What is your stance on "Spa Treatments"?

North Shore

North Shore

Joined
Jun 28, 2016
Messages
447
I know Buck has a very good forever warranty, and for a modest sum they will do a bunch to spruce up a knife. What is your stance on this type of thing? Better to leave an older knife as is? Or send it home and get it back tuned up in a couple of months?

buck knives.jpg
 
nothing wrong with the knives functionally, just to make them look nice, clean up the bevels probably and cleaning in general
 
IMO, depends on the knife. I'm not one for sending a knife in, but then again, I can usually do my own spa treatments, LOL. Some knives, Case and Buck come to mind, have spare parts that they can use to spiffy knives up. Some more modern knives (non-traditional) actually market spa treatments to keep the inner workings "working".

I suppose if the knife has some sentimental value, or is more fancy than usual, a day at the spa would be fitting...
 
It depends on the knife. For one I plan on using that was only mildly neglected I will clean it, put a nice edge on it, and call it a day. Also, if it is a family knife I wouldn’t want to take away too much hard earned wear and would take it easy. However, if I got a good price on a knife that was in serious rough shape I would probably send it in.
 
It really is dependent on the knife and circumstances around said knife as to how much sense a spa treatment makes if at all.
 
If a knife get's damaged, then hopefully it can be repaired by the original maker or competent craftsman.

But, I like to clean up, refurbish and sharpen my own knives so the whole Spa Treatment concept is frankly lost on me.
 
You could compromise and send one to The Spa but not the other one. Best of both worlds.:)
 
For Buck knives I'm fine with it when often they've been messed up on a course stone from someone trying to sharpen the 440c they used, plus there's no patina to cover the wear or damage making it less noticeable which is something I don't like about old used stainless knives.
If I was going to send a knife in for spa I'd specify that I simply wanted the blade freshened up and all the dings and dents in the bolsters or the guard and pommel left alone.

I like to leave the character and patina of a knife alone as long as the function isn't affected, but of course it feel a bit different about stainless blades when I just plain looks bad to me.
 
To me its basically a service to spruce up a knife before you sell it / after you buy it.
 
I have a couple I've been thinking of sending in, but have yet to bite the bullet.
 
Never considered knife spa treatment as being at the level of a "stance" (such as Communism vs. Capitalism or Conservative vs. Liberal, etc.) That said, I see Spa Service as a fairly benign procedure, not a controversial one, to make an old knife look new. I've used the Buck Spa with complete satisfaction and done my own with satisfying results - their work is better than mine! I also leave old knives alone and use them as is (except for a better edge). All good choices in my estimation, none superior over the others. OH
 
I think that just having a spa treatment program says a lot about a company. It says they care about the customer.

Many people who use knives are not knife nuts like us. They have no idea how to sharpen or even clean & oil a knife. A company that offers a program to assist these consumers is, in my opinion, just taking an extra step in quality customer service.

Fun fact: Buck is the only family/company that has 3 generations represented in the BLADE Hall of Fame.
 
Buck's spa treatment is great and can make the knife "new" so collector beware when buying vintage Buck knives. There's been tales of old blades mounted in new handles and new blades in old handles.

I bought a "unused" 532 that went through a very good spa treatment, but there were some clues. The priced dropped quickly when pointed out to the dealer. It was a slow day at the the gun show and the knife came out of an estate. I'm happy with it. Of the people I've shown it to, only one person, another collector, noticed the "tells."
 
Last edited:
I think that if it's done to deceive then it's wrong. But I have a knife I bought from Chris Reeve back in 1987. I took it to the SHOT show a while back because, having been most of the way around the world, it was in need of a new sheath and Chris took it, showed it around, and them sent it back to me with a new sheath and having been completely redone to look like new. It's mine (has my name engraved in it) and it's not going to be for sale, so the "spa" was welcome. Likewise, other knives I've owned have been worked on for various issues, and I'm OK with that.

If you're not sure how to tell what's been worked over, one of the best books you can buy is "Counterfeiting Antique Cutlery". It's well worth reading.
 
I'm definitely in the DYI camp, as I enjoy doing it. But I like the story written on the knife. Minor chips, a slightly tipped blade, loose blades and rust I'll fix. If a knife has major damage I'll pass on it(unless I find an super rare oldie)
For example this Olean Cutlery I found at a flea market
KgGdSj6.jpg

Little bit of the tip gone,and active rust spot
mD7L9Pu.jpg

Busted pin in the scales
ZeFadea.jpg

And now with the tip reprofiled, and scales repinned. Some would remove the staining and patina, the dings in the guard, but I like the story it tells.
Z8oGjbY.jpg

MEo0JIC.jpg

Even made a sheath, just so I can carry and use this wonderful piece of history. I wanted to fix it without hiding its 100 years worth of history. But thats just me:):thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top