Wear...after one week of work

K

Kai Winters

Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Messages
939
Hi all,
I needed a knife to open bags, paper, of diatomaceous earth for our water treatment system at work. I typically slash open up to 18, 30lb, bags of earth during an 8 hour shift. Work provides all of us with a 4" belt knife and sheath...paper mill...but the knife is of poor quality, thin blade and does not keep an edge.
I'm lucky to have Bradlees Military Supply close by...next to Fort Drum NY...and they have a very good selection of knives. After looking at and handling many...also didn't want to spend a lot of money...I decided the HK Plan D might be perfect for the job. Holding it allowed a great knife angle for slicing the bags. The Wharncliffe type blade is also a great shape for the purpose. It fit my hand perfectly for the job.
The N680 steel also holds a keen edge considering the earth material is basically powdered coral.
The knife works perfectly for the job and slices through the bags very easy. It also held it's edge for the first week of trial...six days in fact.
Here are some photos to show how much wear the surface coating took after a week of work.
IMG_9114_zps8b7bfd1a.jpg

Afteroneweekatwork12-8-133_zpse491ed64.jpg

Afteroneweekatwork12-8-132_zps820e4c37.jpg
 
Not sure I understand coating n680 steel, but it's cool to see coating take a beating like that.
 
The steel is N680...no idea what the black coating is...it's nothing like the coating on my BK16...it's a smooth black surface...well not so much black any more. Looking forward to watching the coating wear away.
 
Agree the wharncliffe works great for opening bags. I've opened at least 30 bags of mulch with mine this past year.
 
dynamicmoves said:
Not sure I understand coating n680 steel, but it's cool to see coating take a beating like that.
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It's "tactical" non-glare scratch-resistant finish (probably the same as on their other USA-made black blades, BK1?), makes the knife less noticeable to others and it works. When i use my knives in public around "sheeple", black blades get noticed less often - folks either don't see it at all or think it's a piece of plastic :thumbup: When I use uncoated blades, someone always seems to notice and comment or panic... go figure.

benchwarmer380 said:
They're made by Benchmade. Good looking line up for the most part...
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Yeah, this knife and some of the others are made by Benchmade, but a lot of the HK knives are made in China by Sanrenmu and others. I like the look of this one but already have something similar en route from another company.

Thanks for the mini-review!
 
chiral.grolim said:
It's "tactical" non-glare scratch-resistant finish (probably the same as on their other USA-made black blades, BK1?), makes the knife less noticeable to others and it works. When i use my knives in public around "sheeple", black blades get noticed less often - folks either don't see it at all or think it's a piece of plastic :thumbup: When I use uncoated blades, someone always seems to notice and comment or panic... go figure.



Yeah, this knife and some of the others are made by Benchmade, but a lot of the HK knives are made in China by Sanrenmu and others. I like the look of this one but already have something similar en route from another company.

Thanks for the mini-review!
Click to expand...
Interesting, I would have assumed that a black blade would look more tactical and thus scare non knife friendly people more than satin. I also assumed the Becker line (which I think you're referencing with the bk1) was more for protecting the 1095 steel from rusting more than to make it more tactical.
 
Black coatings aren't always a matter of being "tactical" or trying to prevent reflection. Many knife manufacturers use black coatings to hide any minor aesthetic flaws on the surface of the blade. Black coatings are applied to large quantities of knives all at once, which is a lot cheaper for the manufacturer than having each individual blade polished to a perfect finish.

Knives with black coatings often look good when purchased (that's the whole point), but after a bit of normal use the coatings can wear off pretty quick. The coatings aren't always meant to last, just look good long enough so we will buy the knives.

Of course some knives are coated black specifically to appeal to people who like black blades.
 
killgar said:
Knives with black coatings often look good when purchased (that's the whole point), but after a bit of normal use the coatings can wear off pretty quick. The coatings aren't always meant to last, just look good long enough so we will buy the knives.
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True, but it really depends on the company. Cold Steels will wear off just by looking at it. Emersons are pretty resistant. The DLC that Spyderco and ZT uses takes quite a bit of effort to even scratch much less show any wear.

I personally like the character it adds. A well used blade is a well loved blade.
 
dynamicmoves said:
Interesting, I would have assumed that a black blade would look more tactical and thus scare non knife friendly people more than satin. I also assumed the Becker line (which I think you're referencing with the bk1) was more for protecting the 1095 steel from rusting more than to make it more tactical.
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Nono, not referencing Becker, it's a specific registered-trademark blade-coating used by Benchmade on at least their Presidio line: http://www.benchmade.com/products/materials.aspx

BK1 ® COATING: BK1 coating is a matte black coating that provides excellent corrosion protection, which exceeds the ASTM-117 spec for saltwater while possessing higher scratch resistance.
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N680 doesn't require additional corrosion resistance (nor does 154CM on the Presidio), but the black coating can appeal to those that like the look, reduce polishing requirements, and also reduce glare/noticeability :thumbup: The BK1® coating wears quite slowly, good stuff. The Cold Steel coating is teflon or Xylan, maybe the same as Benchmade's BT2®, which reduces friction but isn't scratch-resistant. DLC and Cerakote are more scratch-resistant.
 
What's the blade length on that wharnie? I'm assuming from the name, blade shape and black coating that it's marketed as a self defense knife
 
chiral.grolim said:
Nono, not referencing Becker, it's a specific registered-trademark blade-coating used by Benchmade on at least their Presidio line: http://www.benchmade.com/products/materials.aspx



N680 doesn't require additional corrosion resistance (nor does 154CM on the Presidio), but the black coating can appeal to those that like the look, reduce polishing requirements, and also reduce glare/noticeability :thumbup: The BK1® coating wears quite slowly, good stuff. The Cold Steel coating is teflon or Xylan, maybe the same as Benchmade's BT2®, which reduces friction but isn't scratch-resistant. DLC and Cerakote are more scratch-resistant.
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Ah got it. Interesting, thank you.
 
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