Why coating?

Silver Needle

Silver Needle

Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
5,802
When deciding to purchase a bk9, then a 2 and now a 16 I spent way too much time online reading and watching reviews. I'm sure you all agree with most reviewers who loved the overall designs, value and handles. One recurring complaint about the current bk series is the thick, rough blade coating. I'd never argue with a living legend in the knife industry, but I'm just curious as to what the reasoning is behind the coating that is used.
 
I would love to know that as well almost everyone strips their Beckers. Why can't they offer them without coating and save some time and money?
 
When they had a thin paint like coating people griped about it, so they changed to the new coating and now people gripe about the new coating. If they made them without, then people would complain about that. They can't please everyone. It takes maybe a half hour and $10 to strip it of you dont like it.
 
My guess wpuld be that 90% of the people that buy these would rather have a coating since it requires basically no maintenance if you aren't a knife knut. You can see my opinions on coatings below

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lowslowmiata said:
My guess would be that 90% of the people that buy these would rather have a coating since it requires basically no maintenance if you aren't a knife knut.
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That's my guess as well.

Not everyone uses their knives every chance they get, polishes and modifies and maintains them lovingly, or makes up fun new ways to use them like we do ;) If a simple carbon steel blade is going to spend the vast majority of its "life" in a sheath in a drawer or backpack, as I suspect the majority of them do, coating it makes sense.

Coating the blades and bolting on molded handles also lends itself very well to building a whole lot of knives efficiently.
 
A lot of good replies. I am definitely one of the 90% who benefits from the coating.

I have a USMC style Kabar with a much smoother and thinner feeling coating. When did the Beckers get such a thick rough coating? Is there a specific advantage to this type?
 
The new rougher coating is by leaps and bounds more resilient than the older smoother coating. It also wears very nice too because it essentially "smooths" out instead of just scratching off. KA-BAR's 1095CV is some nice stuff, but being carbon steel it may rust. This to some is a "problem," so by coating the blades they are assisting with that problem. I have stripped some of my Beckers, and then some still have the coating. My 9 still has its coating cause I am letting it strip itself LOL, plus it makes sense to me on my 9 with my usage. People may gripe about the coating but its going to wear smooth eventually yet still give a bit of rust resistance, plus if you dont like it, its a super easy thing to remedy. Plus on a manufacturing standpoint I almost want to think that it is more cost/time efficient to coat a big hunk of steel than taking the time to work out all of the grind marks along with the coating making them more resilient during transport to the consumer etc etc. I can already hear angry Youtubers griping about grind marks.... :eek: LOL

Moral of the story? People are going to find something to complain about. (Sorry this $100 dollar bill that you just gave me is too wrinkly!!!) The knives rock with or without coating. Just use them, and if you want, modify them, then use them. :D
 
james terrio said:
Coating the blades and bolting on molded handles also lends itself very well to building a whole lot of knives efficiently.
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yep.
and it ensures that new blades make it to the customers' hands corrosion-free and requires a lot less expensive finish work on the bare steel.
 
I personally have wondered the same thing. My conclusion is it cheaper for kabar to add like a three dollar coating. That resist the salt water moisture content of New York. Preventing the much more expensive cost of mailing Ka-bars back and forth. And melting down a perfectly good piece of steel. That had been worked on once already.

Then you have the added bonus of low maintaince knife. And deep grind spots tucked neatly away below a thick black coating. In this aspect Camillis had Ka-bars ass whipped. Camillis grinds were beautiful in comparison. But Ka-bars seem to snap less. So thumbs up there Ka-bar.
 
I'm definitely not complaining. Just being curious about what seems to be the critics' favorite issue with our knives.
 
I also believe that the coating covers up minor cosmetic blemishes common to the tooling process. I think the clatqing is fine. I have Camillus and Kabar beckers and I find the coating helpful, as I think it keeps maintenance down.
Same reason I like my glock.
I use it.
Clean it once in a while and keep a little oil on the shiny parts.
Beckers and Glock. IMO, both as reliable as an iron skillet.
 
If my girlfriend manages to swing me a 9, For my birthday. Both are winding up naked that night :D. Seriously though I might try to leave her dressed as long as possible. Just hit her with a fine grit to smooth her out some. I'm lucky enough to have the option and not worry about it.
 
Sure Ka Bar could just as easily satin finish the blades, but that would add $$$ to the price due to extra finishing time, and then you will get the majority of "average" users complaining about rust on the carbon steel.

So coating offers the benefits of lower pricing, rust protection, and giving us knife nuts something to tinker with :)
 
An example of how tough the new coating is... I used a 100 watt laser to etch through the coating to etch the blade using the electro-etching technique. I left the coating on until after the etching process to use the coating in place of the usual paint/nail polish/tape/whatever that people use.

At 95% power and 30% speed, it took 52 passes to verifiably get through the coating. I thought I was through at around 45 or 46, but couldn't be 100% sure, so I went a few extra passes to make sure.
 
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