What became of bg-42 steel ??

RAZORBLADES

RAZORBLADES

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Aug 14, 2006
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i have a few re blades with bg-42 on my 110 hunters,along with a stag custom shop bg-42 110,the steel sharpens up very nice and stays sharp long after many of the hunting knives are dull in deer camp.What ever happened to bg-42 bucks?I love the steel and wish they would offer it along side the s30v.
 
im doing a lot of paraphrasing and memory so excuse my errors in what I remember.

think latrobe steel made it, but latrobe is now carpenter. its an aerospace ball bearing steel that isnt demanded much from what I remember, wasnt ever really focused on cutlery more so when big orders came in it was available. seem to remember it was hard to get in knife size setups. so faded away. there is a powdered version....CTS-B75P...spyderco made a mule with it while back. didnt get much attention.

meanwhile while all that above, minus spyderco mule part, was happening.....s30v came in to the scene and well overall...... it was the best made for cutlery steel at its time. so here we are. pretty sure Buck used the last of their bg42 stock up while back.

I like bg42 like to see it come back in buck knives and maybe it will? steels dont really go extinct per say.

you can request a quote for it still from carpenter....see screen shot......

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BG42 is expensive and low-profit as compared to most other steels, especially the powder.

S30V and other powder steels are cheap, easy to work with and high profit.

Profit is the name of the game.

The superiority of BG42 is not equivalent to the higher cost and loss of profit.

With a superior heat treat, many other steels are almost as good.

Buck's 420HC is just fine for me and most other normal users.

In other words, when cheap is almost as good........cheap always wins out in a world where profit is king.
 
For up until 2002 or so it was THE choice for a premium steel for many knife manufacturers. I know any 110 or for that matter any Buck period made with BG42 sells quickly and for more money than other super steels like S30V or even D2. I'm STILL searching for a 112 from Bucks reblade program from 2002 but with only 100 or so blades made they are very hard to find. I bet if Buck located and made a run with BG42 in a fixed or folder they would have no problem selling them AND would make a nice profit! It's not the steel Buck or any manufacturer would choose for tens of thousands of any model but for a real Limited Edition..why not?
 
BG-42 is a conventionally smelted, high purity, double melt steel that was developed as a stainless version of 52100 ball bearing steel. The Vacuum Induction Melt and the Vacuum Arc Remelt (VIM/VAR) process limits the amount of Vanadium that can be dissolved in the steel and the limit is about 2% V. BG-42 comes in at 1.2% V. I heard that stainless ball bearings are useful in the food processing industry for conveyors and belts.
The powdered metal process allows more Vanadium to be dissolved into the steel maxing out at about 15%. The grain structure is also finer with single melt powder process. Vanadium Carbide’s HRC of 82 contributes significantly the wear resistance of knife blades independently of the Hardness Rockwell C scale of the blade. The higher VC’s also contribute to the difficulty of sharpening the higher alloyed steels. Diamond abrasives are recommended to prevent Carbide tear out in such steels.
 
Good information, I'm saving this thread. I have one Buck with this steel. I believe it was the final run of BG-42 a year or so ago. The drop point, second from the right in this pic.
bucks02_zpsgvlrntsn.jpg

Buck has offered a variety of steel in their knives. I would like one of each. Which is best can be the subject for endless debate.
 
It’s my favourite steel although I’ve never cut anything with it, I like how the bg-42 is stamped into the blade. Reminds me of the old truck tyres that were stamped with white writing
 
bucksway said:
For up until 2002 or so it was THE choice for a premium steel for many knife manufacturers. I know any 110 or for that matter any Buck period made with BG42 sells quickly and for more money than other super steels like S30V or even D2. I'm STILL searching for a 112 from Bucks reblade program from 2002 but with only 100 or so blades made they are very hard to find. I bet if Buck located and made a run with BG42 in a fixed or folder they would have no problem selling them AND would make a nice profit! It's not the steel Buck or any manufacturer would choose for tens of thousands of any model but for a real Limited Edition..why not?
Click to expand...
I have a 1996 finger groove ranger with a bg-42 re blade ,the cost was$ 30 and that included the shipping to me over here in Nova Scotia.lol
 
Just about everyone who went to the trouble of sending one to Buck really likes it..and wants to keep it lol! It's not like it was a limited edition and was just added to the pile.And virtually every Buck fan who has one KNOWS it is rare and really limted.
 
Here are my 110 and 112 with replacement BG-42 blades. Both were planned as users, but were relegated to 'Safe Queen' status as the supply dried up. Leroy did the exchange and replaced the handles on the 112 with nice walnut. The 110 had nice Macassar Ebony so he left it as is and did finger grooves.
DSC_0135.JPG

DSC_0134.JPG

004.JPG
 
pjsjr said:
Here are my 110 and 112 with replacement BG-42 blades. Both were planned as users, but were relegated to 'Safe Queen' status as the supply dried up. Leroy did the exchange and replaced the handles on the 112 with nice walnut. The 110 had nice Macassar Ebony so he left it as is and did finger grooves.
DSC_0135.JPG

DSC_0134.JPG

004.JPG
Click to expand...
Loved both would love to get my hands on the 112
 
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