Let's talk about Blade Coatings

Eric Isaacson

Eric Isaacson

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Joined
Dec 19, 1999
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I have read at least 2 posts on the forums recently that have questioned how the coating looks on the CG Busses. I am referring to the wrinkle or crinkle coat that is currently being used on the regular production pieces. Some consider it ugly, if this is true why is Busse Combat using it?

I'll tell you why. It has always been Busse Combats motto that “The Beauty is in the Performance”. If it works use it. Does it work? Yes, it is incredibly wear resistant. The crinkle coat is used because it has been determined through extensive use it is the best coating available. For those not familar with the coating see the attached pic. It appears that it would easily come off since it has those raised areas of coating, however, it is just the opposite. The raised areas will take the initial wear, they will begin to smooth out and after much use that part of the blade will still have the black finish only smoothed out. The life of this rough finish is extended when you compare it to smooth finishes of the same thickness. Only after the finish has smoothed considerably do you begin to see any of the coating wearing off.

Now regarding the Aesthetics of the Busse Knives.. you might think, they can't perform well because they look to good. A lot of the Busse Blades look good, especially some of the current variants and customs, they look awesome, cool, mean, (I need to find the thesaurus for more adjectives:)). So you might ask... If they look good does that mean that on these, aesthetics were more important? The short answer is "NO" You must remember that beauty is in the Performance, so the most important objective is that every thing on the knife is there to increase performance, that is primary. The aesthetics are secondary, if a Busse looks great you can believe it will also perform great.

Do I think Busses are unattractive? No, Because for me, my enjoyment comes from use, if I want something just to look at I'll buy a picture. If I want something to be an incredible useful tool, I'll buy a Busse.
 
Couldn't agree more.

just sent my DWMS in to get recoated. It was satin finished on the blade and spine, but still had some smooth coat left around the flats above and below the handle slabs. And was scuffed on the blade, the coating, the handle....you know the drill.

$65.00 and it's like new! Plus, I sent in in last Wednesday and it should be back next week! So, for a two week turnaround time and 65 bills, it's like having a brand new knife.
 
I really like the the new crinkle finish. My Assault Shaker and Paul's Hatchet have the crinkle finish. It smooths out quite quickly but the under coat seems to be very resistant to wear. However, my Basic 5 and 9 had the smooth coating and the first time I used both of them the coating starting chipping off. Luckily, they had a satin finish right under the coating.

DarkJedi - May the Force be with you.
 
I don't yet own a Busse knife (hopefully within a few weeks), so I can't speak from personal experience. It does appear to me that the CG finish also has a tactical advantage over the smooth finish: it's less reflective. I know that when I'm trying to closely approach wild animals, I need every advantage I can get. This is probably even more important for military personnel.
 
You're absolutely right Eric! The more you use them, the more beautiful they become:D
 
I've been using the crinkle coat very hard for months. I have found, as others have, that the crinkling wears quite easily, but the smoothed out coating is extremely durable. I chop mostly seasoned hardwood, about the only thing that will actually remove the coating. I have found that the worst thing you can do to wear the coating (other than a grinder, file, etc. :rolleyes: ) is to split seasoned hardwood. This really eats the coating. However, it still only removes a little coating, and only in certain, limited areas (splitting removes the coating mostly on the face of the blade near the spine) . After all its use, very little coating has actually been removed.

Here are some pics of both sides of very happy Steel Heart :D :

9181925-a9b0-02000075-.jpg


9181919-e18c-02000088-.jpg
 
I'm not real impressed with the crinkle coat, myself. My Basic 5 had the smooth coating, and was beat on for over a year. It had a ton of scratches, but the finish didn't wear off. My crinkle coated 9, on the other hand, has only been in use for a few weeks, and the coating is already worn off behind the bevel in the "sweet spot", mostly on the left (flat) side.
 
Not meaning to butt in here, but is the coating on the Basics the same as the coating on the combat grades? I thought I had read somewhere that the two were different. I think Cliff Stamps review of his now deceased Basic 7.
 
Elwin,
I'd say the majority of the Basics had the Smooth coat, however, toward the end of the Basic line some shipped with the crinkle coat. I just sold a Basic 5 that had the crinkle coat, so I know there are some out there.

