I recently gave my adult son my Buck 110 knife that I bought almost 50 years ago.
This year was my sons first year with a significant amount of time out in the deer hunting woods.
He did successfully harvest his first deer, and the knife he tried to field dress his deer with didn't work very well.
(which was the reason I gave him my ancient Buck 110)

That Buck 110 was the first deer hunting accessory that I ever purchased.
The "original" black leather belt pouch was worn out. I replaced it with a new production replacement also in black leather.

Several years ago here on this Forum in the classifieds, I bought a used Buck 560.
The Buck 560 is a collectable knife with a Titanium handle.
This particular 560 knife must have lived a "tough" life at some point in the past.
The blade has some fairly significant scratches in both sides of the blade.

The Buck 560 is a "virtual" twin to a Buck 110 for most dimensions and pin locations.
With the Titanium handle, the 560 is thinner and lighter than a 110.
The Titanium handle will also prevent the one chronic item I personally consider a 110 "fault" as the brass used in the 110 construction invariably turns green.

Yesterday I reached out to Buck Knives customer service and asked about blade replacements on a 560 knife.
Buck confirmed that when blade replacements are needed/requested on a 560 knife, they just install a 110 blade.

Looking at the Buck website yesterday, they currently offer 110 knives with three choices in premium steel blades.
In no particular order, Buck presently offers CPM MagnaCut, CPM S30V, and CPM S35VN in new production Buck 110 knives.
Their "standard" blade steel is 420HC.

If I decide to send the 560 knife out to Buck for a blade replacement, which blade steel should I select?
For retaining collectability, I will ask that the original blade be returned with the 560 knife.
If you respond in this thread, try to explain the reasoning for a particular blade steel choice.

PXL_20251202_182305127 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

PXL_20251202_182319366 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

MagnaCut was invented by a knife guy specifically for use on knive blades. He wanted to have the most ideal balance between corrosion resistance, edge retention, and toughness.

If I were spending your cash, I'd go with MagnaCut. It was designed to have the best attributes of of all 3 steel qualities given the options that Buck is offering.

On a related note, the manufacturer of all the steels you listed, Crucible Industries filed for bankruptcy and no longer exists.

I'm not a sharpening guru by any means but have looked into the steels listed above and with all being viable.....as far as quality material & most capable - in ascending order - 420HC least desirable, S30V being harder to sharpen, S35VN being slightly easier to sharpen but chips more easily, Magnacut would be my choice.

Its my understanding also that Niagra Specialty Metals among others have most or all of the CPM (Crucible) offerings available.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:

On a related note, the manufacturer of all the steels you listed, Crucible Industries filed for bankruptcy and no longer exists.

Crucible went bankrupt and was bought by Erasteel. The company that processed Crucible steel was and still is Niagara and they continue to manufacture MagnaCut.

https://nsm-ny.com/cpm-magnacut-steel/

That knife brings back memories. I have one too.

There was a time maybe 25 years ago where BG-42 steel was the go-to steel. People were swapping the blades on their bucks with it and adding a thumb stud and calling them Buck-Benzas.

I'd probably go with the Magnacut.

Not a steel expert by any means but to me, it completely depends on intended purpose. If it's going to be mostly a "collector", then any of the CPM steels. If it's going to be an everyday use knife, I would go with 420HC. You can get it back to shaving sharp with a minute or two on a strop (or the back of a belt).

Then again, I prefer carbon steel for any blade due to ease of maintenance. Heck, I still use Old Hickory knives in the kitchen.

If I was going to use the blade, I’d go with Magnacut. I have one knife currently in Magnacut from TJ Schwarz and the edge retention has been pretty amazing compared to other blades I have in S45VN, S35VN, and S30V. From what I understand, Rockwell hardness of 62-64 is optimal for Magnacut so I’d see if Buck lists their hardness. I expect a Buck blade in Magnacut to be a stellar performer based on how much better their heat treatment of 420HC is compared to other manufacturers.

Here's more than you'll ever want to know about knife steel.

I believe Larrin Thomas developed Magnacut.

https://knifesteelnerds.com/20...-of-48-knife-steels/

quote:

I Tested the Edge Retention of 48 Steels

https://www.bladeforums.com/th...f-48-steels.1726279/

Another vote for Magna-Cut.

