How to Blacken those obvious pocket clips that are sliver in color?

Added one more shot to the end up at reply #31--didn't pull out the light box, just tried to duplicate the original "mounted" picture. As I mentioned in my post edit, the shiny spot between the two screws is strange, because it isn't actually there in real life. For some reason, those pixels were killed.
 
Daniel Boon said:
Hmmm, I would think the black hockey tape would roll off after a few pulls in time, but thanks
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Here's a couple pics of my Persistence clip all taped-up... Seems to work ok, just try not to get it wet (and NEVER feed it after midnight!) :D

persistence01.jpg


persistence02.jpg
 
Daniel Boon said:
Nice and clean with a flat surface, great job!
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Thanks, fella! If you decide to give it a try, just remember hockey tape stretches... I took my clip off and pressed the hell out of the tape as I applied it. The curves in the clip actually enhance the 'stickiness' of the tape--won't readily roll off the metal when you pull on the knife. Then trim the excess (a little SAK with scissors works great.) Takes about 10 minutes... I think it looks quite fetching against the G-10 :D
 
I have had this problem and a lot of it is solved if the manufacturer makes a black clip that will fit it like the Spyderco black clips will fit the Byrd Cara Cara's and so forth. In most cases I had to make it black and regular spray paint wore off in a couple days but finally I was told to use black industrial epoxy enamel and it worked very well. First rough up the metal with emery paper or steel wool, then spray it with primer and when dry spray it with the black epoxy enamel and give it about three or more coats. Let it sit for a couple days to dry thoroughly and thats it. I have carried knives with clips painted this way for several months and the paint is still 99% in tact. The epoxy enamel was hard to find though even in hardware stores but I did find some on E-Bay.
 
timberweasel said:
Here's a couple pics of my Persistence clip all taped-up... Seems to work ok, just try not to get it wet (and NEVER feed it after midnight!) :D

persistence01.jpg


persistence02.jpg
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A 100 percent improvement.

Spydie's clip on the otherwise terrific Persistence is downright garish.

Now, does anyone know if they make a replacement clip in black?
 
Black heat shrink tubing works well too. It will tear if you catch it on something. Cut it off and replace it with new. No big deal. I buy the tubing from Home Depot in the electrical department. 1/4" works well for most knives of the Spyderco / Benchmade persuasion.

You do need to have a heat gun, or some other tool that can heat the tubing up enough to shrink it though. What parts of the clip the tubing does not cover, a black sharpie will fix right up.
 
The most durable finishes include black Chrome plate, black Nickel plate, and particle vapor deposited Titanium Aluminum nitride, Boron nitride, or Tungsten diamond like Carbon. The price to do one clip would probably be prohibitive. Do 100 clips and sell what you don't need, or convince a supplier to run a batch.
 
Here is a picture of my First Generation Spyderco Military with heat-shrink tubing applied to the old two screw clip. This has been on the clip for over a year now. I do not remove the clip to apply this, I just slide a piece of thin metal between the knife and the clip and heat it while in place. The threads to retain the clip on this knife are bad, and I am afraid if I remove it one more time it they will be useless.

A side benefit of using heat-shrink tubing on the clip, is that it sticks to your pocket way better than the bare metal does. To get it off of your pocket, you have to mean it, its not going to slide out on its own when you bend your legs extremely.
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A picture of the old blade marking just for the heck of it.
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good question i thought of this a few times. luckily my delica and griptilian have black clips. however i have wanted to blacken the clip on my starbenza. when i decided to do it i will stick with the sharpie method. sounds like the easiest and touching up would be simple. if you find that you need to touch it up to often then look for another option.
 
I have not had much luck with the Sharpie method. Usually results in black fingers. Usually end up having to touch them up multiple times a day.

Pep Boys has some traction tape that is not as aggressive as the kind you buy at hardware stores. It sticks well and is the only other method I use besides heat-shrink tubing.
 
The steel-blackening method is a lot like sharpie except it actually works. ;) :D
 
cbxer55 said:
I have not had much luck with the Sharpie method. Usually results in black fingers. Usually end up having to touch them up multiple times a day.

Pep Boys has some traction tape that is not as aggressive as the kind you buy at hardware stores. It sticks well and is the only other method I use besides heat-shrink tubing.
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Same here, blackened fingers, and before end of day, half of it gone :(

Will try tape method, if I can find one that stays put even wet. I usually wash the whole knife every few days, apart from blade after each use.
 
cbxer55 said:
Here is a picture of my First Generation Spyderco Military with heat-shrink tubing applied to the old two screw clip.
01010007.jpg
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Great idea! I've used ST for other tinkering projects, but never a knife project. Add one more app to the arsenal.
 
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