so who else hates bead blast finishes

G

gwknife

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Jan 17, 2010
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last week, i bought a cold steel spartan and a cold steel rajah 3, and i have to say i love everything about them except for one thing.

after only a day and a half of cary, both blades had a serious amount of rust starting on the blade.

i hate beadblast finishes. as soon as possible, i'm going to refinish those blades and polish them like they should have been from the factory.

so is anyone else with me on this issue?:confused:
 
I also don't like bead-blasted blades. I used to not mind, but in recent years, I've gotten to the point where I won't buy a knife if it's bead-blasted anymore. I realize I could just change the finish myself, but I'd rather it come properly finished from the factory. I find they tend to hold on to moisture, thus being more prone to rust. Plus, I just don't care for the appearance. I much prefer satin-finished, stone-washed, or even mirror-polished.

Jim
 
I had the same rusting issue with bead blast, but I don't prefer coatings at all.
 
Polish that BB a bit with high grit sandpaper (1000+). Don't polish all the way to mirror, just enough to make the surface smooth and get rid of loose particles. That finish will look and hold not worse than stonewash. I've done it and it wears better than stonewash, no rust problems and it looks awesome.

I would take SW over regular BB any day (except when I'm playing a ninja), but I like that polished BB even more than SW.
 
I absolutely can't stand bead blasted finishes--you're not alone! The closer to a mirror it is, the better. I'm a big fan of stonewash blades, but I can add the scratches myself with use. :D
 
Really? This is the finish of most of Kershaw's knives, right? I like them. They look nice, and I haven't experienced any rusting. I even had my JYD soaked with water for some 4-5 hours while clipped to my waistband, and there wasn't even a slight hint of discoloration, let alone rust.
 
THG said:
Really? This is the finish of most of Kershaw's knives, right? I like them. They look nice, and I haven't experienced any rusting. I even had my JYD soaked with water for some 4-5 hours while clipped to my waistband, and there wasn't even a slight hint of discoloration, let alone rust.
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This is very true. I forgot about Kershaw. I have JYD Ti/SG2 and finish on it is very good. I don't know what Kershaw does, but their BB is much better than many others (including CRK, Strider and Hinderer).
 
I don't like them either. I've also had issues with rusting. I went kayaking with my kershaw storm 2, it got rust spots all over the blade after just one hour. It wasn't like it was submerged, it got splashed with water and was clipped to wet shorts...but really, one hour?

It occurs to me that I'm also not really sure what beadblasting is. I know it's a type of blade finish. I know my couple of knives with beadblasting are prone to rusting quickly. Is there something in the process of beadblasting that opens the steel up? Making it easier for oxygen to react with the steel?
 
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Agreed. The bead blast finish is notorious for being a rust magnet and I dislike them a great deal.

My Gerber BMF had a bead blast finish and even though it is 440a steel, it was constantly rust spotting. So I spent literally hours rubbing it down and giving it a satin hand rubbed finish. Its not perfect but at least the knife no longer rusts as easily and I prefer the finish.

Bead blast is a cheap way to finish a knife.
 
Heat portion of knife with blow dryer till it's "hot" to handle. Apply a full wipedown of Miltec-1 to your blasted "whatever" knife parts, rub it in throughly. Re-heat with blow dryer on high until hot again, wipe of excess and put knife out of the way for 24 hrs..

Day 2: repeat above.

Day 3: repeat above.

On day 4, blasted & Miltec-1 treated areas will not be almost impervious to rust. Won't scuff easily at all . You'll thank me if you do this. :)
 
It's weird really, because I have experimented with steels several times so, that I take a wet rug and wrap it around plain stainless steel blade for overnight. Nothing happens. Only way I could rust stainless was to add salt to the water, and slightly more successfull that way.

I wish there were more choices these days for modern folders without all sorts of coatings.. Lucky that I like traditionals. :)
 
Not a huge fan of them either,but it's not like I've had a problem with them. I love the grind lines on a "satin" finished blade. My favorites though are stonewashed blades and whatever benchmade does for their satin finished blades which looks like both a stonewashed blade and a sanded blade.
 
I dislike beadblasted blades greatly, as well as black coated blades. Which I dislike more depends on how likely the black coating on a particular knife is going to show wear.

If Lone Wolf offered a satin or stonewashed finish on their autos, I'd probably have a Diablo or 2. But they only offer BB or coated, so I don't.
 
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