Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
Do any of you use this? How much do these things run?
Rocklinizer
- Thread starter Kevin Zito
- Start date
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
I suspect they are VERY spendy, considering I can't find a price anywhere.....just an "application". 
If you're looking for something like this for knives, it easy to build one if you have an electo-etch machine such as the Personalizer plus (the one with adjustable voltage), then all you need is one of the cheap vibrator engravers, and a broken carbide drill bit or end mill. I built one a few years ago, and have been using it ever since.
If you're looking for something like this for knives, it easy to build one if you have an electo-etch machine such as the Personalizer plus (the one with adjustable voltage), then all you need is one of the cheap vibrator engravers, and a broken carbide drill bit or end mill. I built one a few years ago, and have been using it ever since.
Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
Do you put it on your edges??I suspect they are VERY spendy, considering I can't find a price anywhere.....just an "application".
If you're looking for something like this for knives, it easy to build one if you have an electo-etch machine such as the Personalizer plus (the one with adjustable voltage), then all you need is one of the cheap vibrator engravers, and a broken carbide drill bit or end mill. I built one a few years ago, and have been using it ever since.
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
No.... not practical for blade edges..... I tried a couple of experimental blades, depositing carbide on the edges....... it only deposits a couple of thousandths, which will go away after a sharpening or two. It's also not very controllable..... often leaves a blade looking really ugly.
Several years ago there was a big craze with boron carbide blade coatings...... everybody assumed that since the boron carbide was an extremely high Rc, it would be "super" for blades......same issue, after a sharpening or two, the blade edge is back to the base material. and considering it was $100+ then to do it, it quickly fell out of favor.
The general name for these devices is a "carbodizer" Folder makers often use it to "plate" either the lock face on blades, or the lock face itself on liner and framelock folders.
Several years ago there was a big craze with boron carbide blade coatings...... everybody assumed that since the boron carbide was an extremely high Rc, it would be "super" for blades......same issue, after a sharpening or two, the blade edge is back to the base material. and considering it was $100+ then to do it, it quickly fell out of favor.
The general name for these devices is a "carbodizer" Folder makers often use it to "plate" either the lock face on blades, or the lock face itself on liner and framelock folders.
Motor City Mike
Well-Known Member
Ed is spot on.
They're used mainly for lock faces.
Ban Tang makes (or made) a titanium knife that the edge is carbonized since titanium won't hold an edge. I had one and it was crazy sharp but practical it was not.
I made this one out of a harbor freight battery charger, an engraver and a carbide end mill.
You just cut the battery clamps off and replace them with alligator clips.
You also have to splice in a 9 volt battery because the newer chargers will trip if they sense a short. The 9 volt tricks it into staying on.
Easy to make and probably less than $50
They're used mainly for lock faces.
Ban Tang makes (or made) a titanium knife that the edge is carbonized since titanium won't hold an edge. I had one and it was crazy sharp but practical it was not.
I made this one out of a harbor freight battery charger, an engraver and a carbide end mill.
You just cut the battery clamps off and replace them with alligator clips.
You also have to splice in a 9 volt battery because the newer chargers will trip if they sense a short. The 9 volt tricks it into staying on.
Easy to make and probably less than $50
Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
Wow thanks for all the awesome info!
Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
IIRC, the “rocklinizer” brand carbidizing machine is about an extra $1000 to $2000 on top of that price. There’s a more simplified version made by Bebe, I think they called the TungCarb or something similar, for about $350 (used to be a bit cheaper).
If you search around for “carbidizer plans” you should come up with some ideas. It’s basically some capacitors added to a power supply and plugged into an engraver to “oscillate” a carbide tip which deposits the material onto the blade. If you have an anodizing set up, or even an electric etcher and an engraver, you should be able to set something up pretty cheap.
I have a Rocklinizer and used to be a dealer. They were/are pretty expensive and I'm not sure we ever sold one.
