Hi Guys,
I guess many of you have known about Texas Tool Crafters for some time. I came across them for the first time as part the Skeletool naming competition, so of course had to go and check out their site.
I was amazed by some of their stuff but had a couple of queries, so fired off two questions via the website. Given the time difference I pretty much got a reply by return from Stephen, who provided very detailed answers. I thought you guys would be interested in the information, and Stephen was happy for me to pass it on.
The first question was on the gold plating:
My Question: “Is your gold plating really tough and durable – I thought plating wore off over time. And what about inside the joints (ie where tool touches tool or frame) – Is this all plated too? Presumably it is if your Wave in the fishing bag is still not jammed up!!”
The ‘Wave in the kitbag’ is a reference to their story about how they started up TTC. Read it here:
http://www.txtoolcrafters.com/pages/about-usStephen's reply:“This is probably the most often fielded question we get and it's a bit slow to explain fully. Firstly we use a cobalt hardened gold plate which is much more durable than jewellery style plating. What we use is the type that gets used on audio connectors and industrial parts. Gold plating is done electrically, which allows us to apply a thin, even coat on the entire part. The gold plating is very different from something like a painted coating in how it wears - words like "chip", "peel", and "crack" do not apply to gold plating. The gold plating will be removed through abrasion and scratching.
In the shop we use a test called "the key test" to gauge the scratch resistance of a finish. The basic gist is that everyone dumps their car keys in a bag along with the parts to be tested and the bag is shaken for a few minutes. Strictly speaking it's not the most scientific test, but it gives a good simulation of what life in a pocket is like. Without fail, the worst performer has always been black oxide -- it looks beat up almost immediately. The gold comes next. This test usually produces a matrix of surface scratches (like the haze you get on stainless when it's been used for a long time), but the metals used in keys are not hard enough to scratch all the way though the gold layer.
This is off topic, but this is the roughest test for the coloured finishes. Even Cerakote has problems along edges.
Abrasion resistance is usually only an issue where there is metal on metal contact -- rubbing with your (clean) hands is not enough to remove the layer. The interior parts that open against one another, as well as the plier head will wear relatively quickly. For a bit of trivia, when we did Leatherman's anniversary tools (the gold plated Charge TTi's), Leatherman actually produced some slightly thinner plier heads to avoid the abrasion issue. If you're ever asked to authenticate an anniversary tool, you can tell by the thinner plier head. This feeds into part of your question -- the gold layer is too thin to interfere with the normal fit of the parts.
For us, the biggest test of durability is getting a tool back for warranty service, and it's where we get the shortest answer to your question: By the time you're noticing significant wear to the gold layer, you'll also be noticing significant wear to the functions themselves. Last week we rebuilt a gold Ironwood tool that we sold in 2012 that looked like it had been through a war - greasy (in a chunky gross way), broken functions, blade sharpened down to a nub, gouges in the plier head. Amazingly, once the grease was removed, the gold layer was remarkably intact, particularly on the exterior areas. It definitely was not as pretty as it once was, but I'm confident in saying that it wore well compared with the rest of the tool.”
I know some of you have been discussing their gold plated SAKs here
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,53625.0.html... and have some on the way - So looking forward to finding out how you like them
I must admit I though the tools were disassembled for the plating, otherwise how could the plating work? However it seems maybe not from the thread above.
My second question was regarding the ‘
ironwood’ – I had never heard of it before and did not know what it was. I thought it was some kind of wood effect bonded onto iron, so asked them.
Stephen's reply:“Ironwood is the name given to a variety of different tree species that have a reputation for extreme hardness. My understanding is that the name comes from a pre-power tools day when cutting into one of them must have felt like cutting into iron. Even with modern tools, it's quite a chore to cut. In the US, the specific tree species is usually a variety of Hornbeam.
So to explicitly answer your question: Yes, Ironwood is real wood, just very dense and hard real wood. The reason we stress "responsible producer" is that these trees are always old growth and can't be replaced quickly. Reputable producers get all of the proper permits and permissions before harvesting one of these trees. When it happens it's a big thing for them (they always post photos of the trees).
We add a thick brass backer behind the Ironwood to help where the wood is naturally weak (between the grains). I also think it looks better with the brass.”
So it really is wood!! I never knew!
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