Pet peeve of the day - blade coatings

shane45-1911

shane45-1911

Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Messages
4,306
I wish more manufacturers would offer UNCOATED blades, or make it an option.

Not only do most coatings impede cutting performance (admittedly, very marginally), but they do nothing to protect the uncoated edge from corrosion where it matters most anyway.

I get that some like that "blacked-out" look (been there, done that), but now I find myself stripping the coating from most of the blades I have purchased. I prefer to add my own patina on high carbon steel blades.

Am I alone in this wish?
 
I'm mostly with you, but I do like partial coatings making a two-tone look on some knives and I've come to really like blackwash type finishes were the blade is coated then stonewashed or whatever. It's a nice in between, the coating isn't sticky in cuts, the blade is darkened for style points, and it doesn't show wear as quickly or easily as just a normal coating finish would.

I have discovered somewhere I love coatings though--handles. A cerakote or gunkote type coating over titanium slabs is somehow a lot more pleasing in hand to me than just titanium.
 
I agree... & I vote with my wallet, & just don't buy models that are coated.

Some stuff, like TiCN are ok for specific use cases, but that is the exception
 
I like the coatings.
Where I'm located the sun can be blinding on a shiny blade.
Not always an issue but enough that it is preferred to have a black blade for me.
 
dirc said:
I vote with my wallet, & just don't buy models that are coated.
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I agree, but there are some knives that I would definitely buy if they were uncoated.

Even after calling customer service for a couple companies and asking if I could buy an uncoated blade, the answers are always "no." I just don't get it. Somewhere in the production process, the blades are uncoated. Pull one off the line for me and skip the coating step. Doesn't sound like such an outrageous a request, especially when I offer to pay MORE, to have them do LESS work and skip the coating step.
 
I like the coatings.
Where I'm located the sun can be blinding on a shiny blade.
Not always an issue but enough that it is preferred to have a black blade for me.
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I thought I was only one who had the issue. Though I prefer satin or stonewashed blades, there are times when a coated blade can make work much easier. Glare reduction is definitely a positive especially for someone who works outdoors or using a flashlight.
 
I don’t mind the titanium aluminum nitride coating like is on my buck 110 and 192 vanguard Alaskan guide. It’s a hard and very durable pvd that is smooth, slick and cleans off like a nonstick surface. It don’t really need the coating for corrosion protection as they’re s30v blades. It’s a dark charcoal satin that still looks great after several years of use. The newer cerakote wears off quickly and looks terrible. I’d rather have un coated if I had a choice.
 
shane45-1911 said:
I agree, but there are some knives that I would definitely buy if they were uncoated.

Even after calling customer service for a couple companies and asking if I could buy an uncoated blade, the answers are always "no." I just don't get it. Somewhere in the production process, the blades are uncoated. Pull one off the line for me and skip the coating step. Doesn't sound like such an outrageous a request, especially when I offer to pay MORE, to have them do LESS work and skip the coating step.
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Unless they're midtechs like Bradford or Olamic, this is just a big hassle for them because they'd have to track your knife (and any other Joe's knife who makes this request) throughout the production system.

Anyways I'm not a fan of the coating either, I bought one coated knife in the last several years and have half a mind to get it reground and coat stripped.
 
shane45-1911 said:
I wish more manufacturers would offer UNCOATED blades, or make it an option.

Not only do most coatings impede cutting performance (admittedly, very marginally), but they do nothing to protect the uncoated edge from corrosion where it matters most anyway.
:
Am I alone in this wish?
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You're not alone, I'm with you. I add another reason though: Coated blades (e.g., Spyderco DLC) "feel" wrong on touch. :)

Roland.
 
Personally my biggest gripe with coatings is in my experience they all wear and the way they look when worn is rather ugly to me. I find them as OP does being ineffectual and providing no protection to the edge of the blade then it comes down to aesthetics.
 
They can be hit or miss. I have had some coatings that feel like they will scratch off with moderate use and they just wind up making the blade look more torn up than it actually is. Then there are some of the more recent high hardness coatings that seem to hold up well and I can understand how people that are really just looking for the cutting performance out of something like M4 or K390 may want to just get it coated and not worry about corrosion.
 
