Why don't we see many gun-blue knives?

shane45-1911

shane45-1911

Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Messages
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As I'm looking at some of my firearms, I've wondered this for years.

With all the various coating manufacturers are putting on knives, why don't we see many gun-blued knives?

I think a nicely polished blue blade looks outstanding.
 
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shane45-1911 said:
As I'm looking at some of my firearms, I've wondered this for years.

With all the various coating manufacturers are putting on knives, why don't we see any gun-blued knives?

I think a nicely polished blue blade would look outstanding.
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It's very labor intensive, since you have to polish the blade first, and then it isn't really protective. Paint, powdercoat, DLC, Cerakote, etc. don't require fully finishing the knife, and actually add appreciable protection.
 
I put a couple of coats of Brownell's cold blue on one of my Opinel blades a while back. Looks ok, but it hasn't seen much use, to test the resilience of it.
 
sailfish said:
Closest thing I've seen is on the black oxide Swiss Tools.
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Blued steel handles would like nice on some knives (like on a Spyderco Police model, even though they are already stainless) but don't think it would make sense to blue the blades, especially if they are already stainless (or stain resistant).
 
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Lee D said:
Same, but I’m sure if I treated my old wingmaster the way I do my junglas, there’d be rust. Not to mention the scuffs and scratches that would show on a blued knife.
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Indeed, but I am thinking even uncoated custom knives with a high polish and finish. They get scratched too (if they are users).

Why don't custom makers offer any high-end knives with that Colt Python quality bluing? Probably answering my own question, as it is probably cost-prohibitive to do so, but if people are willing to pay thousands for some knives, what's another couple hundred bucks for Python blue?
 
They tried it a fair amount on custom knives in the 70's and 80's (cold bluing, not hot or rust bluing). It slowly fell out of fashion because of wear issues. Then it went to Kalguard, then Black Ti, etc.... now it's seemed to settle on bead blasting and black epoxy finishes.

There's also Parkerized. One of the standards on military knives, There were a few companies customizing Randalls with it, and they were reporting good results as far as wear, etc.... It's a pretty good looking finish in my opinion.
 
tltt said:
There's also Parkerized. One of the standards on military knives, There were a few companies customizing Randalls with it, and they were reporting good results as far as wear, etc.... It's a pretty good looking finish in my opinion.
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Parkerizing is another under-utilized option, IMO.

I have beat the snot out of my parkerized Remington Police 870, and it still looks almost as good as it did 25 years ago.

The only knife maker/company that uses parkerizing now (that I'm aware of) is Mineral Mountain. It works well and I love the look of it too.
 
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sailfish said:
Closest thing I've seen is on the black oxide Swiss Tools.
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Victorinox's "Polispectral" coating has a similar effect.

shane45-1911 said:
Parkerized is another under-utilized option, IMO.

I have beat the snot out of my parkerized Remington Police 870, and it still looks almost as good as it did 25 years ago.

The only knife maker/company that uses parkerizing now (that I'm aware of) is Mineral Mountain. It works well and I love the look of it too.
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Hinderer's Vintage Series knives are Parkerized.
 

Bluing a knife blade?

Has anyone ever successfully (or unsuccessfully, for that matter) blued their knife blade? As well, what does it offer in terms of rust-resistance, etc? Thanks, -- Shawn "Earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is limitless."
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
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