What is a taping blade made of?
What is a taping knife blade made of? |
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Taping knife blades are made from either stainless steel, blue steel, or carbon steel. | |||
Blue steel |
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‘Bluing’ is a process by which steel is protected against rust, and is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting finish.
Blue steel is not as stiff as stainless steel and makes for easier feathering (blending in), though it is recommended to use some water displacement formula to keep the blade from rusting. Blue steel is more flexible but keep a can of light oil at hand to keep it clean and free from rust. |
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Stainless steel |
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Stainless steel is a steel alloy which contains a minimum of 10.5% chromium content. This mixture of metals creates an alloy which does not easily stain, rust, or corrode in water as normal steel does.
Stainless steel is almost entirely rust-proof which will keep you from leaving rusty streak marks on your wall and save you time cleaning your tools.
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Carbon steel |
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Carbon steel is another steel alloy with a maximum 2.0% carbon content. It is also used as a general term for steel that is not stainless steel.
Carbon steel is more flexible than stainless but is more likely to rust if not kept clean. |
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With any of these metals common practice says that it will take several uses to ‘break in’ your tools before they have just the right flexibility. So get using them! | |||
