The knives are then put into an oven and baked at a little over 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 17 minutes, depending on the thickness of the material. “It is electrostatically applied in its dry powder form, and it goes on the blade between three and five thousandths-inch thickness. “We use an epoxy hybrid base with polyester in it,” company President Mike Fuller said. This coating is often referred to as diamond-like coating, or DLC, in the gun and knife industry because of its resistance to wear.”īlack Traction Coating is the proprietary name of the finish TOPS Knives uses on its blades through the services of James Bowen. We believe that we were the first company to use a true Flat Dark Earth PVD coating on knives. “Fortunately, we were aware that the development of a true Flat Dark Earth Pantone had been done using zirconium carbon nitride. “While in the Army, we had been looking for a durable coating in for a new weapons system we were developing,” Iovito remarked. Iovito and business partner Mark Carey became familiar with PVD coating while working on the development of a new rifle with Special Forces applications. The commercial name Spartan Blades has given its PVD coating is SpartaCoat. One of the nice properties of PVD coating is that it applies uniformly so that you don’t get build-up on corners and edges like some coatings.” IonBond coats Spartan’s blades. This process is carried out under high vacuum conditions. “The process is characterized by the creation of a material vapor that can be reacted with different gases to form a thin film coating,” he noted. President and co-owner of Spartan Blades, Curtis Iovito said his company’s coating of knife blades is called Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). “To obtain the final solid, tough, abrasion-resistant coating, the powder-coated items are placed in an oven and heated to temperatures that range from 160 to 210 degrees Celsius, depending on the powder-400 degrees in our case.” Because the powder particles are electrostatically charged, the powder wraps around the back of the part as it passes by toward the air off-take system,” ESEE’s Jeff Randall explained. Before the powder is sent to the gun, it is fluidized to separate the individual grains of powder and improve the electrostatic charge that can be applied to the powder so that the powder flows more easily to the gun. “The powder is applied with an electrostatic spray gun. Then the coated steel goes through four stages to complete the process: melt, flow, gel and cure. applies Textured Powder Coat to blades of 1095 carbon steel through an electrostatic spray process that causes powder particles to adhere to the steel. The dry coated parts are then baked in an oven or furnace, where the powder melts and fuses into a hard, protective finish.”įor ESEE Knives, Rowen Mfg. “The parts to be coated are given a negative charge and the powder coat is given a positive charge and sprayed on. “Powder coating is applied using the electrostatic principle,” he said. Knife manufacturers recognize the demand for such blades and see their contributions to the available selection as filling a necessary niche.Īccording to Paul Tsujimoto, senior engineer at KA-BAR Knives, powder coating was developed in the mid-to-late 1960s. The look and feel are appealing, and the ease of maintenance is an attractive attribute.īuying a coated blade makes a statement and serves a practical purpose. For those who serve in the military, preserve the peace through law enforcement or knife enthusiasts in general, blades are coated black, Flat Dark Earth, tan or what have you for a variety of reasons, and are permanent fixtures in their complement of working gear. photo)Ī coated blade offers protection, non-glare and striking looks. ESEE knives receive the Textured Powder Coat at Rowen Mfg.
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