Is the blade coating supposed to be scratched...

Rev. Pete

Rev. Pete

Joined
Aug 25, 2001
Messages
843
Folks, my question is about the high-tech coating that goes on modern knife blades.

I recently got my first coated blade folding knife from a "name brand" maker. I immediately sent it back for warranty work because out of the box there was a "ding" in the blade near the tip of the coated tanto blade. Today the knife is back and the ding is gone but now there are very clear clamp marks in the blade coating on both sides of the blade near the tip. Sheesh. Is it normal for the coating to get scratched when a knife is being sharpened? Will this coating get scratched and beat up over the years anyway?

Thanks for your advise.
 
Yep, yep and yep.
The blade coatings will wear, scratch, ding, become un-sightly, and get beat to hell very fast.
I avoid them at all costs.
Just because I dont want a 3 month old knife that thanks to its scratched to hell black coating looks like I've had it in a war.

But yes, blade coatings, true coatings, in my experiance are very scratch, ding and wear prone.

Sorry tho, it sucks to see your new beauty with a scratch or a ding in the coating.....
 
I will never own a knife with a coated blade , because of all the above reasons, and also because I love the look of steel. All kinds of steel. On my knives, when you look at the blade, you will see the beauty of steel, not some scratched up black coating.

I will grant you that some of these coatings are tougher than others, and do not scratch as easily, but they still do scratch.

I can make sure my knife does not rust, that is part of the maintenance that must be done, like it or not. I happen to love sharpening and caring for my knives. I do not see any advantage to a black blade. Reflecting light is not a problem for me, nor is rust.
 
1) corrosion resistance.... sometimes you can accomplish this by maintenance; a few applications really call for it

2) eliminating light reflections .... some uncoated blades reflect less than others, but that black blade is hard to see at night.

There are several other minr reasons for blade coatings having to do with specialty apps and exotic materials. Some of the coatings hold better than others. Use a black Microtech knife much and it gets "gray" and somewhat scuffed/scratched pretty easily. I have had great results with the crinkle coated Busse vs the smooth bladed coating.

The Benchmade black coating on my AFO scuffed the worst of any I have owned and used, but it still accomplished items 1 and 2. But if you don't need 1) and 2) (which I often do not) why bother?
 
Years ago Robbie Barkman of Robar did an NP3 finish for me on a Timberline Specwar. I've used the knife ALOT and it still hasn't shown so much as a scuff. Go figure.
 
Blade coatings often serve the three following purposes:
  • Adds an element of corrosion resistance to the blade
  • Makes the blade non-glare (for those "stealth-intensive" scenarios we all seem to get ourselves into :) )
  • With knives, wicked aesthetics is always a motivating factor
For the first two categories, minor scuffing and abrasions are of little consequence, 'cuz it is still mostly corrosion resistant and stealthy.

My suggestion is that if aesthetics is one's only purpose, simply don't use your knife! :)

Some coatings are really good, others are fairly good, some are barely good. Aren't you glad I added my two cents? ;)
 
It is great that there is a coating that is that tough. Does anyone out there use it on their knives, or do you have to send your knife out to have this special treatment done?

It still would not interest me, but I bet it would a lot of the other members.
 
Hey Guys..

I'll have to also say I'm not a real big fan of coated knives either..
The black usually ears off and looks like crap in a very short time....


The exception to these rules I have found, only on one particular brand of knives and that is Busse..

My set of Basics are getting pretty scratched,,but in such a way the it's wearing off slowlyand kind of looks cool....

On my combat Grade,,and this is where Jerry really used his noggin the coating is of the kninckle variety and has held up unbeleivably..
With my Battle Mistress I have hack stuf, chopped stuff, split stuff and even pryed the door of my truck open to get a coat hanger inside,,and the knife show Absolutely no wear, no scratches and only a couple of buff marks in the coating...

It certainly is the best coating I have seen on Any knife Bar None!!

ttyle

Eric...
 
I don't like coated blades very much for general use, but that depends on what steel is under it and for what i use the knife. People with a BM 710 HSS probably wouldn't want it without coating.
HSS is just too fast in rusting if left bare. D2-E as in my SIFU rusts fast too. But this is a fighting knife, so the black-T coating is also for lightreflectioninhibition (damn what a long word :D).
I also Have a Buck 110 Buckcote, which is coated with a Ti-Ni coating, i believe MT did some runs of this coat too. It isn't really light reflection stopping, but it does scratch very hard, since it's HRC 90 or something.
I also know of a dutch firm who first uses a dark Ti-Ni coating, then a teflon coat like BM's BT2 or REKAT's Black-T.

The teflon based coating feel like plastic, and have a very high mubrication index with other stuff (the slices of onion don't stick to it like on bare steel). But the can scratch easy. One benefit.. even if they are scratched all off, a tiny layer of teflon will stay, invisible, but still protect against corrosion.

The ceramic-ion based coating are much more expensive, less reflection inhibition, but much better scratch resistance. Also the colour is hard..mostly it's gray, but never as black as REKAT's Black T. And it isn't as protective for corrosion as the layer is much thinner.

You also have powder coats, like cold-steels epoxy coat, but those don't work well at all. They can flake off, can't stand any scratches. Usually they get off the blade soo fast, food preparing is a bad idea unless you like the taste of it.

Basically, if you'll looking of cutlery grade stainless, stay off coated blade, unless the ceramic kind. If you're looking at special stuff (fighting, saltwater use..) then the Teflon based coatings are a good idea, altough the Ti-ni coatings are good too.

greetz, bart.
 
I like using my teflon coated Benchmades for food prep because they're so easy to clean. Just like the teflon coating used on pots and pans, nothing really sticks to BM's BT2 black coating, making it easy for me to clean the blade both before and after food prep.
 
I don't really much like coatings either. I polished the BT2 off of my Nimravus and never looked back. Bead blasting is also questionable since it can get crappy looking with use and the tiny pits hold moisture equalling corrosion. With a bare steel satin blade it is simple to just shine up with a fine Scotchbrite and maybe some metal polish if and when it gets those inevitable scratches.

PM
 
Rev. Pete,

in my experience every blade coating gets scratches sooner or later but the clamb marks are avoidable and therefore very annoying, furthermore it is not normal for the coating to get scratched when a knife is being sharpened. I think you should name the manufacturer/brand.
 
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