Blade coating under tang or just on blade

eyeeatingfish

eyeeatingfish

Joined
Dec 9, 2003
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I have three knives of 440C I am working on and I was thinking about a blade coating for a variety of reasons. I don't really feel like taking them all to a high polish finish and one of them is a blade for a buddy who i really didn't charge enough to put in the amount of time for a more labor intensive finish. The second is a tactical knife for myself. The third is one for my dad who didn't want anything special, just wanted a certain shape. It has a few deeper gouges from the sander that were going to be difficult to hide. So long story short a coating it is.

I thought about the krylon high heat paint but still considering a more high end finish but my main question is whether I put the paint on the whole blade or just the portion that will be visible? The handles are going to be attached with epoxy then I am going to use pins and peen them. If I coat the handle then there is an issue of whether the epoxy bond to the painted surface will be strong enough. I haven't found any posts anywhere explaining this. My current plan was going to be to paint the blades then sand off where the handle slabs were going to epoxy.

Thoughts?
 
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Leave the paint off the tangs. Use masking tape when you paint-it's easier than sanding.
Any paint on the blade will wear off quickly, too.
 
Absolutely do not paint the tang. That sounds like a disaster to me. I've seen people using Cerakote for blades. A much more durable paint. Also used on ARs and what not. I believe it needs to be heated up though, IIRC.
 
I guess masking makes more sense than trying to get it off after. I just didn't want any obvious lines on the blade of painted and unpainted portions between the visible portion and the handle. I know on other knives with bolt on handles it is not such a big deal.
 
eyeeatingfish said:
I guess masking makes more sense than trying to get it off after. I just didn't want any obvious lines on the blade of painted and unpainted portions between the visible portion and the handle. I know on other knives with bolt on handles it is not such a big deal.
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That could be a way around it. I try to use Corbys on all of my knives. Just another reassurance that your knife will be indestructible.

BTW, leaving just a little on the tang on the top of the handle (ricasso) area shouldnt be a big deal. That way theres no paint lines. Just make sure you prep everything very well so the paint actually sticks, and stays. But I really dont think regular spray paint will hold up well at all. If you wanted to coat more blades in the future I would look into Cerakote.
 
I could just try an acid wash to darken it but I don't think that is very durable. I am just hesitant to try the expensive epoxy paints knowing even they will all wear off.
 
Alumahyde is pretty easy to apply and while it shows wear quickly it doesn't wear through too bad. It goes on thick and hides scratches more than gun kote or cerakote. I've found it to be quite a pain to coat a blade and epoxy the handles on. Consider looking into screws. Then you can coat the whole blade and screw the handles on. It's also easy to shape the handles by screwing them on prior to coating, then you just take them off, coat the blade, and screw them back on.
 
TILLER said:
Alumahyde is pretty easy to apply and while it shows wear quickly it doesn't wear through too bad. It goes on thick and hides scratches more than gun kote or cerakote. I've found it to be quite a pain to coat a blade and epoxy the handles on. Consider looking into screws. Then you can coat the whole blade and screw the handles on. It's also easy to shape the handles by screwing them on prior to coating, then you just take them off, coat the blade, and screw them back on.
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Kind of out of the question. I have already sent them off for heat treat and they were not drilled for screws. I will look up the alumahyde, is that available at your average hardware store?
 
NEVER attempt to cover up poor workmanship with paint or coatings or anything else. That's just weak.

Any kind of spray-paint is worse than useless. Even those ones you can buy online and "bake" in your home oven. They will quickly start to wear/peel away the first time the client uses the knife, and it looks dirt-cheap.

If you want to employ a long-lasting powder-coat or black-oxide finish, consult a professional and have them coat the entire piece, tang and all.
 
I would get all the scratches out and take it to an even finish(400,600,800..). Then send it out for cerakote. As James said, do the whole thing. Then use epoxy and corby bolts. If you use anything other than a professional product it will end up looking like crap. And remember, your name is on every knife, literally or figuratively. Even if its just a buddy or dad, other people will see it.
 
Alumahyde is a Brownells product. Some people tap the tang, some people use threaded standoffs instead. I wonder if the epoxy will adhere to a coating at all? If it doesn't adhere then I don't know what it gains you.

