Nickel Silver Bolsters on 112s

H

Happy Hippo

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A customizer is telling me that the 112s with nickel/silver bolsters are just plated. So as a result, he is nervous about modifying them. I believe them to be solidly cast nickel/silver. Does anyone have any insight into this? I already have had several of the new nickel/silver 112s modified by other customizers who have not mentioned any problem.

As an aside, I want to make sure people realize that German silver and nickel/silver are just nickel alloy names and don't have a speck of silver in them. Well, maybe they have a tiny speck as an impurity. But please don't think you are getting something with silver in it. I especially see this problem for people buying German silver coins and bars.
 
pjsjr said:
N/S 112 definitely not plated! I'd be cautious of that 'customizer'.
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No, I think he's a good guy. He just isn't that informed about the Buck knives. He mainly concentrates on his own knife business in Canada.
 
Here's a N/S 110 done by David Yellowhorse you can see if the bolsters were plated he would not be able to texture as deeply as he does. I think I have a 112 by him but am not going on a search for it.
Best wishes to you on you venture...
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'Plated' is just nonsense, as it pertains to the 112s (or 110s, 111s, etc., or any of Buck's 'nickel silver' bolstered knives, for that matter). I have many of them of my own - a few of them pictured below. The bolsters are solid - same stuff throughout. So-called 'nickel silver' is an alloy similar to brass. Whether there's any silver in them isn't really relevant anyway - it's just a reference to the 'color' of the alloy. You can sand it, file it, etc. to your heart's content, and it'll just reveal more of the same. The Buck 111 pictured below, in the 2nd picture, is one that I've used Scotch-Brite on the bolsters to give them a satin finish, as opposed to the factory-standard polish. Does a nice job hiding fingerprints & other light scuffs.
aJ1MZ5f.jpg

e2Na2o6.jpg
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
'Plated' is just nonsense, as it pertains to the 112s (or 110s, 111s, etc., or any of Buck's 'nickel silver' bolstered knives, for that matter). I have many of them of my own - a few of them pictured below. The bolsters are solid - same stuff throughout. So-called 'nickel silver' is an alloy similar to brass. Whether there's any silver in them isn't really relevant anyway - it's just a reference to the 'color' of the alloy. You can sand it, file it, etc. to your heart's content, and it'll just reveal more of the same. The Buck 111 pictured below, in the 2nd picture, is one that I've used Scotch-Brite on the bolsters to give them a satin finish, as opposed to the factory-standard polish. Does a nice job hiding fingerprints & other light scuffs.
aJ1MZ5f.jpg

e2Na2o6.jpg
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Yes, I just mentioned about the "silver" part just to make sure people aren't buying coins and bars thinking they are getting silver. I've seen people duped by that. Also, I have had to tell some sellers the bad news. I bought a brass 112 that had some pitting on the bolster. I sanding it off using progressively finer sand paper. But I stopped at 1200 (i think) because the pits were gone and the finish was more of a "brush" finish - which I actually prefer. Like you said, fingerprints and small scratches are not as noticeable with the brush finish.
 
A matter of fact I have ground down the rear bolsters completely down flat to the liners which are actually one piece with the bolsters making the knife a so called barehead and for sure it is all nickel silver.
 
Happy Hippo said:
A customizer is telling me that the 112s with nickel/silver bolsters are just plated. So as a result, he is nervous about modifying them. I believe them to be solidly cast nickel/silver. Does anyone have any insight into this? I already have had several of the new nickel/silver 112s modified by other customizers who have not mentioned any problem.

As an aside, I want to make sure people realize that German silver and nickel/silver are just nickel alloy names and don't have a speck of silver in them. Well, maybe they have a tiny speck as an impurity. But please don't think you are getting something with silver in it. I especially see this problem for people buying German silver coins and bars.
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These are made with Powdered metal technology and are not plated. 1 homogenous piece of NS.
 
Locutus I'm a player and absolutely love the Seydel's..They hold up for many hours of hard use.
Happy Hippo I'm glad you scored a few of the NS 112's as for SO MANY years they were hard to find. Did you get the drop points or S30V clip points?20190420_153928.jpg
 
bucksway said:
Locutus I'm a player and absolutely love the Seydel's..They hold up for many hours of hard use.
Happy Hippo I'm glad you scored a few of the NS 112's as for SO MANY years they were hard to find. Did you get the drop points or S30V clip points?View attachment 2281195
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Mostly drop points and S30V. And I am still waiting for drop point to be available at the Buck Custom shop for 112s.
 
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About the only time I can think of that you see plated bolsters are on knives with tin shell scales or clipped-on bolsters. And those would usuall be chrome, nickel or cadmium, not nickel silver.
 
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