Blades - bead-blast or satin finish?

joe90

joe90

Joined
Aug 17, 2001
Messages
346
Which do you prefer?

Can't say I really know the difference to be honest... besides the obvious - like they use beads (of something) to mark the blade steel... but what does this really acheive and how would it be better or worse than satin finishing, which I assume is like fine sandpaper rubbing of the blade steel. :confused:

Opinions? Do you care? ... is it simply an aesthetic choice?

Joe
 
Bead blasted is like sand blasted, only using glass beads instead of sand. All of those little pits in the surface of the steel are great places for rust to start. Satin finish is long scratches in the steel. These scratches can help hold oil on the surface, like jewelling car and gun parts, but in practice the smoother the surface is, the less chance that rust can get a start.
 
Bead-blasted tends to eliminate any reflections, and some like that. I don't care for the extra corrosion potential, as mentioned by fudo. I just like the satin finish so much better, and would even prefer a coated blade to blasted. Just a matter of opinion, to most. My ideal is a TiNi-coated satin finish, as on the Alaskan Guide Buck 110 with S30V blade. Next is satin finished, then TiNi over blasted, then Teflon coated, and last, Blasted.

DD
 
I am a fan of satin finished blades, gives the knife a shiny clean look.
 
I prefer the satin finish to my blades. I know that they are not uber-tactical, but oh well.

As long as it's not a mirror polish, no need to scare myself with my own reflection.

Jubei
 
Satin finish, generally.

I've heard from sources I consider knowledgeable that bead blasting
can be used - and is used - to hide cosmetic defects in the finish.
These defects would be visible if the satin finish was used.
 
I can vouch for the "cosmetic defects." I've got two hunting knives from the same maker that came bead blasted. Why a maker would bead blast a knife that is supposed to get bloody and wet all the time is a mystery to me. Anyway, I liked the desing and the steel and all that, but didn't like the bead blast so I went to work on them with some 400 grit sand paper. The smaller of the two is in AUS8a and came out nice and satiny. However, the larger of the two is in D2 and sanding the bead blast down revealed the "orange peel" effect that D2 is known for. It feels perfectly smooth to the touch, but looks like it has minor pits all over the blade. Anyway, I prefer satin to bead blasted because a satin finish doesn't give water and blood and bile and what-not purchase like a bead blasted finish can.
 
Jubei said:
I prefer the satin finish to my blades. I know that they are not uber-tactical, but oh well.

As long as it's not a mirror polish, no need to scare myself with my own reflection.

Jubei
Click to expand...

Yeah and how many people who buy "Tactical knives" or complain about reflection are actually using the knife in a tactical situation? My guess is about 3% of the buyers. I like a good ol mirror polish or a nice hand rubbed myself. I dont like bead or satin, but of the two I like the look of bead a bit more.
 
I much prefer satin finish to bead blast or stone wash. I just don't like the way bead blast and stone wash look.
 
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