DLC coating is tough

[Brock O Lee]

So today I cleaned my Weber Q gas BBQ. Instead of buying the expensive Weber aluminium drip pans, I buy the cheap no-name brand ones from the supermarket (saving money to buy more of course).



They do not fit exactly in the Weber, so I usually cut the 4 corners and shape them to fit. This was the result after pierce-cutting the corners of a doubled-up alu foil drip pan:





Did I scratch the DLC coating? It sure looks so, but nope. This cleaned of completely with a kitchen scrubby and Jif/Vim cleaner. Of course the aluminium is a lot softer than the DLC coating, so you would not expect it to damage the coating. DLC is good stuff and cleans up nicely.

Have you scratched your DLC only to find out later that the "scratches" were material transfer, and it cleaned off completedly?

[Evil D]

I've seen quite a bit of this material transfer thing and it's always a welcome surprised. I've cut some nasty stuff with my Autonomy and the aftermath was scary but nearly all of it has polished off and the scratches that it does have you have to hold it in the light just right to even see them. At this point I'd say DLC is far more scratch resistant than steel. I used to say that regrading softer and easier to scratch steels like H1 or 420J2 but I really think it's more resistant than probably any steel, especially when the steel is satin brushed finish because it seems like those are really easy to scratch laterally across the grain.

[Guts]

Yeah DLC is pretty great. Have a good amount of experience with it and other finishes from the firearms world and more often than not, what people think are scratches on DLC are definitely just material transfer as you describe. DLC = Diamond Like Carbon so it makes sense that other materials would be scratched by it and not the other way around since it's almost as hard as diamond.

One finish I wish we could see but probably doesn't work on knives is nitride (melonite/ferritic nitrocarburizing/tenifer/et al.). Due to the heat involved and the fact that it's actually a treatment and not a coating, I'm guessing that's that's why we haven't seen it on knives. What I liked about Nitride vs DLC is it doesn't affect tolerances and retains any surface finish that the knife already had. So the surface can be very smooth if you prepare it beforehand. Most of my DLC knives I've needed to break in a little more before the action smooths out since it has a bit of roughness to it.

At any rate, I'm surprised we haven't seen more PVD coatings in general though (DLC is a type of PVD). The REC exclusives are one example of a possible color, but there's a decent amount of other colors you can do with it and it also provides a good amount of corrosion resistance.

P.S. Nice AWT scales btw. I've yet to try the PM2 versions. Is that the clip side liner delete model or just the standard scales?

[vivi]

I tell people DLC is in a different sport than stuff like ESEE baked on coatings. Forget different league.

The only thing I've managed to permanently mark DLC with is messing up on diamond stones while reprofiling.

[rgc]

Mentally I know it is tough, however my Chief with DLC coating still gets babied as I am subconsciously afraid of marring the blade so I reach for my non DLC Chief when I want to carry somewhere that I think I will be using it.

Granted on fixed blades I don't give a sh*)^t about the blade and in fact love the look of wear on them. Crazy huh.

[Brock O Lee]

P.S. Nice AWT scales btw. I've yet to try the PM2 versions. Is that the clip side liner delete model or just the standard scales?

Hey Guts! Thanks, yes these "Agent" alu scales delete the one liner.

viewtopic.php?p=1671981#p1671981

They are not the Cerakote version, but have a hard anodized (type III) finish. This is known to be a very hard and tough scratch resistant finish, but last week I thought I scratched them pretty good on a jeans rivet (which should not be possible). I failed multiple times to get rid of the "scratches" with soap and hot water. Yesterday when I cleaned the blade, I also gave the scales a scrub with a non-scratching sponge scourer and Jif and was happily surprised to see them clean up perfectly too.

The learning here is to try a cream cleaner like Jif/Vim/Hany Andy.

Disclaimer: Be careful to scrub any finishes other than DLC or *HARD* anodized finishes. Normal anodization is not tough and you will damage it. The common green sponge scourers found in the kitchen are abrasive enough to scratch a satin finish on hardened steel. I normally steer clear of them unless I want to touch-up a satin finish.

[Bolster]

The common green sponge scourers found in the kitchen are abrasive enough to scratch a satin finish on hardened steel. I normally steer clear of them unless I want to touch-up a satin finish.

Good timing, been meaning to ask: While making a Kydex sheath I got some unwanted "horizontal" scratches on a satin finish mule blade. Would the green sponge scouring pads, when wiped from spine to edge, put the "vertical" scratch pattern back in place, more or less?

[TkoK83Spy]

Yep!!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=85386&hilit=Misconception

[sup3rnaut]

Iirc, DLC coating is -80 HRC. Its very high wear resistance seems to reflect that.

I think I have more DLC coated blades than any other finish. The vast majority of those are Spydercos.

[Brock O Lee]

Yep!!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=85386&hilit=Misconception

Thanks for this reminder. I remember (and forgot about) this thread from 2019. I only bought my first DLC this year and I'll experiment with metal polish and Ballistol too. Good to have different options to try out.

[Brock O Lee]

The common green sponge scourers found in the kitchen are abrasive enough to scratch a satin finish on hardened steel. I normally steer clear of them unless I want to touch-up a satin finish.

Good timing, been meaning to ask: While making a Kydex sheath I got some unwanted "horizontal" scratches on a satin finish mule blade. Would the green sponge scouring pads, when wiped from spine to edge, put the "vertical" scratch pattern back in place, more or less?

Yes I've used the green scouring pads to remove scratches and restore a light satin finish before. It works like very fine sandpaper.

[VooDooChild]

I somehow did this.

[Brock O Lee]

Impressive!

[Guts]

Forgot I took a few photos from when I refurbed my brother in law's PM2.






I think I just used froglube since it was within arm's reach and a paper towel.

[JD Spydo]

I can even go back quite a few years and attest that the few Spyderco models I've had with the coated blades have endured throughout the years. I've used mainly the black coated blade models over the years and all have been extremely tough coatings and have held up extremely well. I think the first two I've had for the long haul were the original TEMPERANCE 1 model with the black blade along with my ATS-55, 2002 era Lum Tanto folder with the black blade. Both models have endured years of hard use with no more than very minor abrasions on the coatings of both of the older models.

I will say that Spyderco spares no expense to see that their coated models will indeed endure harsh usage and still maintain a nice looking coating. I've kept both of those models in particular and both blades still have a nice. I would never hesitate to acquire any Spyderco model I like that would have the black coated blades. Actually I find their coated blades to be well made and can endure hard usage over the years.

[Manifestgtr]

Tell me about it. I heavily scratched the DLC on one of my Shamans and it just bothered me for some reason so I went about rubbing it off. Hours and hours of polishing with 400 grit diamond stropping compound (while watching TV) over the course of a couple weeks…that stuff is no joke. The knife looks amazing now but woooweee, was it ever an effort to get it there.