Buck Custom Shop -- not impressed

[blee]

Hi Buck fans. I don't usually hang around this forum, so this may have been discussed before, but I didn't find any topics using search. I thought I'd ask you people.

I've been familiar with the Buck 110 knives since maybe the 60's and still own a Buck 422 from way back. Recently, for nostalgic reasons, I decided to splurge a little and get a 112 from their custom shop. It's about the same size as the 422 which I like, and I chose S30V with oak handles. When I received the knife, I was dismayed to find that the handle wasn't flat throughout, but all the bolsters were dished, and the wood next to them was beveled. Most of my knife purchases have been GEC production knives, and their bolsters and junctions are perfect. If I recall, even the regular Bucks didn't have dished bolsters. I like the knife in spite of this, but find it puzzling that their custom shop would release this. Is this what can be expected?

I guess I wanted to vent a little too, but thanks for any comments you might have on this.

 

[Makael]

Beautiful hand made knife.

 

[sticknstring73]

My stock 110 is similar about the wood although the bolsters do not seem to be dished. Does it feel good in the hand?

 

[blee]

My stock 110 is similar about the wood although the bolsters do not seem to be dished. Does it feel good in the hand?

It feels fine in the hand, no problem at all. The dishing is very smooth. The issue is purely aesthetic.

 

[blee]

Beautiful hand made knife.

Thanks. I guess that's a good way to look at it.

 

[afishhunter]

Beautiful knife. Wear and use her with pride.

 

[BuckShack]

It's a one of a kind and uniquely yours. Enjoy!

 

[RAZORBLADES]

It's perfect,I'm sure you are aware that these are all made to order ,and hand finished as well.its part of the final buffing process no big deal as far as I can see.

 

[DeSotoSky]

Hi Buck fans. I don't usually hang around this forum, so this may have been discussed before, but I didn't find any topics using search. I thought I'd ask you people.

I've been familiar with the Buck 110 knives since maybe the 60's and still own a Buck 422 from way back. Recently, for nostalgic reasons, I decided to splurge a little and get a 112 from their custom shop. It's about the same size as the 422 which I like, and I chose S30V with oak handles. When I received the knife, I was dismayed to find that the handle wasn't flat throughout, but all the bolsters were dished, and the wood next to them was beveled. Most of my knife purchases have been GEC production knives, and their bolsters and junctions are perfect. If I recall, even the regular Bucks didn't have dished bolsters. I like the knife in spite of this, but find it puzzling that their custom shop would release this. Is this what can be expected?

I guess I wanted to vent a little too, but thanks for any comments you might have on this.

Gee, I'm a little surprised at everyones acceptance of this knife. A picture is not the same as in hand but the bolsters really do look over aggressively buffed. I think the dishing would bother me. I have never seen bolsters dished on a 110 like I think I am seeing in these pictures. The slight beveling of the wood to the level of the bolster is normal but this knife goes way beyond that. Additionally, look at the scale rivets, particularly the lower rear ones. In the third picture the scale material looks cracked thru the lower rear rivet and on the left side the handle material looks a bit crushed as seen in the second picture. There also looks to be a crack thru the front scale rivet in the first picture. I will admit that I may be wrong judging from the picture so I ask you blee, are the scales cracked thru the rivets or am I just seeing the grain streaking in the oak?

 

[bradytx]

Looks good to me.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Pack Rat]

Dished out bolsters!!!

I would have to fondle it to make a decision.

But off the cuff, I would be calling Buck.

Never heard of anything like this coming out of the custom shop.

 

[Badhammer]

I have no issue with how it looks. About every 110 & 112 I have are similar. Unless it's intended solely for display I would use and enjoy it. If you decide to return it I would include a detailed explanation as to exactly what you're expectations are regarding acceptable quality.

 

[gedlicks]

It is hard for me to say if the bolsters are acceptable. It is hard to tell in the pictures. As for the scales I agree with Roger however again It is a bit hard to tell in the pictures for sure.

For me what it boils down to is if the OP is not happy with the knife get ahold of Buck and try to resolve the issue one way or another. He did pay for a custom shop knife and not a regular production version.

