ZT Tiger stripes?

Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
504
I was thinking of buying a ZT with a tiger stripe finish, but I was curious as to how the stripes were made? Are they bead blasted on? Is it just a different color coating? I want to get one, but I would like to know more about the finish before I buy.
 
Seems I'm not the only one curious. :p

I'm sure we'll have our answer soon enough, 9Blades.
 
It is a trade secret.

I saw them being done, but my tour guide said that it was proprietary process. ;^)

best

mqqn
 
It is a trade secret.

I saw them being done, but my tour guide said that it was proprietary process. ;^)

best

mqqn

Hahahaha! Yeah, I heard if they told you they would have to kill you.
 
Okay, that bites but I respect the decision to keep it private. I'll trust in ZT to not give me a bead blasted knife when I eventually order it.
 
The ts finish holds up great, my 0350ts has been hard used 6 days a week for 6 months and the finish barely shows any wear.
 
My 301 hasn't shown anything on it's blade after more than a year of use
 
My 035 has been used pretty hard and I have yet to wear the finish off. I cut a tin can open with it and I thought I had scratched the finish all to hell but after cleaning it with some Nevr-Dull it all cleaned right off and looked new again.
 
Hmmm, this thread reminded me of this youtube video. At around 8:22 he mentions that it's a DLC coating that's bead blasted. Also, Correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe this youtube account belongs to someone who works for kershaw/ZT because he mentions Thomas and also shows the 0777 prototype. He also says we when talking about the knives.
 
I know that even if you scratch the tiger stripes , they can be filled in with duracoat or sharpie or something like that and it looks brand new.
 
The ZT web site states that the stripes are a Tungsten DLC coating.

the 0301 features a tough S30V stainless steel blade with ZT’s tiger stripe Tungsten DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating

The Tungsten DLC tiger striping not only provides a non-reflective camouflaged surface, but also enhances blade hardness and reduces friction drag.
 
Well I must say I like zt even more now the just emailed me within three hours of my question!

Niner- Thank you for your interest in our knives! To answer your question, yes the blade is DLC with a bead blasted design. We first coat the entire blade black with DLC and then we do in fact bead blast the stripes in the blade. I hope that helps answer all your questions and it’s great to hear that you like the ZT 0200!

Thank you for being such a fan of our knives and please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Best regards,

In my opinion if the white stripe don't rust then it's not a problem.
 
dang i had no idea they were bead blasted out, Either way I had a 301 I believe it had stripes with the green handle , and it didn't seem like it was bead blasted at all I would of guessed it was a dlc coating with some other coating on top of it , never knew it was just bare steel in those stripes.
 
Back
Top