I have half a dozen. Couple of folders, a model 119, a 121 (both fixed backs), and a couple of small ones I've picked up along the way. But I bought a folder from Wal-Mart a few years back, liking the design of the hinge (several hex screws, replaceable blade, etc.) and found that a) it was made in China, b) the workmanship was SO poor that one screw wasn't even seated, c) the screw in question was stripped at the factory and cross-threaded (visible to the naked eye), so d) extremely poor QA. I don't even know the quality of the blade. I took it back without ever using it. Never checked again to see if Buck still buys from China. Haven't bought another buck since, except at flea markets, thrift shops, farm auctions (where you're likely to get the GOOD, OLD BUCKS). Your question brings up an item of interest to me, and perhaps you or another reader will have an answer. My model 119 is almost 40 years old (my wife gave it to me for a first anniversary present) and back when it was made, Buck apparently used a steel so hard it is near impossible to get a better edge on it than that with which it arrived. My problem is that for the uses I put it to, I don't need it to be "Sword edge shaped" (i.e., thick all the way through the hollow grind, with a sudden bevel to the edge), so that it has great strength throughout the blade. What I want is to be able to reshape the edge to about an 1/8th to 3/16ths of an inch back from the edge, all along the edge. But none of my stones seem to be able to change its shape, no matter how much time I spend on it. And my hard Arkansas will NOT put a fine hone on it. Any ideas what to do to sharpen something this hard, short of annealing it (cause THAT I WON'T do). Micah
Micah, I have had luck with diamond impregnated stones when working with some of those hard to sharpen, tough blades. Try one for your reprofiling...
My oldest knife is a folding hunter that goes back to the early '70s...still in the original leather sheath...can't remember what the model number is. Oops...just checked, says "110" right over the "USA"
Got a Buck 110 just like it from the early 70s that my brother gave me when he married a girl different from the one that gave him the knife. His loss was my gain as I still use that as my primary gutting & skinning blade for whitetail deer, Colorado elk and Texas hogs. For an everyday economy work knife I carry the Bucklite lock blade folder in 420XX steel. It's over 20 years old (an early Bucklite) and sharpens easily to a keen edge. It's done good work for me and is probably under-appreciated among knife owners because of its low cost ($10-$20 dollars depending on where you shop).
