Black blades = food safe?

[Jes Schuetz]

Have been wondering for a while now with other blades and my latest Spyderco (black Native),
Is the black coating safe for the preparation of food?
I like coatings for rust prevention and low visibility but who knows how safe or toxic these coatings can be? Some of it will surely transfer to food from abrasion or when cutting something hot.
My leatherman's wave black even rubs of when just touching it. :eek:

Thank you for your thoughts and help.
jens S.

[The Deacon]

While I'm not a fan of black coatings, and although there may be some low quality ones out there, I seriously doubt any of the ones Spyderco uses now or has ever used, would rub off. So, at least where Spyderco knives are concerned, the only way coating particles might get into food would be if you sharpen or steel the edge just before use and don't bother to wash/wipe it off before cutting food with it.

[BAL]

Agree with Deacon, some cheaper made knives might have issues, but not Spyderco's and
especially the DLC. I have had my DLC Military get marks on it that I thought were scratches
into the Black, only to find out that it was simply marks or rubs "on top" of the DLC, not into it.

I think that you would have trouble "trying" to get it off.

[Clip]

Yes, the coatings are food-safe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond-like_carbon

Also, if it did happen to rub off somehow (maybe you REALLY overcooked the steak), you'd be dealing with trace amounts of inert material.

[Senate]

first step would be trying to rub off some DLC with food... then one can wonder if its safe or not :)

[VashHash]

Interesting stuff in that wiki clip. Now I'm wondering which DLC spyderco uses and if it's sp2 or sp3. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in. I polished a black para 2 clip once and i had to use sandpaper. I tried using a polishing wheel and some Rouge but it didn't work. It's some tough abrasion resistant stuff.

[Clip]

Vash, not sure if the coating on the clips are DLC or not. My black Manix2 has a satin finished DLC on the blade (not sure if that's because of the finish under the coating or not) and the clip is more of a glossy black. Either way, that black coating on the clip is a while lot more wear resistant than the black paint on the Delica/Salt 1. Wish they'd use it more.

[Blerv]

You are far more at risk with what other things the blade has touched than what is in/on the blade from the factory. A bit of salmonella goes a long ways. :)

[mikerestivo]

I cut a couple of sammiches in half with my DLC Para a couple of years back. I consumed them and I'm still kicking, regrettably to some.

[BAL]

I cut a couple of sammiches in half with my DLC Para a couple of years back. I consumed them and I'm still kicking, regrettably to some.

I love a freshly cut in half sammich, one of life's greatest pleasures.

[JD Spydo]

Back around 2004 at the BLADE Show in Atlanta GA USA there was a guy from the company by the name of BODYCOTE that was doing blade coatings with an ion fusion process. I do remember them saying that all of their coatings were safe for culinary uses. And I do agree with the Deacon that any coating that Spyderco would use would surely be safe for food uses.

Not all coatings of blades are the same by any means but I would think that most of them are probably safe for food use simply because of the liability issues that the knife producer would face if they were potentially harmful or toxic.

I've owned many of Spyderco's coated blades in the past and I don't recall any of them coming off during food preparation. My Spyderco H-1 Catcherman has a black coating on it and I would not hesitate to use it for food preparation of any kind. I would be shocked and surprised to find out that Spyderco would be using a coating on their knife blades that would not be 100% safe.

[jumbo]

Grey drop-point pen knives
and Mr. Phil Wilson
Bright steel handles and worn-out FRN
freshly cut sammiches sliced by that GIN (1)
these are a few of my favourite corny song lyrics.

[Spyder-fan]

So far I haven't seen any flaking off or chipping from my blade blades. I was curious if it would happen on the Tenacious, but so far so good.