 

[blee]

Gee, I'm a little surprised at everyones acceptance of this knife. A picture is not the same as in hand but the bolsters really do look over aggressively buffed. I think the dishing would bother me. I have never seen bolsters dished on a 110 like I think I am seeing in these pictures. The slight beveling of the wood to the level of the bolster is normal but this knife goes way beyond that. Additionally, look at the scale rivets, particularly the lower rear ones. In the third picture the scale material looks cracked thru the lower rear rivet and on the left side the handle material looks a bit crushed as seen in the second picture. There also looks to be a crack thru the front scale rivet in the first picture. I will admit that I may be wrong judging from the picture so I ask you blee, are the scales cracked thru the rivets or am I just seeing the grain streaking in the oak?

Thanks for your comments, DeSotoSky. I don't think there's a crack in the scale as it is, because it's stabilized, but there may have been one originally. I was also surprised by most everyone's acceptance, so I'm glad to see a dissenting view. If the knife was regular production, I'd probably figure it's normal production. But I thought what the custom shop provided was not only better materials, but better fit and finish. I plan to keep and enjoy the knife, but was curious if others would consider it subpar.

 

[DeSotoSky]

Took the wife for a late lunch and mulled it over. I decided the Oak is really a very different and coarser grain structure than the normal Maccassar Ebony Dymondwood I am used to
looking at and mistook that coarser grain for cracks in the pictures. Still think the bolsters look over ground but cant really be certain without actually seeing it.

 

[RAZORBLADES]

I can't see anything wrong from the pics,I don't know what you mean by dished bolsters?i doubt the wood is cracked ,it's dymondwood which is laminated layers and resin,in order for it to crack a bunch of different layers need to separate.in any event,if you are not happy with it,Buck will make it right,they have a great warranty.good luck

 

[blee]

I can't see anything wrong from the pics,I don't know what you mean by dished bolsters?i doubt the wood is cracked ,it's dymondwood which is laminated layers and resin,in order for it to crack a bunch of different layers need to separate.in any event,if you are not happy with it,Buck will make it right,they have a great warranty.good luck

Thanks. The dished bolsters probably look worse in the pics than in real life. The very shiny finish also accentuates it. I'm thinking now that the dishing is due to the handle having pins, and if I had ordered the knife without pins I would have gotten a very flat handle. Because of the pins, the ends of the knife has to be ground and polished separately from the rest of the knife.

 

[The Zieg]

Blee, I've been this in this situation before, but with semi-custom furniture, not knives. The frustration for me was that the blemishes I cited were not enough to go through the hassle of asking for the work to be redone but just enough for me to be annoyed with the work. As the years have gone by, the table in question has received enough wear and tear that the old complaints pale in comparison. The same is true of your knife.

If you decide to keep the knife (and I'm not saying you have to--sometimes you just can't live with these mistakes), just consider that you will use that sucker beyond the point where you recognize the current complaints. And remember that Buck brass is soft and gathers pits and dings like a ship does barnacles. Any dishing in the bolsters will be secondary to the dings you put in it. You're chap-assed now, as I was then, but it will pass. And someday someone is going to say, "Cool bolsters! How did you get them concaved? Did you have to ask special for that?"

The wood looks pretty good to me, but a bit dry. Keep oiling it and handling it and look for it to age and change a bit over time. If what you think is a crack widens, Buck will re-scale it.

Zieg

 

[blee]

Blee, I've been this in this situation before, but with semi-custom furniture, not knives. The frustration for me was that the blemishes I cited were not enough to go through the hassle of asking for the work to be redone but just enough for me to be annoyed with the work. As the years have gone by, the table in question has received enough wear and tear that the old complaints pale in comparison. The same is true of your knife.
<snip>
Zieg

I agree, Zieg, that's the situation. It wasn't bad enough to return, but I was certainly surprised by it. The knife won't see a lot of use, I'm afraid, but it's still a cool knife.

 

[Badhammer]

I've not seen anything regarding the Buck Custom Shoppe that would suggest the knives are intentionally assembled with a higher degree of attention to detail. Take the 110 Hunter for example. What you are getting (at least with regard to the brass frame version) is a standard Buck 110 with a none standard set of scales and a different blade. I would wager that the only reason they are made in the Custom Shoppe is because making a customer spec knife on the main assembly line would just slow things down.

Do you get better fit and finish? Maybe however I would again wager that it's just like in the main assembly line in that the person building the knife works to a general set of standards and any special attention is based more on how much they have on their plate that day rather than a higher standard because it's being built off the main line. In fact if you were to buy standard 110 and a Custom Shoppe 110 with just oak or walnut scales off the Buck website you'd pay a few bucks less for the Custom Shoppe models, $78.50 versus $80.00. What the CS really offers in a "made to order" knife rather than a true custom.