Cabidizer just arrived

[Syph007]

I just got a carbidizer in I ordered from USA knife maker.

I'm excited to try some experiments, but I have a question, which is probably silly but I gotta ask.

Since using this is pretty 'bright' do I need to be wearing darkened saftey goggles like a welder would?

 

[javand]

I don't think you need any shaded glasses for thesr personally. I've got a much more powerful unit that I've run for hours at a time and never noticed any bright spots or anything in my vision, but it's your safety, so maybe check with the manufacturer instead.

I hope you only got that unit for lock faces and such though. The deposit layer and impregnation of those little units is really not enough for carbidized edges, and the more people try and use them for such, the more of a bad rep carbidized blades get.

 

[Syph007]

I got it mostly to Carbidize the Ti liners I make to hopefully alleviate the 'sticky' feeling between the steel blades and Ti surfaces. Also I wanted to try making Ti slipjoint backsprings, and carbidizing the contact point of the blade pivot.

So you need more power to get a thicker layer for blades?

 

[javand]

For edges only. The deposit layer of these units is something like 2 micron, where as the industrial units can do 25, and have deeper penetration, which means more durable and retained deposit, with a thicker "edge" of carbide. This is essential for doing self sharpening carbide chisel edges.

Having seen a number of people offering ti blades with "normal" flat or scandi grinds and coating both sides of the edge, done with these low powered units, it's no wonder these types of blades are getting a reputation as being just a gimmick.

 

[Syph007]

Ah I see. I didnt have much interest in trying it on blades. Maybe to make some box cutter style utility blades, but thats about it. My interest is mostly treating Ti surfaces to mate with other metals and 'hopefully' avoid galling. I was going to try carbidizing circles on my pocketknife liners and scales where the tools would rub to see if that works. I know the standard solution would be to add phosphor bronze washers, and if I was making them from scratch I would, but modifying swiss army knives it would leave backspring gaps if I used washers between each layer so Im hoping for a solution that doenst add much thickness.