Alternative Blade Coatings...

D

Drew66

Joined
Feb 7, 2003
Messages
101
While doing a search on BC1, I've noticed that there is alot of controversy regarding blade coatings.
My question is this...With all the coating technology that the firearm insdustry and aftermarket modifiers use, why doesn't anyone have their blades treated with one of these proprietary coatings? I'm talking about Robar NP3, or one of the various teflon coatings that reduce friction and wear. If they are durable enough for the slide on a 1911 (an unfriendly environment for sure!), I would assume they can withstand the rigors of a blade. I know there are at least a half dozen coatings out there that would be viable. And of course at this moment I can't think of one!
 
So far the cutlery industry has not make coatings as an important priority.The best coating that is offered to blades is the "Titanium Nitride" coating. It has been used by at least Benchmade on some of their knives. The Titanium Nitride is best coating yet that has being applied on knives in therms of scratch resistance and rust protection.

The second best coating,which is common,is Teflon coatings. Many knife brands use this coating. The poorest and also cheapest coatings are epoxy powdered coatings,used mainly on carbon steel knives. Out there is a myriad of coatings that´s would for sure being highly suited for knives,but the reason that the cutlery industry doesn´t use them is cost. They don´t belive that the customers would pay the extra money to get the best coatings for their knives. But at least some of the manufacturers use "Titanium Nitride" which is the best yet coating.

Manowar
 
Don't forget Bodycote's Boron Carbide and Tungsten DLC coatings. Here's their description of Boron Carbide:

"Boron Carbide is the hardest man made material available that features the ultimate strength to density ratio, exceptional high hardness, very high melting and oxidation temperatures, and a low coefficient of friction. Since the material is ceramic, it is chemically inert and suitable for harsh chemical environments. The extreme thinness of the coatings means no modification of original part dimensions is necessary."

TiNi is good, but I believe that Boron Carbide and Tungsten DLC are the state-of-the-art nowadays. Has anyone actually worn away either Bodycote coating by using their knives? I'd sure love to hear about it and see pics.
 
Which knife brands use such fantastic coatings? I have never heard of them before. Can you please share it with us?

Manowar
 
Several manufacturers use Bodycote's coatings. Kershaw had it's Rainbow Leek, I believe Spyderco had a special edition 911 knife. And several custom makers offer the coatings. These include Rob Simonich and David Dempsey among other fine knifemakers.
 
Yes BM has used BC1 on several of their knives - 77x, 69x, 94x and the BM Forum Knife.

BT2 (Teflon) provides good corrosion resistance.

BC1 offers scratch resistance, primarily. With a chromium undercoat, or variations in the BC process itself (the position is not clear on this last bit) the anti-rust factor is enhanced. But as Drew seems to have picked up, the position regarding BC1 is unclear at this point in time.
 
Don't foget Buck offered knives with IONFUSION for a good while. The process fused Zirconium Nitride to Buck's 420HC Stainles with a resulting surface that topped the Rockwell scale at over 80-C. When they sharpened these blades they only sharpened one side to allow the coating to extend to the edge of the blade, serving as a "backbone" to help keep the edge super sharp. I have a couple of these blades and they ARE unbelievably sharp.

You can still order 110's from PCKS with Ionfused Blades in several different colors if nayone is interested.

For the record, those of you that might remember the older "BuckCote" knives, this is the same process.
 
There's a nice article on Bodycoat, although no comparative testing was done.

With a RC of between 80-90 about the only thing that should be able to wear BC1 or DLC away is diamond abrasive, providing that they've properly bonded to the underlying metal.

jmx
 
William Henry use Tungsten DLC on some of their limited edition knives. That is a really good looking protective coating.
 
I've heard that boron carbide is preferred for hard wear, but tungsten DLC offers better corrosion protection. I have a DLC coated Simonich Midtech Crowfoot and it looks very slick, like a dark gunmetal gray.
 
PCKS is Pete's Custom Knife Shop. This is an area on the Buck web site where you can get some special order Buck knives.
 
Originally posted by Drew66
If they are durable enough for the slide on a 1911 (an unfriendly environment for sure!), I would assume they can withstand the rigors of a blade. And of course at this moment I can't think of one!
Click to expand...

It's been a long time since I was into the gun thing, but, as I recall, most all of those gun coatings were available as an aftermarket enhancement. I doubt that there is any reason these folks wouldn't do a knife blade if you wanted to pay the freight. Should be easier, and mayber cheaper, than an auto slide.
 
Ichor,
You've hit on exactly why I posted this thread. I was hoping someone else had already had a knife blade done by one of the custom firearm finish shops around. I just bought an 806D2 and after seeing how sharp it was by slicing through some cardboard the coating was already scuffed. I can see taking the blade off and sending somewhere for coating in the future.
 
a little off-topic, but...

titanium nitride is supposed to keep the knife from rusting
but i've noticed that spots form ON the titanium nitride itself, while leaving the metal alone
has anyone else noticed this?
 
Originally posted by Manowar
.The best coating that is offered to blades is the "Titanium Nitride" coating.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have a cheap SOG Autoclip with the TiNi coating and it's actually CREEPY! It LOOKS just like gun blue but it's tough as nails. the funky thing is that it convers the ENTIRE blade, edge and all - even to the VERY edge. REALLY hard material. Blade wasn't too sharp at first. Just, maybe, paper-cutting sharp, but it's practically invincible. As much as I use it, it's just as sharp.

Now that you mention it, I gotta test it some more - maybe get a secondary EDC with the coating to test out over a few months. Looks promising to say the least.
 
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