Gold Plated SAK. Which one. Or Neither. :D

[N_N_R]

Hi, guys. I've clearly fallen in the alox trap  I just ordered a lime green classic SD alox SAK and at some point I'm considering buying one by TexasToolCrafters 

So, I fell in love with a gold plated Pioneer there...    The pictures are taken from their eBay page:




Then, I found that this one, the Climber, was cheaper... a bit cheaper and has more tools and is still black, which I think looks best with the gold:




So... Aesthetically I love the Pioneer a lot more.

I'm not going to use either of them, I guess. I hardly ever need a tool in my life  and I'll just buy it for my own enjoyment and sooner or later it will get sold, anyway.

So what's your opinion on these? Any thoughts are welcome 

Do you think the gold will wear off easily (I said I'm not going to use that, but I'll definitely play with it)?

How much do you think the actual gold IS actually? A tenth of a gram? Half a gram? 1gr? (looking at the price, hardly a whole gram) 

 

[DazMechanical]

I was looking at this Farmer by Texas Tool Crafters on eBay, it would be awesome if they did it in black! 

[N_N_R]

They're all very 

I just prefer the thinnest possible 

[Corwyn]

Well, that's easy.. you seem to like the Pioneer more.

Just buy both and send me the one you like less 

[bmot]

I personally don't like the look of them... Can't pinpoint exactly why... But well, I never really liked gold, anyway.


Besides that, for the $10 difference, I'd just choose the one you like the look of most.

[N_N_R]

Well, that's easy.. you seem to like the Pioneer more.

Just buy both and send me the one you like less 

 



@bmot

I also disliked gold before   Later everything went wrong 

I also asked another friend, absolutely ... tool-unbiased, lol. To see what she likes better being an.. ordinary person She chose the Pioneer, too

[Chako]

  

[N_N_R]

 

YYYYOUUUUUUUUU!!!

[zoidberg]

Gold ain't my thing but if you must get some bling I would go the Pioneer.

[N_N_R]

Gold ain't my thing but if you must get some bling I would go the Pioneer.

I must

So everyone's going for the Pioneer so far...

Now I only need to find some more $_$

[Chako]

Alox of course...you know you need one more.     

[N_N_R]

Alox of course...you know you need one more.     

How dare you even show up here 

BAN HIM




The Champ's expecting more of his little bros to join the family.....
 

[Grathr]

The pioneer is definitly the coolest one


Sent from a device made from star dust using tapatalk

[ironraven]

I believe that everyone should have a dress knife, a "gentleman's" knife. But this kinda says "I have people do things for me".

[kirk13]

Er...neither?

With respect to our friends at TTC( and you have some  LMs) a SAK needs to be useable. If it isn't its not a SAK!

For that kind of money you could get some trick users

[N_N_R]

I believe that everyone should have a dress knife, a "gentleman's" knife. But this kinda says "I have people do things for me".

Hehe. I wear no dresses, I am no gentleman, so let people do things for me

Er...neither?

A SAK needs to be useable. If it isn't its not a SAK!

For that kind of money you could get some trick users

I use none of my tools

1. I don't need tools.
2. If I do, there're always cheap kitchen knives to do the dirty work

Jewellery doesn't do anything, does it, yet people love it Ok, some people.

[Chako]

MT.O does work in weird mysterious ways. 

 

Just please post photos in here for all of us to over, on whichever you decide to get. 

[N_N_R]

MT.O does work in weird mysterious ways. 

 

Just please post photos in here for all of us to over, on whichever you decide to get. 

Sure, I will Just it may take awhile, because I've decided *not* to use my salary to buy this (I need money for food sometimes ), but I wanted to sell a few things on our forums first.

I guess it'll be the Pioneer.... unless by the time I get the money, TTC make another awesome thingie.

[ColoSwiss]

The black Pioneer is definitely classy.

The fact that Kirk doesn't like it is a definite point in its favor! 

[N_N_R]

Wwwooow, you have it?

Wait, has the gold near the base of your bottle opener... chipped off or it wasn't that well done?? or Am I seeing things?  Maybe it's a shade because of the sun.. Is it real?? :D

[ColoSwiss]

Wwwooow, you have it?

Wait, has the gold near the base of your can opener... chipped off or it wasn't that well done?? or Am I seeing things?  Maybe it's a shade because of the sun.. Is it real?? :D

There are a few spots down in the working parts that didn't get plated. It appears that none of the wearing surfaces inside the frame were plated. Possibly for clearance, possibly because they'd wear anyways. Still a great looking knife.

[N_N_R]

Thanks for this detail! Good to know so that I don't get disappointed later 

I thought it had to be flawless since even its split ring seems to be gold-plated.

[ColoSwiss]

Split ring and pins are gold-plated. Only thing I dislike is the shield, which should have been gold-plated also.

Also see the revision above.

[N_N_R]

YYyyyeah, I also thought that the shield should've / could've been plated.

[sawman]

[Syph007]

My vote for neither, unless you just want to look at it.  Gold plating is completely inappropriate for a tool, it will come off very easiely.  A proper gold colored coating would be TiNi by PVD.  Gold is extremely soft.

I talked to someone that bought and used one and the coating held up about as I expected.  Ive also spotted a few lightly used ones on ebay over the last few months and they looked poor.  They dont take the SAK apart to coat the tools either, so its not possible to get a good coverage on parts without disassembling.

Gold is for jewelry not tools 

[N_N_R]

Thanks for the input! I'm not really going to use it, at least for nothing that hard, I have plenty of other stuff to use

Strange that the gold comes off easily, though 

I'll see, I have time to decide

[Syph007]

Oh and for your question about how much gold is on there.. the standard thickness in the jewelry industry to be considered 'gold plated' is 7 millions of an inch.  So the 'volume' of gold on there is so little it would be hard to measure.  I bet the weight difference before and after is not even measurable on regular scales.

Gold is known for being soft, so its not really strange that a very thin coating of soft metal, is soft.    Gold is for jewelry, or trophies. 

If you want to learn more read about caring for gold plated jewelry.  Its common for the plating to wear off rings etc just being in contact with skin.

I spend most of my waking hours learning and obsessing about metal and coatings, so this is all fresh on my mind.  Now if someone wants to do gold colored titanium nitride tools... that would be nice!

[Aloha]

I vote for whatever your heart desires.  I understand tools are tools but like many here, every now and again a beautiful shelf queen cannot be avoided.  I have a TTC Gold Rebar and have no intention of ever using it so for me it is purely a conversation piece. 

If you can afford it and you understand that it wont hold up over time then go for it.     

[ColoSwiss]

My vote for neither, unless you just want to look at it.  Gold plating is completely inappropriate for a tool, it will come off very easiely.  A proper gold colored coating would be TiNi by PVD.  Gold is extremely soft.

I talked to someone that bought and used one and the coating held up about as I expected.  Ive also spotted a few lightly used ones on ebay over the last few months and they looked poor.  They dont take the SAK apart to coat the tools either, so its not possible to get a good coverage on parts without disassembling.

Gold is for jewelry not tools 

Mine is for looking at, along with a certain custom 'Storm Trooper' from north of the border.