I hope this answers your question
 
Originally posted by OwenM
I'm not real impressed with the crinkle coat, myself. My Basic 5 had the smooth coating, and was beat on for over a year. It had a ton of scratches, but the finish didn't wear off. My crinkle coated 9, on the other hand, has only been in use for a few weeks, and the coating is already worn off behind the bevel in the "sweet spot", mostly on the left (flat) side.
Click to expand...

Yes, that happens quite quickly, and continues, but the rate of wear goes down. After a while, the coating almost stops wearing, as it wears very slowly. I'm no expert, but that has been my impression of it.
 
Owen, I would expect the finish to naturally wear considerably faster (easier) on a BB9, SH or BM, than on a Basic 5 whether or not it has the smooth or crinkle coat.
There would be a significant increase in friction and wear as the blade gets longer and heavier. You can chop and drive the blade harder and deeper each time, therefore you get more pressure and wear against the surfaces of the blade;)

Andrew made a good point about the crinkle coat though. It does seem to have a decreased rate of wear over the smooth coat IMHO. My smooth coat straight handle SHII had the coating worn (to the steel)about 3/16" in from the shoulder of the edge after the first few hours of use, while my SH-E took at least twice the time before the steel became visible beneath the smoothed out crinkle coat.
 
One other advantage of the coatings, and particularly the heavier "crinkle coating" is that it resists stains and corrosion far greater than non coated blades.

I do not live near woods but the ocean is my backyard. Most of my hard use is in and around boats and fish. The salt water will eventually corrode anything and everything - even stainless steel (although titanium escapes it, but titanium is a bitch to put a good edge on).

INFI with a coating is almost as good as titanium as long as you wash it off after immersion and put a light coat of oil on it. By taking that type of care of the blades you can even dive with it !

I love the coatings for this type of application!

Marc
marc@bussecombat.com
 
So the coatings are fundamentally the same, ie the same material, just applied with a different surface texture?
 
No, I think the coatings are totally different. The crinkle coat (I think) is harder. It just doesn't seem to scratch.
 
The blade coating is the one thing that almost turned me away from buying a Busse. Coatings wear off, and that's just inevitable. I'd rather have an uncoated blade and perform regular maintenance, then have an ugly, slightly uncoated blade and have to perform the same maintenance. A black blade may be necessary for a military knife, but I’d much prefer a more “civilian” blade for my wilderness romping.
 
BTW, you can get any Busse model satin-finished or bead blasted for additional cost. I think satin is something like $75 extra (don't quote me on that ;) ), and presume bead blasting is the same or less.
 
Yeah, any coating is going to wear. It's not something that I worry about. I actually like the look of a well worn knife (Andrew's SH looks great, IMO)--gives it personality.
The only reason I commented was that the finish is not just worn smooth, it's worn off right there. No big deal, but I'm used to seeing a smooth black reminder of the "finish that was":)
I agree that a larger knife's coating sees alot more stress from heavy chopping, but on the other hand, that smooth Basic 5 had been used with a baton, and even a hammer to drive through boards, limbs, stuff like that.
Cosmetics aren't a big issue for me, but I do like satin blades that I can sand on, or take a Scotchbrite pad to if I want.
Come Blade Show, I'd love to find a BM variant with the new style handle, and a satin finish. Gettin' hazy-eyed just thinking about it:D
 
Coating on my 9 got "tested" pretty harshly last night, and it held up much better than expected. Used it with a 3lb hammer as a baton, to split a few ~4' sections of seasoned oak logs that someone dumped out on the strike line for us to burn. It's well on its way to having a smooth coating now:))), since the logs were actually wider than the blade length, and had to have a piece split off the side at an angle to even get started (plus I beat the claws of a 20oz. Estwing hammer and a little Estwing prybar in to start the logs splitting on the grain at the ends-claws were too short to use to split the wood).
Coating smoothed out, but didn't wear off. Couple of shiny spots on the edges of the spine from getting hit off-center with the hammer, but it held up alot better than I expected.
Changing my vote from "not real impressed", to "coming around quickly":p
Really expected to see alot more wear when I cleaned it up a few minutes ago.
Did I mention that it still shaves hair...woohoo.
 
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