DLC Coating is the real deal

[Mike G]

Kudos to Spyderco's DLC coating. I have a PM2 with it and was using the KME system to sharpen it. When I was trying to clamp it in it slipped past the rubber jaw inserts onto the metal and looked like I scratched the crap out of the blade on both sides. I was able to use a magic eraser and gently rub off the scratch which turned out to be metal from the steel clamp itself and not scratches on the blade. Now you can't even tell anything bad happened. DLC save all the way. I doubt cerakote would have survived that kind of accident.

[VooDooChild]

It good.

[Xformer]

Diamond like coating coating.

[JakeXman]

I thought it was Diamond Like Carbon?

[abbazaba]

Spyderco's DLC is amazing. It's too bad a lot of coated knives out there use inferior coatings and don't always clarify what it even is. Some other kinds of PVD are pretty good, but DLC is the best of the best as far as I know.

[Mushroom]

Diamond like coating coating.

I thought it was Diamond Like Carbon?

Yep, it is Diamond Like Carbon.

[JSumm]

I have a cerakote finished blade and did something similar awhile back. It took the finish right off. I like the antique look cerakote provides with a lot of use and years. It is like a well worn blade look. Like a patina. However, if you like coated blades, I don't think you can beat Spyderco's DLC. It takes scratches extremely well. Tough stuff.

[jwbnyc]

Which is tougher?

DLC vs.TiCN?

[abbazaba]

Which is tougher?

DLC vs.TiCN?

DLC in use for me. Both are a PVD coating and very hard, but the DLC seems to work better for corrosion and scratch resistance. TiCN might be thinner. Interested to hear others experience.

[jwbnyc]

I should have done this first.

Searched on both. It has been covered repeatedly.

DLC wins in a celebrity death match.

[TkoK83Spy]

Which is tougher?

DLC vs.TiCN?

DLC in use for me. Both are a PVD coating and very hard, but the DLC seems to work better for corrosion and scratch resistance. TiCN might be thinner. Interested to hear others experience.

I've noticed the same, especially when it comes to scratches or showing light wear. DLC for the win! Though I also find TiCN much better than other brands finishes on black blades. It just can't top DLC.

[jwbnyc]

Here’s the search I should have done first:

BLACK BLADE COATINGS

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44114&p=589348&hilit=TiCN#p589348

Michael Janich breaks it down pretty thoroughly.

[Doc Dan]

I have a knife with TiCN, supposedly, and it has scratches on the blade down to the metal. So...

I wonder if DLC can be gotten in other colors than black?

[jdw]

Diamond like coating coating.

I thought it was Diamond Like Carbon?

Yep, it is Diamond Like Carbon.

This is one of the reasons that I love this board. I learned something that I had completely wrong, which happens with a fair amount of frequency on this board.

[jabba359]

Diamond like coating coating.

I thought it was Diamond Like Carbon?

Yep, it is Diamond Like Carbon.

This is one of the reasons that I love this board. I learned something that I had completely wrong, which happens with a fair amount of frequency on this board.

I also thought it was Diamond Like Coating, but stand corrected. I suppose I could have also looked at Spyderco's glossary...

[RadioactiveSpyder]

DLC has a HRC rating of 75+, that's why it's so tough to scratch. TiCN seems to have a much lower rating and scratches far more easily. AFAIK, DLC only comes in black unlike Cerakote (since graphite carbon is dark gray/black).

[Matus]

I don’t have much experience with DLC yet, but I must say, that the TiNC on the DLT Tuff looks fantastic. No clue about its resistance to abrasion or longevity though.

[tonijedi]

Spyderco should offer more blades with these coatings.

[jwbnyc]

Waking this thread up to report on a little casual research on the difference between DLC and TiCN, as far as hardness is concerned.

From what I am reading DLC does indeed come in at an estimated 75+ HRC. TiCN, otoh, seems to be rated at 87 HRC, or 3000 Vickers. Not sure what that means, but it was interesting. So. There you go.

[Evil D]

Before:



After:




If you look close you can see it did actually get scratched but most of it was rub transfer. That knife has seen some abuse but it still looks fairly new. The G10 is starting to look polished in some areas and that's more of a clue on how much use it has seen than what the DLC shows.