just how HARD is bodycote BC1?

M

Manji

Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
1,205
wondering just hard is the bodycote Boron carbide coating? i mean its it indestructible? read somewhere that boron carbide is the third hardest material in the world? is it actually possible to scratch this finish by normal means? or is it just basically a harder version of Ti coating and it will come off eventually
 
Originally posted by Manji
wondering just hard is the bodycote Boron carbide coating? i mean its it indestructible? read somewhere that boron carbide is the third hardest material in the world? is it actually possible to scratch this finish by normal means? or is it just basically a harder version of Ti coating and it will come off eventually
Click to expand...
It's not indestructible since you can remove it. As far as I know, the BC coated Chive is first coated then the edge is put on. At the shop where I got my Chive from, the sales clerk told me about a guy who tested the coating by throwing the knife down on the sidewalk with no damage to the coating so it is pretty strong. Taking her word for it--didn't try it myself. That's pretty much all I know about it.
 
IIRC, BC1 is in the 90 RC range. Nothing is ever destroyed, it just changes state. ;) But BC1 does seem to be highly stable.
 
Hello,

I have a few follow-up questions...

How does BC compare to the other Bodycote products e.g. Ti, tungsten, ceramic, etc. ?

Can you coat a Talonite blade?

Do any of these coatings have a magnetic signature? For example, Talonite does not have a magnetic signature...would that change with coating?

What's the approximate price to get 1 blade coated? Will they even do 1 blade?

I have sent these (and other questions) to BC...no reply yet (BF is usually faster :) )

RL
 
You can coat Talonite with BC.. They have a tougher finish out called Diamond Coat.. We were trying like hell to scratch the stuff at Blade..
Darrel Lewis showed up while we were all having dinner with a Simonich knife, first one to ever have the new coating.. After a couple minutes it was all over the dinner table with guys like Ken Onion, Allen Elishewitz, Rob, Steve Evatt, and Roy Hunigton from Amer. Handgunner/Guns and myself all going at it with neck knives, forks, keys, etc. and not a scratch.. Hell even Turber took his wifes ring to it and nothing happened.. Now either Mike just got popped for buying his wife a Zirconia or this stuff is unreal!! I think the latter... Darrell Lewis should see this if he comes and does a search on his name so hopefully he can give more info
 
Would having a knife coated with this affect resharpening? And the actual surface of the blade is uncoated right?
 
First off, Boron Carbide has a rockwell of 95Rc. Some have said you cant rockwell test a coating, they are right. The tests were done on solid blocks of Boron Carbide that are used for the targets in the coating process. Nothing is indestructible. I have never scratched a BC coated blade, but if a scratch starts in steel you can actually scratch under the coating and pull some coating off. These coating are very thin, 2 microns or aproximently 80 millionths of a inch thick. I do all my coating before sharpening, then knock through the coating with a coarse belt before final sharpening. So the coating does not affect sharpening at all really. This goes for BC and DLC, or any other coatings for that matter.

Keith, the DLC coating is actually a three layer coating. The bottom layer is Chromium Nitride which is silver color, the second layer is Tungsten Carbide which is very black, and the top layer is what is called Diamond Like Carbon, hence DLC. So it is made of pure carbon, they just figured a way to coat with it. It is a smooth and very slippery coating, not like a diamond sharpening stone. I think the DLC is clear like a diamond. It is a simply amazing coating.

RL, Talonite does indeed have a magnetic signature, it will not pass the Lo Mu tests. It will not go through a metal detector, but a magnet wont stick to it. They will coat one blade, but it cant have handles or anything but bare steel. Dont know about the price.
 
I would love to see pics of blades with BC and DLC coatings. Please post some or post urls. Thanks :)
 
I've been intensively using 2 BC coated blades for last few months. Both Benchmades, 710 and Nimravus, both M2. I think I've cut enough (both, volume and type ) materials to get an idea.
In short, it is highly durable coating which holds up remarkably well. Nimravus still has no scratches on it. Just became smoother.
I've scratched BC on 710 couple weeks ago when I stabbed and cut sheet metal, approx. 0.5 mm thick, or more. Under magnification I can see the metal itself is scratched, so I guess the coating was removed with the metal.
Obviously it was not normal knife use, but it's ok I'll have to upgrade it to DLC :)
 
Is the Diamond coat good again corrosion? Or do I have to chrome the blade first?
 
Calyth, if you read Rob Simonich's post you will notice that he stated that the Diamond Coat (DLC) is a three layer coat that starts with a layer of Chromium Nitride.
 
Ah... then I suppose Chromium Nitride would do the job.
I'm not familiar with the Chroming process. All I learned in highschool chemistry suggested to me that one could anodize it with Chromium or something. :rolleyes:
Maybe I should study chemistry a bit more or something.
 
The knives in that thread are mine. They are all Striders.

The spearpoint (MT-L) is

Chromium nitride
Boron Carbide
Tech-12

The tanto (BT) and Wharncliffe (WP) are

Chromium nitride
Tungsten Carbide
DLC

The coatings really are quite amazing. I have yet to scratch any of the three.

Zach
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top