Bead Blasted Blade Finish

"They tend to rust very quickly."

Not my experience - but wouldn't want to do this with a non stainless blade.

Only advantage is it's non reflective.
Real advantage is time saving to the maker and as a result a little less expensive for the consumer.
 
In my experience, as long as the surface is peened flat as part of the bead blasting process they don’t have a rust problem.

My Katz 302BB has had ten years of field use, and there is no rust.

I have three Australian customs that have also shown no sign of rust.
 
they mark up really fast if your cutting wood or plants, they scuff easy too.

most of the marks can be scrubbed off with a dish pad but you can see the direction of the scrubing if you look close.

they dont reflect light and tend to look more like toys then shiney metal, makeing them more sheeple friendly in my experiences.
 
Bead blasting can be divided into two general "categories" if you will.

The first one is the traditional bead blast most think of when they hear the term. This process uses sharp abrasive particles that cut into the surface of the steel, leaving a rough matte finished surface. The "advantage" to this finish is that it's easy to apply, easier to refinish, non-reflective, and can be used as a preparatory step when coating. The bad thing is that due to the steel surface being very rough and having lots of valleys where moisture can sit it rusts very easily.

The other type is relatively new, sorta. By using either steel shot, or the newer ceramic media that doesnt shatter and cut the steel like glass beads you essentially "peen" the surface of the metal. This smooths the surface of the steel and reduces the likelyhood of rusting. The finish it leaves can vary, but generally is a very fine matte to satiny grey. I find that it looks much better than abrasive beadblasting. The major disadvantage to it is that since it doesn't abrade the steel surface the blade needs to have a fine finish before even blasting, as it won't hide grinder marks and the like.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. Does anyone have any experiences with the bead blasting by Busse Combat? Again, thanks.
 
Are the current Emersons ceramic bead blasted? I read a number of threads about the scuff marks and black marks on the new Emerson folders.
 
nonbox said:
Are the current Emersons ceramic bead blasted? I read a number of threads about the scuff marks and black marks on the new Emerson folders.

This is from the Emerson website FAQs:

I've noticed some rust spots on my bead-blasted blade. Is this normal?

I guess you could call it normal, although not preferred. There is nothing wrong with your blade steel. Anytime you bead blast a material, you create a rough, pitted surface. Microscopically, it looks like craters on the moon. These craters or pockets, have a tendency to collect and hold dirt, salt, and moisture. This will create rust stains on the knife blade. they won't pit, and should wipe off with an oily rag. We recommend Tuf-Cloth from Sentry Solutions, ltd. as a rust preventative and Miracle Cloth from R&S Industries for removing existing or troublesome rust stains.

2. * We no longer offer the bead blasted surface as a finish on the blades. All the blades that have the silver or gray finish are now Hard Chrome coated. This is an extremely durable finish and provides a very good rust prevention coating. All blades that are not Black-T coated are Hard Chromed. We are leaving the information above for those customers who have the older, bead blasted surface on their knives.
 
The rusting thing really depends on the steel. The real advantage is two fold. For those doing it it takes away some of the steps involved in highly polishing up a blade and it does away with that pesky fingerprints always on the blade thing that bothers a lot of folks.
 
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