Hard chrome plating knives?

DeadboxHero

DeadboxHero

Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
5,355
Is this the poor man's PVD coating?

I tried looking for small batch DLC coating.

Found nothing or the cost was extreme


I did some research on Hard chrome which is more durable then it's automotive cousin.

I saw that mad dog knives had hard chrome and that Gerber had chrome plated tool steels in the past.

Does anyone have any input about hard chrome plating on knives?

I want to hard chrome some carbon steel blades but I don't want to waste my money.
 
I've seen an East German ceremonial dagger which had a chrome coating on them and while I know 100 percent that it hasn't even been used and only taken out of its scabbard a few times the plating is flaking off in a few places.
Also nothing I'd like to hapen while processing food for example.
 
Jens Schuetz said:
I've seen an East German ceremonial dagger which had a chrome coating on them and while I know 100 percent that it hasn't even been used and only taken out of its scabbard a few times the plating is flaking off in a few places.
Also nothing I'd like to hapen while processing food for example.
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This would be my biggest concern with chrome plate, especially if there were any flexing involved.
Seems though there must be a process that holds up since gerber successfully? did it.
 
Jens Schuetz said:
I've seen an East German ceremonial dagger which had a chrome coating on them and while I know 100 percent that it hasn't even been used and only taken out of its scabbard a few times the plating is flaking off in a few places.
Also nothing I'd like to hapen while processing food for example.
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that would suck.


I know that alot of kitchen table ware is chrome plated though
 
Hm. Maybe there are different procedures or the underlying steel makes a difference on how strong or lasting the bond is.
 
DeadboxHero said:
Is this the poor man's PVD coating?

I tried looking for small batch DLC coating.

Found nothing or the cost was extreme


I did some research on Hard chrome which is more durable then it's automotive cousin.

I saw that mad dog knives had hard chrome and that Gerber had chrome plated tool steels in the past.

Does anyone have any input about hard chrome plating on knives?

I want to hard chrome some carbon steel blades but I don't want to waste my money.
Click to expand...

You can read this topic about hard chrome on knives . And I think that it s not waste of money ............ http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1377555-Hard-Chrome
 
Hard Chrome is electrolytic plating of chromium. Very hard , wear resitant .Properly done it's about the best. Peeling of plating is a problem of not cleaning [ chemically clean not soap and water clean ] properly.
The best way is to reverse plate for a time which removes oxides , dirt etc. The reverse the leads again to plating position .This process will also produce a matt finish which is fine for me .Or you could polish after plating.
Electroplating rates are proportional to currant density .Sharp edges like on a gun shouldn't be there anyway so remove before plating .Of course that means on a knife the cutting edge will no longer have coating !! While edges get more chrome holes get less ! That means holes may not get properly cleaned or have significant plating. In a Match I watched a 1911 jam from peeled plating ! Added plating changes dimensions which maybe good or bad for you depending .....A gunmaker takes this into consideration for a plated bore.
If you want to chrome plate a gun make sure it's a good plater that has lots of gun experience ! For a working knife , it seems to me not worth it ,like making a laminated knife with 1095 center and stainless outside. Get a good all stainless blade.
 
As others have touched upon, there is a vast difference between an ordinary pre 1990 low budget eastern European chrome plating job on a low budget DDR dagger and modern variation of chrome plating.

There simply is NO comparison.

Today, you get hard use semi-auto handguns with plating which after decades of hard use will show NO signs of use.

Its simply a different ballgame and the technology involved has evolved considerably....to say the least. Further more, whilst chrome plating today is excellent and able to withstand hard use (and I applaud its use on firearms), there are also several other options to be considered thanks to other technologies being invented.

The question is; WHY would the OP want to plate a knife????? He does not state why, so we can only speculate.

Is it to just show off a knife on the mantel piece? In that case, any modern method of chrome plating will do. Knock yourself out.

Is it to have a knife which will withstand the the elements?

