Coatings for carbon steel

[Jason Cutter]

I'm not sure if this is the place for this but here goes.

I make carbon steel knives but have trouble selling to "non-knife" folk. Nonetheless, those who use carbon steel will eventually come back for more, in my humble opinion. Nonetheless, people are concerned about stain resistance.

Have any of you guys tried coating your blades with epoxies, lacquers, or any of the fancy coatings used on pistols ? Kinda like what Mad Dog Knives do with their O-1 blades.

I have read about KG Industries Gun Kote and it sounds good. I am talking about things that the one-man-shop can handle in the workshop. Not factory, mass-production, high volume stuff.

If we could combine the simplicity, forgeability of the bladesmiths and the stain resistance of the more complex hi-alloy steels, we could be shifting sales boundaries here... It's not a new idea.

Thanks.

[Dan Graves]

I posted this in Ed Cafferys forum a while back. Go to www.cortecvpci.com . I went to a electrical supply house and saw a dislpay of 2 bottles. Both nad water and steel wool in them. One had been coated with this material and the other had not. One bottle was brown with rust and the other bottle was clear and the steel wool looked new. Naturally, they were sold out. Check this out and let me know what you think. It says it is environmentally safe.

Dan
www.theknifemaker.com

[Jason Cutter]

Thanks Dan,

I had a look at the cortec-vci site and there appear to at least a couple of interesting products - VpCI-396 (urethane) and VCI-365 (epoxy) which seem to have good performance characteristics according to their brochure. They do come in 4-5 gallon drums though.

I have taken the plunge and ordered the GunKote preparation from KG Industries. It wasn't too expensive and I figured it would be an investment. The issue was that the cost was low, the application was by hand and baking temperatures don't affect the temper on most knife steels.

The biggest issue was that this product could actually be shipped out of the USA. (I live in Australia.) Most companies I contacted couldn't do it because of hazardous chemical laws. Non-knife manufacturing firms have their stuff coated all the time. Its a matter of finding suppliers, and searching high and low for sources. I actually enjoy this aspect of knifemaking so this is turning out to be my latest "project."

I'll let you know how it turns out and I might also keep looking for other sources as well.

Thanks again Dan. Cheers.

[Dan Graves]

Jason,

Go to Ed Cafferys forum and look under "cool rust prevention"
Just got an e-mail from Ed. He likes it. Check it out.

Dan
www.theknifemaker.com

[SkaerE]

MD labs hard chromes their knives. ive heard (in firearms circles) that hard chroming metals with higher RC ratings can lead to hydrogen embrittlement and failure. (cracking etc) anyhow, never done it, but hard chrome is some tough stuff. (not as corrosion resistant as some would have you believe though)

have you thought about parkerizing? or that followed by gunkote?

there are a lot of products that prevent rust with great success, just keep in mind, a knife is a high use item (and most of the coatings are not very durable)

its tough to find a good combination of rust prevention and durability. especially in black.

[Jerry Hossom]

Another option if you can handle a black blade is a Tungsten DLC from Bodycote. I've used it on A2 tempered at 400F with excellent success. I think it heats only to about 300F in their process. It is extremely hard, something like Rc90 as I recall. They also have some other coatings, including boron carbide.

http://mcna.bodycote.com/

[SkaerE]

im not sure if Body Cote is doing the coating for individuals anymore. they arent for firearms at any rate.

its too bad, i really wanted to get a pistol coated in boron carbide.

[wrathlord]

Hard Chroming on carbon steel is a bad choice,Here's why,The edge of the knife is void of the chrome after sharpening,thus corrosion builds between the chrome and the steel,eating it away unseen untill it's too late.Once that has occured ,there is no saving that knife.Blueing solutions,acid etching,etc. is a better way to go,because you can use oil,wd-40,renasance wax,etc. to help protect the blade.With hard chrome none of the protectants work,because the protectants never touch the steel,just ride on the chrome surface.

[aiiifish]

Body cote isn't coating for individuals anymore. Buuuutttt tell them you are a custom knife maker and they will set up an account for you. Just did mine.

Steve
Double S Custom