I don't like coated blades, and I will not buy a knife that is coated with anything. I like Satin, stonewash, and acid-etched, and that's it. I have plenty of knives, and there are plenty of other knives out there to lust after rather than to fixate on one particular design or model that is coated, making it unacceptable to me.

Think about what you are asking when you call the manufacturer and ask them for a special order. Say the knife is a $175 knife; and you have to have a blade that is uncoated. Most knife "makers" or "manufacturers" are little more than distributors these days and they receive their knives finished from the people that make them (overseas?) for them. Where did they get that blade? All of their product is delivered packaged in boxes ready for distribution.

You offer to pay more money. They are not interested. If they have a few blades for that certain model that have been shipped for warranty service no doubt they are coated as well. So you say, money is no object. Send me an uncoated blade.

They send the guy that cost them about 15 bucks an hour probably more, to find an uncoated blade. Someone else writes up a ticket for you. Someone else get your credit card information and you pay. The blade goes to shipping and it is packed up in the proper materials and shipped to you. Think how many hands have touched and how much time that takes...

Then you come back here to be to BF and scream about being charged $90 for a blade on $175 knife, but you press on. You take the knife apart and strip a couple of screws, but no big deal. You can get more. You get the blade back in the knife but it doesn't fit exactly perfectly, and it is no longer perfectly centered. You are not a factory technician, but you expect people to work with you to correct this. So you call the manufacturer. You again? Did you get your blade? Well, yes oh, you reply. But I can't get it installed correctly and wondered if you could teach me how to adjust my knife over the phone.

They know if they don't spend 30 minutes or more with you on the phone and you'll come back here, go to Yelp, go to Google, or even put out a YouTube video to tell everyone how crappy their customer service is. So they try to help you.

Along the way in your phone training it is mentioned that taking the knife apart may void your warranty. You hit the roof. How could it? I am replacing the blade with a factory blade you sent me!!

Take a look at all the posts here from people that cannot put their knife back together correctly, damaged pieces, or even lose pizzas. Maybe they don't even have the right tools to take it apart as it is some kind of proprietary setup.

I am in the customer service business. I can easily see why no one would want to deviate from the norm of their business model for an occasional customer that wants something just for themselves. It just isn't worth it.

These guys are all his business to make money. The reason all these coated blades are out there is because they sell. So there must be a lot of people that really want them. Just not me.

Robert
 
Completely depends on the type of the coating. Oiling the coating will protect the steel beneath, so that is a non-issue. Good DLC will be much harder than the steel and significantly prolong the life of the blade by protecting it from wear.
 
midnight flyer said:
So there must be a lot of people that really want them.

Robert
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....or there are a lot of people that simply ACCEPT them, because there are no other options. I accept some of them because I really like the knife, but after initial fondling - it is straight into the stripping pan.
 
I can’t lump the ones I have together, there’s a world of difference between say an ESSE and a Microtech or Protech; the latter I have found to be very well done.
 
The one thing I dislike about coatings is that they encourages the makers to cut corners in finishing the blade.
I know Busse does this, but they are probably not the only ones.
 
I was once a mall ninja that liked coated blades. Now, not so much. It really depends on the coating itself. I've had good luck with the DLC on my ZT 0095BLK S90V. I do not use my knives super hard. I am not exactly thrilled with the PVD two tone on my A Purvis Progeny, its already wearing at the tip. Back in the day, I had pretty good experiences with SOG's TiNi. Benchmade's cerakote was a joke.

Of everything I own and have owned, my favorite finish is probably the "battlewash" on my Heretic Manticore E. I've actually used it fairly hard, zip ties, boxes, all sorts of stuff. It just seemed like whenever more difficult things needed to be cut in the last year, I just happened to have that knife in my pocket. Probably from being over at the nephew's house, they can't open it, and I'm always cutting toys out of their packages for birthdays and holidays. It has no signs of wear.
 
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