advantage of a coated blade

L

Liquidm1980

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Jun 26, 2005
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aside from everything else what is the difference between a coated and non coated blade for a user knife. for example the busse street boss and the ka bar next generation 440? at this point i think an uncoated blade like the ka bar would be better due to not being able to scratch the coating. while i know you can scratch anything my vg10 delica only shows the scratches if you closely at it. i am pretty sure if i spent the effort i could buff them out. i have seen some high end user that get all scratched up but i am sure there is a reason to get them.

thanks,

liquid
 
Aside from being a slight buffer between the blade steel and scratch damage, coatings are also intended to protect the steel from rust damage, reduce glare/reflection on the blade surface, and for sheer aesthietic value. I'd also suspect that some manufacturers coat their blades to hide shoddy grinds and other imperfections.

Any coating will only delay the inevitable, if you use your knife, imo...
 
IMO, the biggest advantage of a blade coating is corrosion resistance, but I say strip em!

I've stripped and blued my RC-4, and just this week I stripped my Becker BK9 & BK14. Personally, I like them a lot better this way.
 
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good point about the glare. for rust and corrosion i dont mind using some clp from time to time, sadly not all the guns r glocks lol. i dont mind them getting scratched but i rather them not look sh*t after they are scratched.
 
timberweasel said:
Aside from being a slight buffer between the blade steel and scratch damage, coatings are also intended to protect the steel from rust damage, reduce glare/reflection on the blade surface, and for sheer aesthietic value. I'd also suspect that some manufacturers coat their blades to hide shoddy grinds and other imperfections.

Any coating will only delay the inevitable, if you use your knife, imo...
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There are actually very few coatings in use that prevent rust. The purpose for most coatings is to inhibit light reflection or buffering as mentioned. For example, the teflon and DLC is still porous and moisture will reach the flats of a blade with ease. Someone posted a picture of a Strider with the tigerstrip blade with clear signs of rust. Also, many manufacturers have stated that the coating does not prevent rust, but is more for stealth.
 
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RevDevil said:
There are actually very few coatings in use that prevent rust. The purpose for most coatings is to inhibit light reflection or buffering as mentioned. For example, the teflon and DLC is still porous and moisture will reach the flats of a blade with ease. Someone posted a picture of a Strider with the rigerstrip blade with clear signs of rust. Also, many manufacturers have stated that the coating does not prevent rust, but is more for stealth.
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At least in the case of the Strider, that's because the tiger stripe coating is produced by black oxide coating the blade and then bead-blasting portions of it to create the gray portion of the stripes. The bead blasted portion, like pretty much all bead-blasted blades, is relatively rust-prone compared to other finishes/coatings.

But going back to the topic, I agree that coatings are mainly there for aesthetic reasons and for stealth on super duper secret ninja missions.
 
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A coated blade is a lower profile blade or essentially inhibiting light reflection. Other than that it doesn't do much.
 
neuron said:
But going back to the topic, I agree that coatings are mainly there for aesthetic reasons and for stealth on super duper secret ninja missions.
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Yeh, we need to cancel out covert ops to the mall if one of us has an uncoated blade. Those mirror finishes are the worst. :D:p
 
I believe that a lot of times manufacturers use blade coatings as a finish because it is more inexpensive than stonewashing, bead blasting, polishing etc.
 
I like a blade coating on a lot of my pocket knives just for the fact that I think it looks nice, both before and after use. That's what it does for me. I know a lot of people disagree :)

Edit: actually one of my favorite finishes is stonewashed, but the knives I like usually don't have it as an option...
 
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