How durable is printing on Zero Tolerance blades?

S

stanton2

Joined
Jan 21, 2008
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I was wondering if anybody knows how tough the silver printing is that's used on Zero Tolerance blades. What kind of technology is it? I have a 0300---which is an awesome knife, by the way---and I don't want to use any kind of lubricant or solvent to clean the blade that might eventually erode the printing.
 
So the silver ZT logo and other imprints on the blade are actually areas of steel beneath the Tungsten DLC that have been exposed by the laser?
 
The image is burned onto the material with a laser beam of light. The image is permanent. Once engraved it will NOT rub or wear off. It is not exposed steel beneath the coating.
 
stanton2 said:
I was wondering if anybody knows how tough the silver printing is that's used on Zero Tolerance blades. What kind of technology is it? I have a 0300---which is an awesome knife, by the way---and I don't want to use any kind of lubricant or solvent to clean the blade that might eventually erode the printing.
Click to expand...

It holds up just fine to repeated applications/wipedowns of/with TUF-GLIDE...should do just as well with other similar products. :thumbup:

Ray :)
 
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Thomas W said:
The image is burned onto the material with a laser beam of light. The image is permanent. Once engraved it will NOT rub or wear off. It is not exposed steel beneath the coating.
Click to expand...
I think what stanton2 is looking for (and correct me if I'm wrong, stanton), is: will the printing remain if the DLC coating is removed (without damaging the blade steel). Is the laser etching into the DLC alone, or through to the steel underneath? Thomas, I think you're saying that the image is permanent to the DLC, but not etched into the steel, so removing the DLC would remove the image, yes?

I suspect this entire concept of removing the DLC may be moot; can the coating be removed without grinding? Say, by using something like Strip-Ease liquid stripper??
 
Yes, riffraff, that's correct. I was asking if the laser etches through the DLC to reveal the steel below or if the laser somehow leaves a silver image on the DLC without actually burning all the way through the DLC.

It's not really that important, I guess. The main thing is that now I know the silver markings on the blade are not going to come off, so I can clean the blade with pretty much anything.
 
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