In that case, there is chrome plating but also several other options.

Here a few:

Forget chrome plating if you want a knife impervious to the elements - buy a MISSION Beta titanium knife or an excellent Spyderco Aqua Salt/H1 or a BOYE COBALT knife and dont even bother with plating an existing knife.
 
BladeScout said:
As others have touched upon, there is a vast difference between an ordinary pre 1990 low budget eastern European chrome plating job on a low budget DDR dagger and modern variation of chrome plating.

There simply is NO comparison.

Today, you get hard use semi-auto handguns with plating which after decades of hard use will show NO signs of use.

Its simply a different ballgame and the technology involved has evolved considerably....to say the least. Further more, whilst chrome plating today is excellent and able to withstand hard use (and I applaud its use on firearms), there are also several other options to be considered thanks to other technologies being invented.

The question is; WHY would the OP want to plate a knife????? He does not state why, so we can only speculate.

Is it to just show off a knife on the mantel piece? In that case, any modern method of chrome plating will do. Knock yourself out.

Is it to have a knife which will withstand the the elements?

In that case, there is chrome plating but also several other options.

Here a few:

Forget chrome plating if you want a knife impervious to the elements - buy a MISSION Beta titanium knife or an excellent Spyderco Aqua Salt/H1 or a BOYE COBALT knife and dont even bother with plating an existing knife.
Click to expand...

Haha why not?

I love CPM M4

What the draw back?

It's rusts


Coat it in hard chrome.

Its now the best of all attributes


Sure the edge can rust

Meh.

That's what sharpening is for :D
 
If you ask me , it's better looking than TiN , DLC coating . Sandblasted , stone or ceramic wash before hard chrome , of course :)

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You're welcome :thumbup:
Hard Chrome has a very low coefficient of friction, approx. one half that of Steel. And I can fill that while cutting .........and hard to scratch , too :)
 
DeadboxHero said:
What's the cost factor?

Do you have a good place?
Click to expand...

Here in Macedonia , cost about 7-8 euro for 10x10 centimeters /about 4x4 inch/ surfaces .But ,the only problem is that I have to wait. The process need temperature in the bath and bath is huge ....... so I have to wait till they have to hard chrome some really big hydraulic cylinder and to throw my knife in bath ....:)
 
As a materials engineer who is a subject matter expert in corrosion, I'd rather have premium stainless than chrome-plated non-stainless. Less expensive, and you lose the toughness, which is one of the best properties of non-stainless alloys. Also chrome is galvanically dissimilar to steel. It will drive corrosion at the exposed edge. Even if the entire blade starts out chromed, the edge cannot remain chromed, because the chrome is ground off as you sharpen the blade. For this reason, if you are determined to coat non-stainless, you should coat it with a non-metallic coating.

Blades were chrome plated in the past because the knowledge of how to properly heat treat stainless had not yet been discovered.
 
knarfeng said:
As a materials engineer who is a subject matter expert in corrosion, I'd rather have premium stainless than chrome-plated non-stainless. Less expensive, and you lose the toughness, which is one of the best properties of non-stainless alloys. Also chrome is galvanically dissimilar to steel. It will drive corrosion at the exposed edge. Even if the entire blade starts out chromed, the edge cannot remain chromed, because the chrome is ground off as you sharpen the blade. For this reason, if you are determined to coat non-stainless, you should coat it with a non-metallic coating.

Blades were chrome plated in the past because the knowledge of how to properly heat treat stainless had not yet been discovered.
Click to expand...

I really wanted it clad in 410 stainless steel,

but I dont have the talent, skill, equipment or funds to clad PM steel

I looked into DLC, again could not find a cost effective solution.

hard chrome seems to have the same results but is more cost effective.
But I dont know
Ill have to test it on a BK2

Im curious how well it holds up on outdoor knives
 
The galvanic corrosion that knarfeng mentions, I wonder how that plays out with carbon steels sandwiched between stainless sides?
 
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