak in the pic, and does not show the glue lines on the edge from what I can tell.

I appreciate different types of wood too, and I don't think I'd be overly satisfied with laminated beech if it was advertised as solid oak. The new Bucks affiliated with Taylor Guitars have solid ebony, with no price increase.

Laminated wood is more stable and durable than solid wood in sudden changes of temperature or humidity, and maybe less prone to shrinking or cracking in some cases. We take this into account on something more thin & fragile like a musical instrument, not so much with a knife handle unless you're regularly in extreme conditions or salt.

Now I'm wondering about the 55. I was under the impression that its scales were real walnut. I'm going to try to find one in a store to look at. I do buy knives online, but if you care about the wood, it's a big advantage to be able to look through a handful in a retail store and pick the one you like best.

JT

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