PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition)?

[Karen Barber]

Afternoon everyone,

I had a request to engrave a Boker knife. The knife is stainless steel but there is a black PVD coating on it.

I called Boker and the gentleman that I spoke with said that he didn't think it would be a problem but didn't want to say with certainty that it could be engraved.

Anyone?

[Chris DeGerolamo]

test it: etch a small circle or line on the opposite side of the one you'd be working on and see what happens

[Dan Hintz]

The method of deposition shouldn't matter, only the materials and the strength of their bond. In this case, I'd bet 30W should be plenty to get it off of there.

[Mike Null]

My limited experience on this is that you can make a mark but the contrast will be so slight that it isn't worthwhile. On my last job I ended up sandblasting them.

I will now be testing the new white Cermark to see if that will provide the contrast.

White Cermark is still in R&D to determine durability among other things. That's according to their web site.

[Karen Barber]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback!