Coating wear

C

chewbroccoli

Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
17
Hi,

I took my RC-5 camping with me a couple weekends ago and we forgot our axe (DOH, we went to a funeral and then camping so with dress clothes and camping gear something was bound to get forgotten). I used my RC-5 to baton wood for fires and now the coating is wearing off. it's mostly just aesthetic but the coating as pretty smooth instead of textured like it was before and there are areas where it's not black anymore. what kind of coating is it on the knife? is there a clear coating under the black or will I need to take special care that the areas where it's worn doesn't rust? thanks.

I attached a picture below:
DSCF0640.jpg
 
it's epoxy powder coat, and while clear is available, there's no reason to put clear under a color.

some people completely strip the coating off their blades, force a patina on the steel using mustard, or other tricks. the patina acts like bluing on a gun and is black oxide that will prevent the formation of red oxide. the red is the bad stuff. of course, you could use cold bluing, or leave it bare.

mineral oil is popular for oiling a blade, and there are other products as well. and actually using the thing usually does a good job of keeping the rust away.

there are plenty of knives out there in 1095 and other steels that never get a coating.
 
I stripped the coating on mine and soaked it in vinegar for a few hours (wanted it really dark) and I haven't had an issue with rust. If you want to keep the coating you still have, you can use Rem Oil, mineral oil, etc. to keep it nice. I use Rem Oil personally. After I stripped the knife I put two coats of Rem Oil on the whole blade before putting the handles back on so that it's all protected.
 
If you keep it wiped off and dry after use, it will eventually develop a natural patina and will be even less likely to rust. More use, less worry.
 
Textured powder coat-I've only found one knife with a more durable coating and it too is a powder coat. The RC5 was meant to do that job. Mine is pretty much naked at this point... it doesn't hurt the function at all, other than exposing material for oxidation-which, if you maintain your blade, should never be an issue anyway. A 2 dollar bottle of mineral oil, a silicone rag from a gun shop, renwax, tuffglide... there are alot of practical options for coating your blade.
 
The Powder coat is meant to wear with useage , just keep the bare steel portion clean and wiped down with oil of your choice.
 
I am having the same issue with my rc4. while I do not mind the wear marks, is there something like a re-coat available? Would I have to strip the original coating and then reapply? Any insight would be great.
 
The original coating on the ESEE line is tough as nails!!!!

Like Tony said...mineral oil works really well.

There are options out there to re-due to coating.....PM me.
 
All the worn coating does is it makes the knife look like it works for a living - so a worn coating is a good thing and the knife is as it should be.
 
They are all right. The coating is there to protect as long as it last. Heavy usage obviously will take it off faster but it doesn't affect the function of the knife any more than rust on a tractor keeps it from pulling a bush hog:) We don't do any re coating at our shop but I am sure there are options out there for shops that do that. We use a Sherwin Williams baked on powder. I don't know the spec numbers but there are likely some coatings out there more durable than ours. Some of these guys on the forum keep up with the custom options available so just keep asking and somebody will come up with a source for you. Thank you for buying and using our knives. Mike
 
I don't know if this helps any, but it is a timeline of an ESEE (RAT) izula coating, through pics.

newish,
IMG_9353.jpg


A month or two of use I'd say,
IMG_8330.jpg


Eventually for me the coating got so wore off I just removed it, the blade developed a patina, and I haven't had a rust problem yet.
102_9106.jpg
 
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