Traction coating

J

jfive

Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Messages
201
Hi folks,

I just saw a knife review and once again the reviewer mentioned the "traction coated" blade. That made me wonder...why do comapnies like Tops, ESEE, Swamp rat and most recently Ka-Bar (Becker) use traction coating on their blades?
As far is I know traction is to be avoided to optimize the cutting properties?! Ok maybe traction coating withstands wear better but still it hinders the cutting abilities and finally the coating wears anyway. Maybe someone can explain it to me :).


Cheers,
J5
 
I make the assumption that it's an inexpensive coating and does a good job of hiding any imperfections in the blades finish. Putting a thick, textured coating on a blade saves them the time, effort, and money it would take to make their blades smooth and perfect looking. In other words, it's all about money.

I own a TOPS knife and don't believe the "traction coating" provides any advantage. In fact, I sanded it off.
 
TOPS is the only company to use the phrase "traction coating." The proper technical term would be an epoxy powder coat. It's often done for one of two reasons--either to hide surface imperfections, which saves on production cost, or as a corrosion-proof protective coat for carbon steel knives to minimize maintenance. TOPS mostly does it for the former, rather than the latter, as they use the coating even on their stainless blades. And yes, it does increase friction during the cut, making deep cuts more difficult than if the knife was bare steel.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
It's often done for one of two reasons--either to hide surface imperfections, which saves on production cost, or as a corrosion-proof protective coat for carbon steel knives to minimize maintenance. TOPS mostly does it for the former, rather than the latter, as they use the coating even on their stainless blades. And yes, it does increase friction during the cut, making deep cuts more difficult than if the knife was bare steel.
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Your explanation sounds reasonable. Still I don't get it. For example ESEE seems to bead blast the blades before coating - so no imperfections here. But still they use this textured coating. A smooth coating would protect the blade against corrosion as well - like the coating Becker used to have. But even they switched to traction coating. I don't get it. People say it looks more high end and appreciate it. They seem to forget about the negative aspect of traction...hmm.
 
jfive said:
Your explanation sounds reasonable. Still I don't get it. For example ESEE seems to bead blast the blades before coating - so no imperfections here. But still they use this textured coating. A smooth coating would protect the blade against corrosion as well - like the coating Becker used to have. But even they switched to traction coating. I don't get it. People say it looks more high end and appreciate it. They seem to forget about the negative aspect of traction...hmm.
Click to expand...

I would think that the bead blasting would allow the coating to adhere much better. Similar to scuffing up any surface before applying paint, glue, etc. another aspect is that they might intend to inhibit some amount of corrosion by coating the blades. There are a ton of people that have no knowledge, intrest, or experience with a good carbon steel. You combine the words rust and 1095 in a sentence and they almost faint.
Yewt another aspect is that not everyone wants to carry a chromed out knife, polished like a mirror. Some might like it, the majority might not. Most of the knives you mentioned are not designed to be delicate slicers to begin with. The experience I have based on personal use and reading is that the knives are used to chop and other tougher activities that prefer gross motor skills rather than fine delicate controlled actions.
 
jfive said:
Your explanation sounds reasonable. Still I don't get it. For example ESEE seems to bead blast the blades before coating - so no imperfections here. But still they use this textured coating. A smooth coating would protect the blade against corrosion as well - like the coating Becker used to have. But even they switched to traction coating. I don't get it. People say it looks more high end and appreciate it. They seem to forget about the negative aspect of traction...hmm.
Click to expand...

The coating on ESEE's smooths out rapidly with use. So it doesn't stay that way for long if you're cutting materials where it matters.
 
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