Clip anodization frustration

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
2,790
Does anyone else get kind of annoyed with how fast clip ano comes off and how beat up it can make the newest knife look after? I really like black clips, too, because of their non-reflective nature. I guess I'd like a beadblasted one. :(
 
I don't recall ever having an annodized clip, but I do prefer black clips on my knives! Anything but black gets noticed.
 
If it's a black clip, it's probably anodized (or painted?). I like how they don't get noticed, but they do lose color awful quick :rolleyes:
 
My understanding is that steel can't really be anodized, just painted or otherwise coated. The only viable clip material that can be anodized is titanium and that isn't seen often except on customs. Nearly all black clips are painted steel.

Paint just doesn't hold up very well under the constant abrasion of pocket wear. I hope that we will eventually see steel clips with black titanium nitrade coatings instead. That stuff should outlast the steel. :) The newer ceramic coatings would do well too.

--Bob Q
 
Kershaw did a great job making steel black with their boron carbide( I think that's right)coating on my Leek. Very tough stuff. :)
 
Protech Titanium Nitride coats their clips. I also like the fact that they can be switched out with most of Benchmade's clips, and several of Spyderco's. They have the same generic 3-hole pattern. That TiNitride coating is practically indistructible.

DD
 
I couldn't remember for sure if it was the ti-ni or the boron carbide on the Leek. Kershaw does use both. It's very durable and looks great. I wish they used the same pattern as the BMs and Spydercos but the clips on my Leeks are an asymetrical two holed clip.
 
After 2 days of thought and looking at my knives, I decided it is just wear and tear.
 
mod does their clips with tiN too
haven't seen any serious wear on mine yet :)
 
I used a spray on gunkote from brownells to coat my benchmade 806d2 clip. The clip was already black but easily scratched. The gunkote has held up without scratching for a few weeks. I just sprayed it on the clip without removing the original black finish and baked it in the oven. I think it looks better than the original finish.
 
I too tend to like the black knife clips. I have found a great way to keep them looking new is to get some automotive shrink tube of the right size and shrink it over the clip. at the very end of the tubing I put a tiny drop of super glue and then pinch the end shut.
When the tubing gets messed up, remove and do it again.;) It works great and is cheap and not messy. BTW The superglue is holding the tubing closed just beyond the end of the clip. I do not glue the tubing onto the clip. YMMV :D ;)
 
My wife and I each carry a Kershaw blackout as edc. We have, everyday, for almost a year now. I can't tell you what the clips are blackened with, but, they show 0% wear or scratching. We both wear tight jeans, we both wear rings on both hands.

On the other hand, I owned a Camillus Cuda EDC (brand) for a couple of weeks. It had a blackened clip that showed scratching and wear in a couple of days, notably, gold colored, as if the rings I wear was harder than the clip's finish. And I don't mean that the rings left just gold-color, You could see the physical gouging, feel them with your nail.

Go figure, and, YMMV

WayLander
 
I wanted a titanium pocket clip anodized black and contacted a company that does that. Well, I was told that they can't for some reason get a black finish because of some technical jargon. They can get a very dark blue but that's the closet to black they can get. So, that's what I got done! It's pretty close to black.
 
Originally posted by u812
Where did you get the Ti clip?
Click to expand...

I had to look who made the folder! It came on a folder from J.J. McGovern. Geez, what a memory, it ain't even close to black in color and it scratched easily too! :mad: I never did like the knife either.
 
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