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In the early 1900's, the company's founder, Hoyt Buck, felt there was a market for high quality knives. Hoyt used his experience as a blacksmith to find a better way to temper steel to hold an edge longer. For over one hundred years, Buck Knives has developed technology that has advanced the state-of-the-art in knife making. Today's Buck Knives are the culmination of more than a century of experience in technology aimed at the goal of making the highest quality knives built for the end use.
It starts with the right steel
Originally, steel remnants (worn out files) were used for making Buck knives. Later, as the steel industry progressed, stainless steel was developed and was found to have many desirable properties for use in knife blades. Buck Knives started using stainless steel for its blades. As steel technology continued to develop, new alloys with different properties were introduced. Buck worked with leading steel companies, such as AK, Allegheny, Hitachi and Ludlow to evaluate different steels for suitability with our different models of knives. Their recommendations, coupled with our research and development, have resulted in our use of the finest steels available for our knife-making purposes. With all the specific categories and various models of knives we make today, we use several different types of steel.
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Heat-treating is the soul of the blade
When Hoyt Buck found a better way to temper the steel, it resulted in a blade that holds its edge longer. Buck became famous as "the knife that would hold an edge." The heat-treating process we use today has been developed over many years by Paul Bos, our resident heat-treating expert who began working on custom knives for Al Buck over 25 years ago.
After initial shaping of the steel into blades, the steel is hardened through a heat-treating process. The process involves steps of heating and cooling in extreme temperatures. Through this process, we are able to impart qualities to the steel that are desirable performance features in knife use. The combination of the specific alloy of steel and the heat-treating process employed by Buck Knives results in knife blades most ideally suited for their intended purpose.
Technology gives us the edge in sharpness
Chuck Buck, with a team of engineers and craftsmen experienced at blade sharpening, developed our Edge2x™ Technology. Going from old-school craftsmanship to new technology using geometry and lasers, Chuck implemented the process that changed the angle of sharpening, the length of taper and the consistency of the bevel. A combination of automated grinding, hand edging and laser measuring helps us create a blade that is sharper out of the box, holds its edge longer and is easier to resharpen
We have a handle on materials
Buck uses a variety of materials to create handles that look as incredible as they perform. As with the blade steels we use, we match the handle materials to the end use of each knife. Where possible, we try to give a choice of handle materials-some natural, some man-made. Buck Knives has worked with Dupont, Shell and GE Plastics to evaluate strength, durability and other properties of various composite plastics for use in our knife handles.
For natural materials, we use wood, antler and horn with striking patterns and rich color. Woods from exotic places, such as Africa, South America and Hawaii are selected for their natural beauty and durability. Natural horn comes from the U.S. and abroad, typically from naturally shed antlers. Some of the natural materials are specially treated to preserve their beauty and functionality.
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