What wood is it really?

GPyro

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2019
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3,851
For the first time in my little knife collecting career I'm upset.

I buy a mini 55 in walnut, I get a knife with walnut.
I buy a 110 / 112 from C&C in oak I get oak.

I buy a limited production 111 in "walnut" I get...…………….. plywood with walnut stain?
Come-on. Any other industry pulled that stunt and people would be upset. If your gonna sell something at a premium price reveal to the public what it really is.

I think this whole "dymond wood" thing is a little deceiving. Advertise it as such. Call it what it is.

Ever hear of "truth in advertising"?

I have built a custom 110 numerous times but never ordered it. Now I'm afraid to. What will I really get?
I believe Buck's marketing department needs a talking to. And maybe learn how to better represent the product to a willing public. As of now I think they are simply putting it out there and we buy it up.

Don't call me a hater. Its just the plain truth. I get upset when I feel duped or misled.

Yeah I know. "call them and they will take care of you". But how many people outside this forum feel the same way and never call them out? And then never buy the product again?
 
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Pictures?
I googled Buck 111 walnut; and came up with the current one on Buck's site - with "walnut" and 420hc, and an older version with walnut dymondwood and s30v.

To be honest, I've had this same concern after nearly buying a few bucks only to see them listed as (ebony, cocobolo, cherry, etc) dymondwood on another site; so I understand your frustration and annoyance.
 
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Yes its laminated. But i am under the impression it is walnut and not a stain. You act as if they are trying to deceive someone and I simply dont believe that.
 
I know exactly how you feel GPyro. I began buying off of eBay for earlier knives and to see what I am getting for my money. I bought real ebony before the laminated Dymondwood but to get certain dates I had to go with the Dymondwood. I have given up on wood and look for titanium and stone handle. The Titanium are thinner than anything I believe, If I am wrong please let me know. It is now, look what I just got and not to be outdone, they go and buy something bigger or different or more expensive. Buck has to keep changing which they are good at ,to keep the business. I found that I keep to what "I" like and forget the rest. I don't need the "new" ebony I have many of the dark "old " ebony to stop me from even thinking of getting "new" ebony.
JOE
 
For the first time in my little knife collecting career I'm upset.

I buy a mini 55 in walnut, I get a knife with walnut.
I buy a 110 / 112 from C&C in oak I get oak.

I buy a limited production 111 in "walnut" I get...…………….. plywood with walnut stain?
Come-on. Any other industry pulled that stunt and people would be upset. If your gonna sell something at a premium price reveal to the public what it really is.

I think this whole "dymond wood" thing is a little deceiving. Advertise it as such. Call it what it is.

Ever hear of "truth in advertising"?

I have built a custom 110 numerous times but never ordered it. Now I'm afraid to. What will I really get?
I believe Buck's marketing department needs a talking to. And maybe learn how to better represent the product to a willing public. As of now I think they are simply putting it out there and we buy it up.

Don't call me a hater. Its just the plain truth. I get upset when I feel duped or misled.

Yeah I know. "call them and they will take care of you". But how many people outside this forum feel the same way and never call them out? And then never buy the product again?

The Buck 110 and 112 in "Oak" from Copper & Clad is actually "oak colored" Dymondwood (stained and stabilized birch or beech plywood). I just recently sent them an email about it after being disappointed to find my 110 in oak and 5160 was plywood and they changed all their listings to reflect the fact that it isn't oak, but "Oak Dymondwood".

By the way... In case you aren't aware, the new standard Buck 110 and 112 and 101 are made with solid ebony. They're gorgeous.
 
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I have an ironwood custom shop with a Damascus blade. I looked at it one day and the scale developed a crack. I sent it in confident after speaking to the warranty Dept. that they will take care of it. It took 2 months to get it back and yes it does look like it was stained on both sides but they sharpened the blade almost 1/8 inch of material gone. I called the warranty Dept and they sent me a ticket to ship it back but said they do not have any Damascus blades. I did receive a call back and the woman told me they found a blade and I got it back in 2 weeks but now the blade does not match the COA I had for the original blade so that is wasted, but both sides of the scales look to be stained.
JOE
 
If you look at the older the ebony is just as beautiful! Like my father before me I collect only Buck 186 and 111 and 110.
JOE
 
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but they sharpened the blade almost 1/8 inch of material gone. I called the warranty Dept and they sent me a ticket to ship it back but said they do not have any Damascus blades. I did receive a call back and the woman told me they found a blade and I got it back in 2 weeks but now the blade does not match the COA I had for the original blade so that is wasted, but both sides of the scales look to be stained.
JOE

To say almost an 1/8 sounds fairly accurate. You actually measured it before you sent it in? Or did you just compare it to stock measurements after you got it back, as it may have been shorter than stock measurements originally. I have had some that are factory and shorter than stock dimension and I have never sharpened them. 1/8 is a lot to take off especially assuming the knife was probably sharp when you sent it in.
 
Old and new Ebony are real and beautiful. I'm extremely happy they are using this again. Ironwood, Black Palm Wood and Buckeye Burlwood in the custom shop I believe are also real wood.

