a good way to customize knife? UV print on blade?

[Dextar]

Hi there,

just wanted to ask if “print“ on blade is a good way to customize knife?
taking following knife as an example, seems the icon is not engraved but printed onto the blade.
I did a little research and found seems UV printer can print on hard surface, and i look into this good uv printer, it looks cool and in the FAQ section at the bottom of the webpage said it can work on metal.

So I just wanted to ask, if this is possible?
If UV printing can be applied on metal, will the affect differs upon the metal model? e.g. different result on S30V, S90V, etc?
Will the print by UV last long? or easy to be removed?

I also see some different type, such as UV printer, UV flatbed printer, etc. on their UV printer page.
Not sure if the print on blade can be done by any of the type?

Thanks if you have any experience.
D

 

[killgar]

My understanding is that UV printing is ink printed on a surface. Benchmade, and many other knife makers laser etch their logos onto their blades. Laser etching actually melts the surface of the metal to produce the mark in black, grey, or white depending on the pattern of the etch. Laser etching is much more durable than a separate material applied to the surface.

 

[Dextar]

My understanding is that UV printing is ink printed on a surface. Benchmade, and many other knife makers laser etch their logos onto their blades. Laser etching actually melts the surface of the metal to produce the mark in black, grey, or white depending on the pattern of the etch. Laser etching is much more durable than a separate material applied to the surface.

i see, so in fact that's kind of "engraving" as well, not "printing". Thanks for the info

 

[Cementite]

FWIW, you can etch many (all?) steels with nitric acid...I think that's how they (used to) etch Case Sodbuster blades with the logo. (I just got a new Sodbuster Jr. and it's CNC engraved ... or maybe laser engraved...at any rate, it's somehow carved into the steel, which is a good place for dirt/trash/crevice corrosion/bacteria to collect...got cavities?)

For nitric acid etching, I think the process was that they coated the blades with something "acid-proof" (wax or suchlike), then scratched the logo or artwork through the acid-proof film to the steel, then treated with HNO3, then removed the film, leaving the steel blackened or darkened like a photograph where the acid reacted with the steel, but no significant steel actually removed. (The etching also wears off, and you can barely read the logo on my 1973-vintage Sodbuster Jr. anymore.)