DLC coating and SK

bladeflana

bladeflana

Gold Member
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Jul 11, 2012
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I have a DLC 7/7...just happen to capture it in the wild...not directly from SK. I wish they would do DLC's again and especially in the 3.5. Just some thoughts.
 
Congratulations on your new acquisition!

I can't find the thread, but Ellie or Guy gave some good reasoning as to why they stopped the DLC. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they said the coating didn't give as much corrosion resistance as they were hoping. It was also another process that they had to ship the blades out for and thus more variables not under their control to potentially not live up to their infamously high standards.
 
You are correct Silver. The DLC gave no corrosion resistance. I had a black DLC 5.1 but had to sell due to some unexpected situations :grumpy: On a side note though it looked pretty cool and I enjoyed it while I had it.
 
Poromenos said:
You are correct Silver. The DLC gave no corrosion resistance. I had a black DLC 5.1 but had to sell due to some unexpected situations :grumpy: On a side note though it looked pretty cool and I enjoyed it while I had it.
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It gives no corrosion resistance?
 
dynamicmoves said:
It gives no corrosion resistance?
Click to expand...

From everything I have read that seems to be the case. Believe me I'm no expert, but from what I could gather it seems that DLC does not coat the blade in the traditional sense that it seals off the metal from the elements. The PVD process leaves little holes of metal exposed. If you use the search option you can ding some pretty good discussions on it, including one from a company that does PVD coatings on blades.

There are some benefits though. Since the DLC is porous it holds oil better than an uncoated blade so in theory that can make it more rust resistant and you can go longer between oilings. Second benefit is that it potentially makes the sides of the blade more resistant to scratching.

Again I'm no expert, just regurgitating what I've read and researched.
 
That's some seriously interesting pros and cons. On one hand by itself it could be a royal PITA by not allowing you to rub back the corrosion if and when it got under the coating. But then on the other hand, if you got in before that happened and oiled her up nice and good, it could lead to some serious protection. Ha. What will they think of next? Self oiling blades? *gasp* <Springy abandons the rest of this post and runs off to the workshop to start working on his next million dollar venture>

*please note: Springy has yet to successfully complete even one single million dollar venture.
 
This is a great question. My 3 favorite S!K knives have the flat earth/gold coating. I've recently asked Guy about it and I think he might be able to get it back. I suspect if enough of us ask maybe we could get him to bring it back. Maybe as a one off.
 
In addition to the corrosion resistance issue Poromenos mentioned, the FDE coloring was really inconsistent. About 50% of every batch needed to be sent back to be reworked because of small dark spots. It looked like the knives had age spots. Then the reworked batch would be a completely different color, because the steel finish under the coating was now different after the steps of removing the old coating.

When we have something for a coating option, you will be the first to know!
 
I have a 2nd GSO10 with the FDE coating. I love it with no complaints...

I have kicked the crap out of it and continue to every 3rd day. It has not worn away or shows any signs of failing.
It is lighter in color in the middle of the blade where the bulk of the work occurs. The only corrosion that appeared was on the cutting edge after I left it stuck in a tree overnight, of course....

I have a 2nd 4.1 in 3V ordered and would've loved the FDE coating on it as the GSO 10 has been great coated.


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Crappy photo out of the phone with a dirty lens..


If one came up again I'd jump on it.
 
Me too...I've batoned with my 7/7 and the coating held up well. I also think it's a bit less resistant when cutting and whittling. Plus it's great looking!
 
SURVIVE! Ellie said:
In addition to the corrosion resistance issue Poromenos mentioned, the FDE coloring was really inconsistent. About 50% of every batch needed to be sent back to be reworked because of small dark spots. It looked like the knives had age spots. Then the reworked batch would be a completely different color, because the steel finish under the coating was now different after the steps of removing the old coating.

When we have something for a coating option, you will be the first to know!
Click to expand...

This is what I remember as well when I spoke to Guy a while back.

I was just curious if a solution had been found.

We will stay tuned and thanks for the update!
 
I probably forgot if this came up before, but what about cerekoting like the SK line? Would that be an option for the GSO's?
 
"IF" y'all do decide to use this coating would it be something we could ship our blades in and get done after the enitial process. Like the ferro notch.
 
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