Blade Coatings.... Are there any good ones??

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Good Day,

So, I was looking at one of my black coated blades, and I noticed this bubble of the coating on the tang, I ran my finger over the bubble, the coating flakes off. Rust had gotten under the coating from the edge of the tang. Somewhere, the coating was imperceptibly worn to the steel, the steel oxidized, and traveled under the coating until I noticed the bubble.

The knife has a simple powder coat, maybe some sort of teflon.

But, this issue reminds me of the other downsides of coatings.

1) Wears, cannot be renewed except by removal and re-application.

2) Usually not very tough, making #1, all the more likely.

3) Rust can creep under the coating, and you may not be able to see it, until you have a problem.

So, the question presents itself, are there any tough coatings?

PVD coatings without grain boundaries? Maybe amorphous diamond?

Or should one just forget the coatings, let a crappy coating go until it is totally a liability, then hire a local maker to remove the coating and move on?

------------------
Thank you,
Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com

My website, guided links, talonite/cobalt alloy info, etc....
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

>>--->Bill Siegle Custom Knives<---<<
-http://www.geocities.com/siegleknives-

"To wait for luck is the same as waiting for death." -Japanese Proverb

"Place you clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark." -Lazarus Long

"We cut things to create things" - James K Mattis

[This message has been edited by Marion David Poff (edited 03-18-2001).]
 
personally, i prefer no coating. i have a number of good ole carbon steel blades. i like the petinas some develop.adds character
smile.gif
minimum of care prevents any rust, for me. i use them often. guess i've been lucky. i've a friend that has offered to kalgard a blade or two, never have bothered. just my opinion.
smile.gif

if you have access to a maker locally, i'd opt for your latter suggestion.

------------------

a cat almost always blinks when hit in the head with a ball-peen hammer, if he sees it coming, that is.
Cats, The Other White Meat.{courtesy of VG}
life's tough, get a helmet.
A few of my Knives
russ aka BladeZealot

[This message has been edited by russ (edited 03-18-2001).]
 
I also dislike coatings. None that I have yet tried stand up to even moderate continued usage. And while all my knives are users, I dislike any of them to appear faded, scratched, etc. Give me a good 'ol satin finish any day (or Talonite!)
-Paul
 
I guess I will be somewhat of a dissenting voice on this issue. I don't mind coatings on some blades. I think it adds to the aesthetic appeal to the overall look of the knife (i.e. the CRKT KFF). But for a hard/daily use knife I agree that it's probably not pratical.

The best coating that I have seen recently is on the newer knives by Greco. He is using a thick Black coating that looks like it would be very resistant, though I've never doen any testing or actually tried to scratch the coating. Larry at BladeArt has some of these newer knives and at least one of them is pictured on his site.
 
If I had to coat a blade, I think I`d opt for hard chrome. I think that hard chrome may be the only blade coating worth the extra time and expense. Otherwise, a plain blade with minimal care should be okay.
 
Haven't found one I like, yet.
Wonder how NP3 (from Robar) would hold up on a knife? Or Roguard.
 
Thanks for the responses, I am most likely going to remove the current coating. The occasion will also give me good reason to play some handle ideas I have had.

Thanks again,
MDP
 
No. They all come off sooner or later, and knives look really crappy with part of the coating on and part off. Just my opinion, but I'll bet I am not alone on this one.

------------------
Danbo, soul brother of Rambo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top