The History Of The 99-Year-Old Buck Knife

With the war over, Hoyt and Daisy Buck loaded theirpossessions--including Hoyt's forge, anvil and grinder--into the back of atrailer and headed south for San Diego to join their eldest son,Al.

Hoyt Buck had a plan. He was excited about rediscovering hisknifemaking skills. He had a legacy worth sharing, and, perhaps sensingthat time was beginning to run short, he was determined to bestow thelegacy on the eldest of his sons, Al.

Making Knives. Hoyt'sfirst "manufacturing plant" was a 10 x 12-ft. lean-to on the side of Al'sgarage in San Diego. It was there he began making knives. Each morning,he'd call on butcher shops, restaurants and sporting goods stores,persuading them to place orders for Buck knives.

Each afternoon, he'dthen make the knives to fill those orders. He could make only a few a day,but there is no denying that H. H. Buck was in business. The Buck knifecompany, in the real sense, was born in that small lean-to in1946.

Buck's knives were all created from discarded metal fileblades. With their heavy carbon content, they were perfect for thetoughness and edge-holding qualities required.

Determined to make thecompany grow, Hoyt Buck began urging his son, Al, to resign his job as abus driver and join him in the knife business.

"To tell the absolutetruth, I didn't want to do it," Al Buck recalled. "The knife business washot, dirty, noisy, time-consuming work. Besides, I liked being a busdriver, I really did."

Still, in 1947, Al quit the bus company andjoined his father, full-time. The resulting partnership was known as "H. H.Buck And Son."

It took Al a while to learn all that his father knewabout knifemaking, but he was determined to do it right. An important stepwas learning his father's tempering "secret."

"It sounded easy, butit wasn't easy at all," Al said. "Our tempering process was different fromthe others, and it was one of the keys to our success."

The last stepin the education of Al Buck, knifemaker, was to master the grinder, whereHoyt had crafted every blade the company had ever produced.

"In 1948,Dad discovered he had cancer, and I think he realized then that his dayswith us were numbered," Al said. "He also realized that I couldn't makeBuck knives until I learned how to grind the blades. I knew it wasimportant to him. So, for an hour or two every day, I worked at thegrinder, trying to get the hang of it.

"I can't tell you how manyblades I must have ruined in the process, but finally I wasready."

Al asked his father to watch, and did one knife, thenanother, and another. Finally, his father smiled and said, "Now I almostfeel my life is complete--my son can make knives!"

Shortlythereafter, Hoyt Buck moved to Yakima, Wash., and in 1949 he died of cancerat the age of 59.

The fledgling knife company that Hoyt Buckentrusted to his son was hardly a major player in the knife industry.Because every knife was handmade, Buck produced only about 25 a week. As aresult, Buck knives were expensive. Also the market was small.

"It'shard to believe we survived," Al Buck said. "It was literally a Ma and Paoperation. I made knives. Ida handled the books. When he got older, Chuck[the couple's oldest son and the company's current chairman and CEO]chipped in, too."

Raw materials used for Buck knives in those dayswere discarded metal files (purchased for a penny apiece), lignum vitae androsewood scraps for the handles, and leather scraps for the sheaths.