Real Becker DuraCoat (not "hobo")

Tin.Man said:
Hey man, to do digital give fishnets.or screen door material a try.

Do your base color, then pull the fishnets over the knive/area, or just lay the screen mesh over it. Hit it with a few random passes, some lighter some heavier, then go with another color and do it again in different/same spots. Comes out super nice, and WAYYY easier than those crappy little squares

Awesome work by the way! Love that 7
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I am also wondering how you got the digital pattern? I seen dura oat techniques that use graph paper cut into stensiles & placed randomly on the surface with each color pass.

Good work by the way! Would love to get a necker done in a digital woodland once I finish convexing the blade.
 
OK. Ready to answer the questions on durability of the DuraCoat.

First, this process was developed for firearms, not knives specifically. I was doing guns and Ontario knives and someone asked me to DuraCoat his old Camillus BK9 and Kydex sheath for him, which got me on the trail of Beckerdom. With the firearms it is made to resist repeated holstering and unholstering of guns in Kydex holsters. Note I said "resist".
It is a coating, not a plating process; and, as such, is subject to wear. Sometimes that's not too bad a thing, as an M4 that's gone through a couple of tours of the Sandbox starts to take on it's own "veteran" look that some cherish!
My EDC folder(s) have been DuraCoated, of course. After months of abrading against the pocket material and coins and whatever else I have in there, the DuraCoat on the corners and edges will wear down. While it's a hard, epoxy-like material, being that thin you gotta expect some wear.

That said, it's now time for pictures. Like I said, I started with Ontario knives, and did an SP50 that was used extensively in a class demoing how someone uses a knife in batonning. Seasoned ash and maple logs up to 9" in dia. were used, and students got to try it, so there was some lousy techniques. This would be hard on any coating process, and the following photos show the SP50 as it is today -- untouched after the class. The blade started out a dark grey base with tan streaks diagonally across the face (the tan in the photos is the DuraCoat, not wood remnants). You can get a pretty good idea of how it started out by looking at the tip and heel areas.

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As you can see in the last shot, some of the tan coating "smeared", there are scratches evident, but the DuraCoat didn't flake or wear off. It's pretty strong stuff. Now how would the factory coating have survived the same abuse? My guess is "probably not as well". The factory coating, which I'm guessing is powder coat paint, resists the sandblaster to some extent, so I know it's relatively strong.

How does it compare to the Krylon "hobo" process? I gotta say, just by the nature of a two-part finish the DuraCoat has to be lots more durable than baked Krylon. You get what you pay for, and I don't think this is an exception to that rule. Krylon is -- well -- just baked spray paint after all.
 
Thats awesome ! looks camo-ed. How do you like that blade ? Been looking at one for a long time. Sabre grind or FFG ? Hmmmmm
 
First of all, K9- very nice work. Looks great on those knives. I am looking forward to seeing more of it!

I have applied and used the stuff on Firearms for nearly 5 years now. It is just a very durable PAINT- it's not plating. it's not a molecularity bonded coating. It's also not half as durable as Cerakote is.

Duracoat as a company does not make anything, they simply market repackaged highly market up units of Sherwin Williams "Polane-T" paint.

It is a mill spec Epoxy paint that was developed for military vehicles and equipment in the late i1970s/early 1908s. It's usage on Firearms is purely a derivative use. "Polane T" is VERY expensive and must be purchased in 5 gallon cans minimum . Duracoat buys it in bulk and repackages it for consumer use.

Almost every high end sniper rifle stock like McMillan, HS Precison etc is finished in the stuff. So are most complete long range Military/LEO rifles. By the time most rifles have survived a tour of duty, they are being touched up with- you guess it- Krylon from a rattle can. It DOES wear off. It is tough but it's not anything like Cerakote or better yet -plating.
 
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jim62 said:
First of all, K9- very nice work. Looks great on those knives. I am looking forward to seeing more of it!

It is just a very durable PAINT- it's not plating. it's not a molecularity bonded coating. It's also not half as durable as Cerakote is.
It is tough but it's not anything like Cerakote or better yet -plating.
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Well, Jim62, thanks for the compliment. That said, read a little closer. I never said it was a plating -- in fact, just the opposite.
"...It is a coating, not a plating process; and, as such, is subject to wear..."

Also, as wonderful as Cerakote may be, it certainly isn't set up for a small-scale operator such as myself. They want the parts soaked in a solvent tank for 10 minutes prior to blasting (not just degreased), baked prior to finishing, baked after finishing. And from the videos I've seen, the smallest application method used is an HVLP spray gun. For something the size of a knife, with small areas typically found in camo, an airbrush is more appropriate. To that add that the product is more than twice the price of DuraCoat ($44 vs $18 for a 4-oz jar), and I know which one I'm going to stick with.
 
I'm on the fence regarding the sp50 and the 51, flat vs. saber. I guess the 51 would have an edge in battoning due to the saber grind, but the 50 would be lighter and looks sexier...so, you can duracoat the rubber handle too? how does it feel afterwards?
 
zuluninja said:
so, you can duracoat the rubber handle too? how does it feel afterwards?
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You can. But with the Beckers the scales are hard and pit in the sandblaster giving it a non-slip finish, even after DuraCoat. The Ontarios have a rubber grip, and the media just bounces off [rubber sheet is used as a sandblast mask for cutting tombstones] - so they come out just like they went in. The Duracoat then just goes over the top and actually makes it more slippery than the untreated rubber.
 
Tell me you have some orange dura coat. I want my 16 done. (If they are ever in stock)
 
OK. Membership upgraded to "craftsman". Shingle's out. Business is open. Becker pricing scheme figured out.
I'll be putting a Post in the Main forum's knifemaker's (?) area if you need to get in touch.

Since I sell new knives also (but haven't on the forum yet) I can also provide a new, one-of-a-kind Becker in your choice of colors.

Thanks for the encouragement to get off of my @ss and DO THIS!!
 
K9-Handler said:
OK. Membership upgraded to "craftsman". Shingle's out. Business is open. Becker pricing scheme figured out.
I'll be putting a Post in the Main forum's knifemaker's (?) area if you need to get in touch.

Since I sell new knives also (but haven't on the forum yet) I can also provide a new, one-of-a-kind Becker in your choice of colors.

Thanks for the encouragement to get off of my @ss and DO THIS!!
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Good stuff! Glad to hear it, us Becker-addicts need all the help we can get spending money! ;)
 
Congratulations on the upgrade!

Hopefully there's a nice long queue for your services.
 
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