I think coatings have their place. I think a lot of people like the look. I think it's good for a knife that might have minimal care. An example are my "customers," people who will leave their knife in their gear for months, certainly not carefully wiping down their blades after getting rained on etc... I look at it as insurance against corrosion and I don't have a problem with it wearing. I tried carrying an un-coated plain sandblasted AEBL blade and got some corrosion after a while. A buddies D2 knife that I made and gunkoted has been going strong for years with the same relative neglect with zero corrosion, and the coating has held up well, worn in high wear areas and no chipping or pealing.

I think if you are going to sand blast a blade anyway, there isn't a lot of point going past a certain grit. What that grit is, I don't know, but I take it up to 240 or so and I can't see any scratch marks after sandblasting.
 
Matt R said:
I would get all the scratches out and take it to an even finish(400,600,800..). Then send it out for cerakote. As James said, do the whole thing. Then use epoxy and corby bolts. If you use anything other than a professional product it will end up looking like crap. And remember, your name is on every knife, literally or figuratively. Even if its just a buddy or dad, other people will see it.
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Haha, I was waiting for that backlash to come. If and when I really start selling my knives for the value of my time and effort in them I will definitely make sure the quality of my work is up to a presentable level.

I went to the hardware store to look at spray paint options and decided against it. When the knives come back from heat treat I will see how bad the scratches are after removing the scale. If they are just going to be too difficult to remove, then I will go with a hand sanded satin type finish except with the sanding running the width of the blade instead of the length. This will more effectively hide the few scratches I am worried about. I might even play around with one of those plastic wire wheels that have abrasive inside the plastic to see what type of finish that gives me. A random orbit sander gave an interesting finish when I played with it once but it might not hide scratches very well and I didn't try it to a completed level.

I guess my original question was answered though, no blade coating on where the handles would be glued. Yes I realize bolts would take away the issue but these knives are already set for pins and have already been sent to heat treat. I have never tried the satin hand finished look before so this is sort of an experiment for me. I am a fairly amateur knife maker right now. I only have 3 knives made from scratch to my credits.
 
You could just use finer belt grits post HT, and get a presentable finish by doing so w/o much or any hand sanding at all, especially if you end up with a scotchbrite finish. Not a lot of labor in that and a WHOLE lot better than paint. Regarding pins or Corbys after HT. You can either anneal the tang to soften it for drilling ( just keep the blade cool in water when doing so) or pick up a few locksmiths carbide drill bits that will also get the job done.
 
Jonathans said:
You could just use finer belt grits post HT, and get a presentable finish by doing so w/o much or any hand sanding at all, especially if you end up with a scotchbrite finish. Not a lot of labor in that and a WHOLE lot better than paint. Regarding pins or Corbys after HT. You can either anneal the tang to soften it for drilling ( just keep the blade cool in water when doing so) or pick up a few locksmiths carbide drill bits that will also get the job done.
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Thanks, I have done that before on another project but I am going to stick to the pins on these knives.
 
eyeeatingfish said:
...these knives are already set for pins and have already been sent to heat treat....
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Where did you send them? If you sent them to Peters, they will apply a black oxide coating on them for a small fee. I've seen a couple examples of blades they've HT'ed and coated that way, and they looked very nice.

The last time I had blades powder-coated, the man who did it for me asked me to not finish them any finer than 400 grit... he said if they were much smoother than that, getting the ceramic powder to stick evenly might be a problem. So if you go that route, consult whoever's going to coat them and see what they say.
 
james terrio said:
Where did you send them? If you sent them to Peters, they will apply a black oxide coating on them for a small fee. I've seen a couple examples of blades they've HT'ed and coated that way, and they looked very nice.

The last time I had blades powder-coated, the man who did it for me asked me to not finish them any finer than 400 grit... he said if they were much smoother than that, getting the ceramic powder to stick evenly might be a problem. So if you go that route, consult whoever's going to coat them and see what they say.
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Sent them to Texas Knifemaker's Supply. They seem to have a good price. It's not a big deal, I will just see how much I can do after the heat treat.
 
Gotcha. The nice thing about applied finishes is, if you decide you don't like it, it's not that difficult to grind it off. :p
 
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