Black knife blade scratches - How to avoid and repair them

Paint scratches off. If you don't like that, don't use it?

In my personal experience, they add a lot of friction, making it highly annoying to cut/slice through materials.
 
killgar said:
Maybe the guy just likes black blades. It sounds like he does and just wants to know a way to re-finish them.

Heck, how many people on this forum change the APPEARANCE of their knives to suit their own tastes, whether it's forced patinas, mirror-polished finishes, custom handle scales, dyed handle scales, or any of the other things people do to their knives that have absolutely nothing to do with their function as cutting tools.

If the guy likes black blades that's his personal choice. I don't see anything wrong with that, nor is it any indication that he doesn't know what a knife is or how it's meant to be used. But then again, who here is in a position to tell someone else how THEIR knives should be used or what condition or appearance they should accept for THEIR knives. Like I said, personal choice.
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Thank you. I like black blades I wan't them to stay nice
 
collinthegeek said:
Thank you. I like black blades I wan't them to stay nice
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You have two choices: don't use the knife, or apply some form of very hard coating like cerakote or another one. For a cheap knife having cerakote applied would probably cost as much as the knife does or perhaps even more.
 
Per "Stop saying to just use the knife and ignore the scratches. I know paint scratches and I'm perfectly within my rights to want MY knife to look nice, I don't care if YOU like the scratches on YOUR knives. Your replies are a waste of time, energy, and space so just stop" What people are trying to tell you is that you cannot avoid the scratches and you cannot make them go away. You can buy a blade with a different and more reliable finish.
 
If you use a coated blade, it will NOT stay "nice" regardless of what you want. I prefer no finish at all on my blades.
 
The reason you got so many similar responses is because they're right to a certain extent.

With a relatively low-priced knife like the Brawler I would probably suggest buying a new one. If you had a more expensive knife you could try a product like Gun-Kote from Brownells which you just spray on and then bake in the oven. I've heard you can just clean the blade off, spray on and bake it, but you would get better results if you used a blasting cabinet to remove the old coating and increase the surface area.
 
collinthegeek said:
Stop saying to just use them that's not helpful.
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Unless you have found a new type of coating that is made of unobtainium, it will eventually he destroyed from use. Even coatings like Cerakote and Tungsten DLC (known for being two of the stronger coatings) will eventually wear off. It is just like not wanting scratches on your new car. There are a few methods to hide the scratches, but the only way to never get the paint worn is for it to never leave the house, and never be touched.
 
the only black finish I have had that doesn't get scratched is boron carbide, I have only seen it on a Leek and a Chive. Aside from that, black blades show the most wear, so if you like clean finishes avoid coated blades.
 
Something that kinda bugs me about this thread is the references to the OP's knives being "cheap" or "inexpensive". It's as if people are saying that because his knives don't cost a lot of money that they aren't worth any effort to keep them looking the way he wants them to look.

Maybe those are his favorite knives. The cost of the knives has no bearing on whether or not different metal coatings will resist scratches. And those of us who own and value inexpensive knives don't base our value of them by how much they cost.

Collinthegeek is obviously new here, and I think it would be a shame if he got the impression that the membership on this forum consider inexpensive knives to not be worthy of a persons appreciation, or their desire to take care of them.

Collinthegeek, I own several expensive knives, prices ranging from $100 to $300, and yet one of my most favorite and cherished knives is an old Buck 110 that cost a whopping $25. There's nothing at all wrong with inexpensive knives, or having the desire to preserve their appearances, so I hope you don't think that everyone on this forum only sees value in expensive knives, because many like myself also value inexpensive ones.

As far as black coatings, it's true that any coating can scratch and wear off if it comes into contact with anything hard or abrasive, but that doesn't mean that blades can't be re-coated if a person were so inclined.

I know people who like blued handguns. And after a bit of use the blueing can wear off in spots. So they use a blueing pen to do touch-ups. And when the wear gets bad enough they simply re-blue them. Because that's what they want, that's their personal taste, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I also know that every auto parts store sells touch-up paint for automobiles in factory colors. So even though dings and scratches are inevitable for cars that are driven, that doesn't mean that people won't take steps to repair those dings and scratches.

To each his own.
 
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Collin, tell me you don't like this, go on I can take it :D

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Seriously, I'm sorry I can't answer your questions as pretty much everyone else has.

Paul
 
that's why I prefer satin finishes, the scratches don't look as bad. I will tell you that my ZT350 with Tiger striped blade coating holds up very well. I was cutting a piece of material and the blade scratched across a button, I thought scratched my blade up pretty good. but what looked like a bad scratch to my blade wiped right off and the tiger striped coating was unscaved.
 
DLC, TiNitride, Boron Carbonitride, these coatings will not show wear as much. I have a Buck 110 that was finely satin finished, then coated in a black TiNitride, or similar coating (Cabela's Alaskan Guide 110). It shows very little wear. I have a 12-year-old Microtech with a black coating over a bead-blasted blade that still looks great. Does it look new? No, but it looks a lot better than a sprayed on teflon type coating would.

Anything that is not chemically bonded to the steel will wear off relatively easily, and there's not much you can do to stop it. A good ionic, or chemical vapor deposition style coating will last much longer, and look better. Preferably over a mirror finished steel. These coatings reach into the 80's as far as Rc hardness goes, IIRC, and can take a lot of abuse.
 
collinthegeek said:
I
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Stop saying to just use the knife and ignore the scratches. I know paint scratches and I'm perfectly within my rights to want MY knife to look nice, I don't care if YOU like the scratches on YOUR knives. Your replies are a waste of time, energy, and space so just stop. And singularity35 Thanks for being nice but I bought my knife to use it, I'm looking for some kind of spray or coating or something to protect the black finish.
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Sounds like you have chosen to hate the way your user looks.

Honestly, there is no possible way to use a coated blade and have the coating stay perfect. None. Either suck it up and accept the wear marks, or use an uncoated blade - those are your only options.


The only remotely passable option I can think of is spray painting the blade black after each use, but that would give you a laundry list of other problems. (Bad smell, faster wear of coating, waste of time & money, possible food contamination, etc.)
 
Knives will get scratched with use. As others have stated, cerakote is fairly scratch resistant, but it would be very hard to justify the cost of that on a Brawler. Black Krylon might be your best bet.
 
I understand why you would want your knife to look good all the time, but like everyone else says it is a tool, and black is one of the worst colors when it comes to scuffs and scratches. Here's an idea, and if this is way off somebody correct me. I know more about guns than knives, so I'm thinking what about cold bluing the blade? Clean whatever is on there off, then use a decent bluing chemical and go for it. When it scratches and wears you can just go over the blade again. The bluing should stick better than most other coatings, and you should be able to come up with a nice black.
 
Your only option is to remove the coating and get it refinished professionally. I've heard the term "duracoat" around here before. Look into it
 
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