exotic coatings

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nounderscores

Joined
Oct 18, 2001
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I know that rockwell hardness isn't everything, and in some cases i'm told that ultrahard tool steel is "utterly demoralizing" to try to resharpen, but has anybody thought of putting a ultrahard coating on a normal hard steel knife?

http://www.brycoat.com/

brycoat has a pretty nice looking Titanium Nitride coating which has the appearance of metallic gold and achieves a rockwell C hardness of 85.

If you manage to wear through the cubic faces of that, then you've just exposed normal knife steel underneath, which I assume you can sharpen as normal.

Any thoughts? experiences?

by the way, the Titanium Nitride coating is also a chemical corrosion barrier and a friction reducer and a cost increaser :)
 
The one manufacturer that I know of that uses a coating to assist with the blade edge is Buck knives. They use a (grind one one side, forget what its called) and a very hard coating in a process that they call IonFusion. For normal use it can help extend the life of the edge up to as much as five times as long.

From their site:
Ionfusion™ blades are created by molecularly bonding Titanium Nitride to our world-famous quality steel. The coatings of these Ionfusion™ blades become so hard that they top the Rockwell C scale, which stops at 80. But most importantly, the steel beneath the coating retains its just-right hardness. After the blade has been coated, a precisely angled edge is put on one side only. The result: blades with a more dramatic look, and actually easier to maintain because when you finally do want to sharpen it, there is only one side to hone! Easy! There are seven Ionfusion™ models available now.
Click to expand...
 
It doesn't if it's Rc55 or Rc85 an edge will still get dull. Which do you want to sharpen? And once you sharpen it the coating is a done deal on the edge. It looks cool and it will make your blade more sratch resistant but I see no advantage to putting it on an edge.

I think Buck for one does some blades with this stuff.
 
buch has made some with tit nit. coating, they've also mafde some for cabelas with this coating.
 
Check out BodyCotes boron carbide coatings and their newest, a diamond coating called DLC. A lot of custom makers and several production companies are going with this. On the DLC coating you can take a screwdriver and rub it against the blade, which will leave streaks on the blade...............but the streaks are actually metal from the screwdriver! Once you rub that off you are left with a smooth coat once again. Great looking stuff!
 
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