Hmm... I wonder if Kabar' use of cold bluing is a first in the knife manufacturing world 🤔

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

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So, it seems that KaBar is offering a limited WW2 reproduction Kabar that is meant to look a bit distressed and all. They call it the "Red Spacer", and it's finish is done with a cold blue solution.
Now, I know cold bluing is not rare for touch ups and such in the manufacturing world, but as an actual finish?... Well, I've never heard of a gun or knife maker using cold blue that way.
Anyhow, here's a picture of the Red Spacer knife that's on Kabar' website...

6417-red-spacer-hero.jpg

I personally think that parkerizing it, (phoshating), would have been a better idea, but that's just my opinion 😊

With that said, the cold blued finish does seem to achieve giving it an old school/distressed appearance to it.
 
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I do love the look of those red spacer Kabars and want one badly, but don’t need one. Only reason I don’t have one in hand… yet.😒

I don’t know if it’s the first instance of cold bluing used as a blade finish in the knife manufacturing world or not, but I’d highly doubt it. It’s been around a minute or two.
 
40 years ago I refurbished a Sears Ted Williams .22 rifle for my father in law as a gift. I used some cold blue on it to touch up some parts.

I had a bunch left over so I tried it on a Schrade Old Timer I had. That knife sits on my computer desk these days. The blued blades have a real nice patina.
The bluing wore off pretty quick though. To look at it, you'd never know it was blued at one time.
 
The biggest project that I ever took on using cold blue, was to blue the barrel of this Spanish made muzzle loading pistol kit.
It turned out pretty darned good, (my having found a YouTube video that gave me step by step guidance).
Since I keep it only as a display, it's just fine. But, maybe at some point I will use some Renaissance Wax to help preserve it looking good. It's what I'd very likely do to the Red Spacer Kabar knife if I owned one.

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I know that with any real use, a cold blued finish wears off very easily.
 
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I think if cold bluing were at least as durable as hot bluing, it would be pretty decent. But, as it stands, cold bluing is just way too easy to wear off.

Here's one of my Cold Steel Frontier Bowie knives with the standard factory blued blade (not cold blued)...

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And here is another one made in England with a factory blued blade, (not cold blued)...

20220618_111338_(1).jpg

This one is a Camillus made blued blade knife, (not cold blued)...

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I have other examples of standard factory bluing on other knives that I own, but have never seen or heard about a well known knife manufacturer cold bluing their knife blades 🤔

I think if they had settled on the blade being blued, then maybe it would have been much better for them to have properly factory hot blued the blades and maybe run those blades inside a tumbler with a proper medium to give the blades a distressed look. At least the remaining bluing would still have some longevity, where as the cold bluing... well, not so much.
 
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Cold bluing looks great, certainly nicer than the black epoxy coating on my Kabar Mark 1, though it's probably not as durable. FWIW, I enjoy knives that have earned a patina.
 
I have a fixed blade that I have considered putting a cold blue finish on. Have also considered a plum finish on the knife. I am leaning towards a plum finish.
 
Cold Bluing is not more durable than either standard hot bluing or rust bluing in fact it is not a true bluing finish at all. Cold blue creates a very thin copper like coating on the metal that wears off very easily. It's color looks like bluing but that is as far as it goes. This very thin fragile finish actually prevents rust while the foundation of real bluing is red rust which is converted into a black/bluish oxide that resists red rust (the bad stuff that eats away metal.)

Cold bluing is used as last resort for small touch ups where an entire strip and re blue is not practical. It's also included or sold side by side with gun kits and marketed as a convenient fast easy way to blue. It is not a good way to blue metal.
 
greater said:
Cold Bluing is not more durable than either standard hot bluing or rust bluing in fact it is not a true bluing finish at all. Cold blue creates a very thin copper like coating on the metal that wears off very easily. It's color looks like bluing but that is as far as it goes. This very thin fragile finish actually prevents rust while the foundation of real bluing is red rust which is converted into a black/bluish oxide that resists red rust (the bad stuff that eats away metal.)

Cold bluing is used as last resort for small touch ups where an entire strip and re blue is not practical. It's also included or sold side by side with gun kits and marketed as a convenient fast easy way to blue. It is not a good way to blue metal.
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G greater , I had to quote your whole post for truth. My certified, trained, professional gunsmith buddy learned that in gun smith school. He has said those same things over and over, especially to knife guys that think staining metal provides a wearable finish, that he just rolls with it now. 20 years of singing that song and he is done with it.

His recommended finish for carbon steels that are or have wear exposure (think knives, gun slides or parts, or whole pistols) is a phosphor finish similar to the old Parkerized finish. He sends the parts out to have that process done because it takes a license to dispose of the spent chemicals, similar to (process not the same) as metal plating. Nasty chemicals are used, extremely caustic and poisonous as they have to "cook" or corrode into the metal for its staying power and durability. IIRC correctly, he also told me the parts reside in a hot acid bath, then are cleaned, then submerged in the finishing agent to complete the phosphor (or like coating).

BTW, he isn't all the fond of Cerakote and its cousins either. Many pistols (including two of mine) have that coating and he is seeing a lot of holster wear, carry wear, and showed me a pistol that was cleaned by someone using a heavy duty chemical (MEK maybe?) that partially dissolved the finish. Certainly it's better than nothing, but his opinion is that Cerakote is little more than a great plastic finish that bonds well to metal. He would know; as he said, with all the kits/mods/parts for guns these days he does little customizing and upgrading. Almost all of his work is repair so that is his level of exposure to the gun/knife finishes.

One of my buddies bought a knife with Cerakote on the blade and it scraped right off. Check this out on the guns and Cerakote issues if you are interested:

 
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