Type of Metal Under G10 on 0560

vikingslayer

vikingslayer

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Hey guys, just got my first 0560 yesterday and came across the Oxidation method to darken the Ti. In the hopes of not upsetting my OCD and keeping uniformity (lol), I would like to darken the metal under the scale too. Is that also Ti or is it stainless? If it's stainless, can that be oxidized too?

Thanks for the help in advance!
 
I love 056x knives and have read a ton on them. That being said I have heard both, some say stainless, some say ti. If I were you I would shoot KAI customer service an email to know for sure, they are always great if I ever have a question.
 
ti isnt magnetic. I just happen to have my 0560 on me and performed a quick test with a magnet. No attactration with the scale yet there was attraction to the "liner", I stayed clear of the hardware. Its probably 420 or something similar. Shoot Kai an email and let us know
 
I would have thought it was Ti, but I guess not. Yeah steel will oxidize, but not to the color you want I think.
 
The lockside is pure Ti, but a good slab so it should be fine, but the G10 side is trimmed in the corner and the only blade stop support would come from the liner. My guess is the stainless liner sustains better impacts from the thumbstuds. I'm absotively posilutely cool with that.
 
Just acid etch the liner. It will be about the same shade of the darkened ti.
 
Its definitely not titanium but you can get great yellow, bronze, blue and purple hues out of it with a torch. And if you want to do dark grey finish you can acid etch it.
 
I acid etched mine. Since I didn't need a perfect finish because of it being mostly hidden I just used a Q-tip and dabbed acid on avoiding where the spacers go. If you are going to dunk it be sure to put nail polish where the back spacers are so you don't impact the geometry of the knife. It isn't as critical as cover blade parts, but still might make a little difference in lock up.

I only let it go for a few minutes and it didn't get very dark. Steel just doesn't seem to etch dark unless it is a high carbon steel and I'm assuming it is some carbon compound that gives it the black color but I haven't researched that.
 
You can also use Oxyclean on the Ti side to darken it. I did 15 minutes and it darkened a lot. I don't think you can get it super dark. Mine is a medium toned gray and now has a bit of rich bronze brown color in it when you look at it at an angle in the light.
 
If you fully disassemble the knife, you can use ferric chloride to darken the stainless liner a bit. Ferric chloride is called PCB etchant at Radio Shack, and most Radio Shacks still carry it.

First, WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!!!!!! This stuff can cause a deep throbbing pain in the skin for hours if even a drop touches you.

Dilute some of the PCB etchant in water, and use a Q-tip to apply it to the edge of the liner. Once it darkens a bit, run the liner under hot tap water for a while, then wash it with soap and water.

If the color is good after it dries, you're done, if not, repeat.
 
oregonknifenerd said:
I acid etched mine. Since I didn't need a perfect finish because of it being mostly hidden I just used a Q-tip and dabbed acid on avoiding where the spacers go. If you are going to dunk it be sure to put nail polish where the back spacers are so you don't impact the geometry of the knife. It isn't as critical as cover blade parts, but still might make a little difference in lock up.

I only let it go for a few minutes and it didn't get very dark. Steel just doesn't seem to etch dark unless it is a high carbon steel and I'm assuming it is some carbon compound that gives it the black color but I haven't researched that.
Click to expand...

etching the liner wont effect lockup. The lockup position would only be effected if the actual standoffs, blade thickness or the face of the lock or blade tang was changed. You could put any thickness or reduced thickness scale on the knife and the factors effecting the lockup will remain constant.
 
The liner under the G-10 is 410 stainless steel. It's not heavy at all because it has large pieces cut out to relieve the weight.
 
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