Buck collectible???

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Oct 24, 2008
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Hey everyone! I purchased a Buck Vanguard 692 backward "C" at a garage sale. It has a gold tinted blade and is in excellent shape. I called Buck and asked them about the knife. No one seemed to know. The customer service rep did say that buck uses a "gold ion fusion" on blades that they manufactured for other name brands. Does anyone know of this knife? I was just wondering before I start using it at work and screw up a potential collector piece. Thanx!
 
I don't know about Buck manufacturing for other name brands, but the "Ion Fusion" was a short lived project in the late 90's or early 00's. Some people associate the gold color as cheap and gimicky, so sales were not enough to continue. It could be considered collectable by some. I personally would use it. Take notice that only one side of the blade is sharpened. This leaves the "coating" as the remaining cutting edge. The Ion Fusions are supposed to be great cutters. Prior to Ion Fusion, there was a similar looking coating used that Buck called BuckCote. It was a slightly darker gold.
 
Your right, it does have only one sharpened side. I don't understand why the people I spoke to at Buck had no idea what I was talking about other than "gold ion". Thanks for the info!
 
Your right, it does have only one sharpened side. I don't understand why the people I spoke to at Buck had no idea what I was talking about other than "gold ion". Thanks for the info!

Maybe a newer employee? The ionfusion/buckcote knives havent been made at Post Falls. They were made when Buck was still in CA.
Collectible? Maybe... Does it have the original box and the buckcote or ionfusion sticker on the blade? If not, I would use it! Because of the edge profile on those knives though, be careful cutting hard materials! Most have a pretty steep bevel on the cutting edge. Cutting bone and such dings the cutting edge, the 420HC underneath the buckcote/ionfusion is too soft to really hold that profile. Cleaning game, cutting carpeting.... boxes... etc. its a very hard blade to beat! The "coating" on the blade is off the charts for hardness! Its over 80 on the rockwell scale! Enjoy using it!

I don't know about Buck manufacturing for other name brands, but the "Ion Fusion" was a short lived project in the late 90's or early 00's. Some people associate the gold color as cheap and gimicky, so sales were not enough to continue. It could be considered collectable by some. I personally would use it. Take notice that only one side of the blade is sharpened. This leaves the "coating" as the remaining cutting edge. The Ion Fusions are supposed to be great cutters. Prior to Ion Fusion, there was a similar looking coating used that Buck called BuckCote. It was a slightly darker gold.

Actually the "gold" colored one was dropped because people wouldn't use them, they were too "nice" ;)
The knives came in quite a few colors but Buck only cataloged 3. Grey, Gold, and "light gold" (champagne)
Blades can be found in other colors as well, but they were never really sold to the public, short of selling them off in the company store before the move.
Buckcote was used first, but dropped, because its actually not a coating, the buckcote/ionfusion process is actually bonded to the steel underneath.
 
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The gold look being perceived as cheap came straight from Chuck Buck in another not too old thread, but I can see the too "nice" idea being true as well.

110s in "Gold" and "Champagne". I've got the grey also, but don't have a pic handy.
Click for enlargement
 
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The gold look being perceived as cheap came straight from Chuck Buck in another not too old thread, but I can see the too "nice" idea being true as well.

110s in "Gold" and "Champagne". I've got the grey also, but don't have a pic handy.
Click for enlargement

Potatoe, potato ;)

I think it was Cj though wasnt it?
Either way the Grey and champagne were discontinued as well. Not just because they looked "cheap"
I think it was because people don't like change and sharpening one side only wasn't too popular. Also the blade edge isn't as durable as other methods of sharpening. I would still use it ;)
 
I'vew never seen this before. Add white scales and it would sell great to redneck pimps.
 
The backwards "C" is the date code for 1996.

I don't know anything about Buck's blade coatings, other than I don't care for most.

I think they had gone from 425M to 420HC (with the incomperable Bos heat treat) by '96.
 
The backwards "C" is the date code for 1996.

I don't know anything about Buck's blade coatings, other than I don't care for most.

I think they had gone from 425M to 420HC (with the incomperable Bos heat treat) by '96.
that post question is from 2008....

someone revived this thread form the dead.

new question from the one who bought it back to life from the dead is in post #7.

T tiguy7 knows about this coating. might know the date asked by post #7.....
 
that post question is from 2008....

someone revived this thread form the dead.

new question from the one who bought it back to life from the dead is in post #7.

T tiguy7 knows about this coating. might know the date asked by post #7.....
DaRn.
I need to start paying attention to the dates.
 
Does anybody know the first year BUCK started making IonFusion/Buckcote blades
There was a feature article in Blade Magazine when Buck introduced the Ionfusion coatings (BuckCote) in the late ‘90’s. The project did not last because many could not figure out how to chisel sharpen (single bevel) the blade while preserving the exposed hard coating on the micro edge. More recently many drill bits, tool bits, taps, etc. have been offered with these coatings to improve wear resistance.
The softest coat was TiN (Titanium Nitride) at 82HRC. This dark Gold coat was much harder than CeraCoat and 10 points harder than TDLC/DLC (Tungsten Diamond Like Carbon) at 72HRC, basically Physically Vapor Deposited Tungsten Carbide.
The light Gold (Champagne) colored coating is ZrN (Zirconium Nitride) at 86HRC. I have a set Craftsman drill bits coated with ZrN. The hardest coat was TiAlN (Titanium Aluminum Nitride) at 92HRC (Hardness Rockwell C scale). This stuff has a charcoal colored appearance which doesn’t look as nice as the dark shiny black DLC ala Alaskan Guide, but it’s 20 points harder on a scale that is not linear (20 points is much more than 20%).
I have some old Blade magazines on DVD and could probably figure out the exact date. I am always on the lookout for another project.
 
One of the main benefits of the Ion Fusion coating and chisel edge profile is it's basically self sharpening. With heavy hard use (think skinning Buffalo) it will keep a decent edge..
 
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