We carry the BeBe carbidizer which will do the same thing on a smaller scale.
Warren Osborn used to make quite a few titanium blades with a carbidized edge. He was the only one I am aware of that made more than a few of them. The idea was to carbidize one side of the cutting edge and sharpen the titanium side and then the carbidized edge would be the cutting edge.
Today, many (most?) use a carbidizer for toughing the lock face (titanium side only) on a liner lock. I do this myself on every liner lock I make.
We carry the BeBe carbidizer which will do the same thing on a smaller scale.
Warren Osborn used to make quite a few titanium blades with a carbidized edge. He was the only one I am aware of that made more than a few of them. The idea was to carbidize one side of the cutting edge and sharpen the titanium side and then the carbidized edge would be the cutting edge.
Today, many (most?) use a carbidizer for toughing the lock face (titanium side only) on a liner lock. I do this myself on every liner lock I make.
Justin Presson
Well-Known Member
Daniel Fairly still makes Ti knives with carbidized edges he does what Tracy says grinds one side and caridizes the other here are a few pics I stole from his Instagram page.
Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
That’s cool looking
bladegrinder
Well-Known Member
I made a carbidizer with a $20.00 engraver, one of the hand held vibrating ones, replaced the tip with a 1/8" piece of carbide rod, using the variac I use to anodize my titanium liners,
The variac is wired to a 12 volt bridge rectifier.
The positive lead from the rectifier is clipped to the carbide rod and the negative clipped to the titanium liner.
The engraver is turned on and the carbide tip kind of dragged across the lock face of the Ti.
this really works great and keeps the lock from sticking when closing the blade.
you just have to practice on some scrap Ti first to dial in the variac and the speed of the vibratory engraver.
I've never contemplated doing this to a knife blade, and probably never will.
The variac is wired to a 12 volt bridge rectifier.
The positive lead from the rectifier is clipped to the carbide rod and the negative clipped to the titanium liner.
The engraver is turned on and the carbide tip kind of dragged across the lock face of the Ti.
this really works great and keeps the lock from sticking when closing the blade.
you just have to practice on some scrap Ti first to dial in the variac and the speed of the vibratory engraver.
I've never contemplated doing this to a knife blade, and probably never will.
Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
I did the same. Already had built the anodizer, so I just got the engraver. Boom.
Kevin Zito
KNIFE MAKER
Is the same process suggested/recommended for lock backs also? I don’t think I will be using it on any edge, but it definitely makes sense on the parts of folders.
Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
Never heard of anyone carbidizing a lockback, but generally they’re the same material/hardness, so galling and sticking isn’t inherently a problem, unless you’ve got a geometry issue or a surface finish problem.
EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
I've experimented with "carbidizing" in every way I could think of when it comes the liner or frame locks...... carbidizing only the blade's lock face, carbidizing only the lockbar face, and carbidizing both.
What I found was/is that carbadizing both isn't a good idea..... as the locks more often than not tend to either "pop off", or not engage correctly. I can only surmise that's because both faces are so hard, and the deposit of carbide so uneven (although it's on a very minute level), the lock mating faces are too slick or "bumpy" (for lack of a better description). With only the titanium lockbar face carbidized, it quickly wears/gouges the locking face on the blade(s), making the "lockup" rough or improper over a short period time.
I've settled on carbidizing only the lock/mating face of blades..... so far it has proven the most dependable option, with the least amount of issues.
What I found was/is that carbadizing both isn't a good idea..... as the locks more often than not tend to either "pop off", or not engage correctly. I can only surmise that's because both faces are so hard, and the deposit of carbide so uneven (although it's on a very minute level), the lock mating faces are too slick or "bumpy" (for lack of a better description). With only the titanium lockbar face carbidized, it quickly wears/gouges the locking face on the blade(s), making the "lockup" rough or improper over a short period time.
I've settled on carbidizing only the lock/mating face of blades..... so far it has proven the most dependable option, with the least amount of issues.