-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Anodizing damage?
- Thread starter JordanR
- Start date
its not damaged, the anodizing just rubbed off. Anodizing is really only a thin layer of color anyway. It'll eventually (as far as I understand the process) come off no matter what you do. Just look at some well used CRK thumbstuds- they're blue originally, but well used ones are always missing the blue from the tip.
Its a stainless blade, you don't really need to protect it that much. Tuf-Cloth will keep rust away, but won't help with anodizing. You'd have to probably put a layer of some lubricant (wax maybe?) between the blade and the stuff it cuts. Honestly though, it's going to get scratches from wear and use.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
- Messages
- 44,122
Guys, it's not anodizing. Anodize process only works on aluminum and titanium. The only anodizing on this knife is on the aluminum handle. The blade probably has a black oxide coating. Different process.
Whatever it is, SpyderJon is correct. It's going to come off through use anyway. And it won't hurt the knife not to have it. The color is there to make it look tough, not to really protect it.
The Colt knives I see are made by United Cutlery. UC usually uses 420 or 440A steel. That's as stainless as steel gets.
"leaving it alone" is just fine.
Whatever it is, SpyderJon is correct. It's going to come off through use anyway. And it won't hurt the knife not to have it. The color is there to make it look tough, not to really protect it.
The Colt knives I see are made by United Cutlery. UC usually uses 420 or 440A steel. That's as stainless as steel gets.
"leaving it alone" is just fine.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
All coatings are going to rub off over time. Even gun blue for old carbon blades can be rubbed off as can the patina developed over time. Its all surface coating only. Scars from use happen. On knives with clips for pocket carry they seem to fair a bit better than the deep carry ones that roll around with keys and other objects in the pocket. Either way you will see wear marks and scratches though.
STR
STR
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2006
- Messages
- 20,593
yes if you use the blade at all its going to wear the coating off. - I have a first production run Mel pardue 720 benchmade with anodized handles and it came to me with very light scratches on one end of the handles. i emailed benchmade about fixing it and they can't. so you can't repair anodizing anyway without redoing it all I'd say. I've found if you look close at anything brand new you can find some fault. just nothing is really perfect.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
On some of the models that are all one solid color reanodizing is sometimes an option unless say it has a detent ball in which case that would usually be stainless. The bath to reanodize would corrode the stainless ball so thats not good. Could make the knife gritty so you would have to pop out the ball and do it that way but I don't like doing that either as it can make the retention weaker on the ball and you could later lose it.
If they are multi colored handles forget reanodizing.. The colors are reached by different voltages. Take this pimped one I made recently for example. Note the colors of my vaque attempt at being artistic here. The first color is the 80 volt one for violet to do the whole handle scale. Then the lines after that done in orange at 70 volts follow and at the same time I did two dots in orange by touching a drill to the handle. Then the lines were cut and done at 55 volts for green. Then lines and two more dots for blue at 28 volts, then two more lines for purple at 20 volts then the final lines for a bronze color at 15 volts to finish.
To understand what I'm saying about fixing a scratch. Lets say you scratched the main handle with the first color of violet or mauve whatever you want to call it. You send me the knife to reanodize it. Now lets suppose I dip the hole scale to anodize it at 80 volts again. What happens is that it turns everything violet, even all the other various colors that are different now. So the only way to get all those colors back is to go back through the whole process all over again in steps. Hope that makes sense. In other words if you wanted to fix a color the only one you could fix without changing all the others would be any created with lower voltage so the 15 volt bronze ones are the only ones on this sample than can be touched without affecting one or more of the other colors.
STR
If they are multi colored handles forget reanodizing.. The colors are reached by different voltages. Take this pimped one I made recently for example. Note the colors of my vaque attempt at being artistic here. The first color is the 80 volt one for violet to do the whole handle scale. Then the lines after that done in orange at 70 volts follow and at the same time I did two dots in orange by touching a drill to the handle. Then the lines were cut and done at 55 volts for green. Then lines and two more dots for blue at 28 volts, then two more lines for purple at 20 volts then the final lines for a bronze color at 15 volts to finish.
To understand what I'm saying about fixing a scratch. Lets say you scratched the main handle with the first color of violet or mauve whatever you want to call it. You send me the knife to reanodize it. Now lets suppose I dip the hole scale to anodize it at 80 volts again. What happens is that it turns everything violet, even all the other various colors that are different now. So the only way to get all those colors back is to go back through the whole process all over again in steps. Hope that makes sense. In other words if you wanted to fix a color the only one you could fix without changing all the others would be any created with lower voltage so the 15 volt bronze ones are the only ones on this sample than can be touched without affecting one or more of the other colors.
STR
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
- Messages
- 44,122
Folks, if I read posts 1 and 4 correctly, JordanR is worried about the color coming off the blade, not the handle. And the blade, being steel, is not anodized.
STR, that is a pretty violet on that handle you made. Nice job and good information on repairing anodize on handles.
STR, that is a pretty violet on that handle you made. Nice job and good information on repairing anodize on handles.