I finally got a response back from Buck Customer Service.
All of the "exotic" blade steel choices (Magnacut, S30V, S35VN) are from their Customizable 110 model.

Corporate policy is NO specialty blade steel choices installed in a non Customizable model.
They would replace the heavily scratched 560 blade with standard 420HC blade, but nothing else.

So I will be doing nothing with the 560 knife, other than sharpening and using it.

Too bad you can't get the Magnacut blade it would in my experience up and away be the best choice. Other blade steels might excel in one of the 3 major performance needs in knives, Edge Holding/Corrosion Resistance/Toughness but Magnacut is the best balance of the 3 available. I.E. Some steels might hold an edge slightly longer but it might chip easily, some might be tougher but they rust more easily etc.

Give me Magnacut in 95% of use situations, I've tried more knife steels than I care to admit and it's the best for most things I've ever tried.

My grandfather and great grandfather never had access to any of these steels. They did, however, learn to sharpen what they had and they took both deer and elk annually. They did that with less than we have these days in both steel and sharpening. Pick any, learn how to sharpen it, and you'll be fine. Those are all fine choices. That's my thought.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
My grandfather and great grandfather never had access to any of these steels. They did, however, learn to sharpen what they had and they took both deer and elk annually. They did that with less than we have these days in both steel and sharpening. Pick any, learn how to sharpen it, and you'll be fine. Those are all fine choices. That's my thought.

Model T Fords were affordable, easy for owners to work on and got their drivers to where they were going to perfectly well..........

Last post was meant to be jokingly hyperbolic. It does make a point though. Older blades and steels work just as well as they ever did. SOME of the old High Carbon Steels were hardened properly and worked REALLY well even though they stained easily and rusted quickly.

Just because old stuff was good doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of new stuff isn't better!

We can have nostalgia and enjoy using Grandpa's tools. It' also OK to like trying out the newest and best stuff. You do you.

It didn't work well because it was dull. I've field dressed lots of deer with shitty and not so shitty knives, but the best predictor of usability for breaking down deer was if the blade was sharp to begin with.

After you get it home, the same knife used to field dress may or may not be able to finish the job depending on the particular steel.

In either case though folders can be a pita to clean after processing deer, which is why lots of hunters prefer a clean fixed blade with some variation of a drop point or very slight clip point, without lots of nooks and crannies for hair and fat and blood, and maybe guts if you make a mistake, getting stuck or dried on the knife.

But with your situation being a gift from father to son, you can ignore everything I just said.

Whatever you give him, if he sharpens the blade well enough, he will be able to cut out the pouch, sever the esophagus, and quarter it out if he doesn't want to drag the whole beast out of the woods. I used to drag them but I don't think I could do that safely very far any longer.

Either way deer hunting is fantastic, and if he is able to use the knife on any game, that knife will be even more of a cherished keepsake.

We have a 40' hi-cube shipping container at the hunting woods nearby the cabin.
A few days prior to the beginning of hunting season, I bring a little two wheel drive Honda Recon 250 ATV up from the house and lock it securely inside the shipping container.
I leave it there inside the shipping container for the duration of rifle and black powder hunting seasons.

Leaving it there also avoids having to hook up a trailer and loading the ATV when outside temperatures are frigid, besides towing a trailer on snow covered roads every time you go deer hunting.
When we shoot a deer at the recreational property, we drag it with the ATV up in front of the cabin porch which has a solar streetlight mounted on a porch support post.
Then you can field dress your deer with adequate lighting and wash up when finished.

The cabin is at nearly the highest elevation point on the property. Essentially from almost anywhere on the property is uphill to the cabin.
I'm all in favor for avoiding heart attacks dragging deer out of the woods and it's uphill. That little Honda ATV is a gem!

I'd chose Magnacut for use and wouldn't be concerned with collectability, just sentimental value.
Estimates are somewhere around 15 million of the 110's were made although nowhere near that many of that 560 model.
Since you're going to get the original back if that matters to the next owner, that's about all you can do to cover that issue.

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