While Dymondwood may not be always be mentioned (and I agree it should) it is a consistent material that is tough as nails, looks good and will probably outlast all of us combined. Buck has been using it for many years now. Most people don't know and only care after finding out it's not real pieces of solid wood. I own many Buck knives with Dymondwood and it doesn't detract from their beauty or usefullness. I love them all.
 
I just looked up the differences on the before Dymondwood Ebony and found it was Macassar Ebony that was used for the early knives which said it was pretty much dark black even plastic looking and customers were happy when they changed from Macassar to Dymondwood.

The new Ebony is Crelicam Ebony from Cameroon which some have lighter streaks in it. It is farmed for Taylor Guitars and Buck made a deal to buy Ebony from them.
 
The Damascus Blade was full to the kick before I sent it and the one I have now they sharpened before they sent it to me and it is below the kick. I will send in for repairs but request that no spa treatment be done. After I got it back I sold it not even noticing the blade, until the person I sold it to asked me if I profiled the blade and I said no I do not sharpen Damascus because I have other knives I use and not Damascus. I sent a different Damascus knife and he sent the one he purchased back. I do my own sharpening on a Ken Onion which does the blade and no scratchs and gets razor sharp. I did not need either blade sharpened. There may be some people that use A Damascus for EDC but none of mine have met Ken Onion.
 
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The Damascus Blade was full to the kick before I sent it and the one I have now they sharpened before they sent it to me and it is below the kick. I will send in for repairs but request that no spa treatment be done. After I got it back I sold it not even noticing the blade, until the person I sold it to asked me if I profiled the blade and I said no I do not sharpen Damascus because I have other knives I use and not Damascus. I sent a different Damascus knife and he sent the one he purchased back. I do my own sharpening on a Ken Onion which does the blade and no scratchs and gets razor sharp. I did not need either blade sharpened. There may be some people that use A Damascus for EDC but none of mine have met Ken Onion.
Hey Joe, have you seen the Damascus handled 110?
I keep an eye out for one of these.
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I get...…………….. plywood with walnut stain?

The Buck 110 and 112 in "Oak" from Copper & Clad is actually "oak colored" Dymondwood (stained and stabilized birch or beech plywood).

If a person thinks Dymondwood is plywood he doesn't understand the structural differences. Both Dymondwood and plywood are made of laminated veneers. Dymondwood has the grain direction of all veneers oriented in the same direction. Plywood has grain direction of adjacent veneers oriented at right angles to each other and generally has an odd number of veneers. The difference between the two results in different mechanical properties and in the appearance of the edge of the laminate.

DYMONDWOOD AND PLYWOOD ARE BOTH LAMINATES, BUT DYMONDWOOD IS NOT PLYWOOD.

Bert
 
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Old and new Ebony are real and beautiful. I'm extremely happy they are using this again. Ironwood, Black Palm Wood and Buckeye Burlwood in the custom shop I believe are also real wood.

While Dymondwood may not be always be mentioned (and I agree it should) it is a consistent material that is tough as nails, looks good and will probably outlast all of us combined. Buck has been using it for many years now. Most people don't know and only care after finding out it's not real pieces of solid wood. I own many Buck knives with Dymondwood and it doesn't detract from their beauty or usefullness. I love them all.
Old and new Ebony are more of a "real" wood without epoxy added to laminate sheets of wood. In the custom shop you are 100% correct the more expensive handle upgrades are wood in their natural state.
 
looks like I helped start a firestorm with my 111 walnut brass pics answering a question. apologize to all, didnt mean for that to happen.

didnt realize many see dymondwood type products as a bad thing. I like dymondwood type scales for users and I bought mine as a user.
 
The reason that Buck uses Celicam Ebony from Taylor Guitars is Ebony is now a protected wood and Taylor owns there own forests of Celicam Ebony so the rules don't count. There is a thread where Jeff Hubbard posted the story about the Ebony wood. Maybe someone here can find that.

My Celicam Ebony 110FG has super dark ebony on both sides. Besides that, the Ebony with the grain is highly prized in the guitar world so I imagine Buck will end up with the darker grain wood....

Joe, you said your Old Ebony cracked? Dymondwood wouldn't have done that..Hmmm....
 
If a person thinks Dymondwood is plywood he doesn't understand the structural differences. Both Dymondwood and plywood are made of laminated veneers. Dymondwood has the grain direction of all veneers oriented in the same direction. Plywood has grain direction of adjacent veneers oriented at right angles to each other and generally has an odd number of veneers. The difference between the two results in different mechanical properties and in the appearance of the edge of the laminate.

DYMONDWOOD AND PLYWOOD ARE BOTH LAMINATES, BUT DYMONDWOOD IS NOT PLYWOOD.

Bert

I didn’t mean any offense when I said plywood, and I understand the differences between it and Dymondwood. I was just using an easily recognizable term for stacked sheets of wood. I should have used the word “laminate”.

I don’t view Dymondwood as a negative in most cases whatsoever. In fact, my s30v 119 has a Dymondwood cocobolo handle and I wouldn’t have it any other way since it often gets wet.

I do think the scales should be advertised correctly though. I bought the oak version of the 110 in memory of my Grandfather, specifically because I thought it had a solid oak handle (my grandfather hated composite tool handles), so it was just a bummer to receive a Dymondwood scaled knife that was only labeled as “oak”.
 
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