Blade Finishes?????

[Kryosphinx]

There are so many blade finishes, boron carbide (I hear this is one of the hardest man made substances), rainbow Titanium oxide (is this stuff any good? or is it mainly for show?), Tungsten DLC, Black Teflon, Plain, Bead Blasted (there are different kinds of bead blasting right?), etc.... What are the good ones? Which ones are most durable? If you had to pick one, which one would you pick? Thanks for your info! Tell me if I missed any.

 

[ARtsig1]

Boron carbide and DLC are both applied by Bodycote. The DLC is even harder than the BC. DLC stands for Diamond Like Coating??

 

[Andy_L]

I don't like coating on the blade. in a way I like the mirror finish but I don't like the way it gets scratches with use. bead blasting holds up well but is a bit more prone to rust of course. I guess it all depends on the style of knife.
I really like the rough finish from the forge that puukkos sometimes have
(like this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/highstorrsprom/more knives/trond.jpg)

 

[Keith Montgomery]

I don't really like any of the blade coatings, but if I had to pick one it would be DLC. I personally think it looks the best and it is tough as heck.

My favorite blade finish is a hand rubbed satin one. To me it looks the best. I have never been fond of bead blast finishes. The little dimples seem to hold moisture and assist in the rusting process. On some knives I like a very high polish, even a mirror one, but these finishes show scuffs and scratches more than others and don't make any sense on users. It is more time consuming and costly to do a mirror finish and if you are just going to scuff it up, what's the use?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I really like the rough finish from the forge that puukkos sometimes have

Me too!

Check out these Japanese knives:
Traditional Japanese Hunting Knife
A.G.Russell Japanese Hunting Knife
A.G.Russell Neck Knives

 

[Keith Montgomery]

I also like the hammered finish that many bladesmiths give to their frontier and rustic style knives.

 

[djolney]

I really like the titanium aluminium nitride finish that Mission put on their A2 blades.

David

 

[GarageBoy]

I like that stuff CRK uses on their fixed blades.

 

[ARtsig1]

The DLC rockwells above 80 so it is VERY tuff. It is also unlike the other coatings in that it doesn't actually coat the blade as much as it penetrates into the metal a few microns and ends up being a translucent covering. Over a satin finished or mirrored finish blade it looks fantastic. I'm not 100% about the numbers above as this is coming from my memory banks and they may be slightly corrupted!

 

[Kryosphinx]

Well..... The DLC and the rustic finish seem to be the reigning champs, but DLC is much harder and much more durable.
Artsig1, What's Bodycote?
Thanks for the info everyone. Keep it coming!!

 

[yoda4561]

Bodycote is one of the big coating companies, they do DLC and Boron Carbide, and various other vapor deposition coatings.

 

[ARtsig1]

What yoda said!

 

[shootist16]

My favorite blade finish is stonewash. I like the way it looks and it hides scratches very well for user knives.