Buck 110 with 425M blade

B

BillL

Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
239
Hi,

I have a Buck 110 folder bought in the 80s and I found that it was made from 425M steel. What are the properties of this steel compared to 420HC and why did Buck switch to 420HC. Properties with regards to hardness, edge retention, ease of sharpening, also whether it can be sharpened with a regular Arkansas stone?

Thanks very much
 
Bill,
About 10 years ago we took a serious look at 420 v 425. 425 was a special steel the mill did for us and the lead times on ordering the stuff were pretty long. 420 can be had much more readily so there was a huge benefit to using it if we felt it was comparable to 425. We did extensive testing on a C.A.T.R.A. machine, which tests edge retention, and the 420 did as good as the 425. We also found that we could get the hardness on the 420 at the same levels as we could with 425. This made the decision simple.
They can both be sharpened the same way and unless you have an older knife with a diferent edge geometry, ease of sharpening should be identical.
I hope this makes sense.
 
Great topic! I appreciate all of the information provided from Mr.Houser. This information is what makes collecting Buck knives so fun. I am curious about my 112 2 dot. I read on this site that these were made of 440C. Is this true, and if so why isn't it used anymore?

Thanks again,
Mike T.
St.Paul, MN
 
440C, although an excellent stainless, is much too hard on the dies used to stamp out the blade blanks. Buck could not continue the use of 440C and remain competitive in the knife market. They found, that using 425M and later, 420HC, that through proper heat treating the lesser grade of stainless could perform nearly as well as 440C.

Dave Fortman
BCCI Lifetime Member 736
NRA Member
 
I also believe cost was a large factor. I seem to have read in a TK (?) last year that 440C was alot pricier in the US than 420HC.
 
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