Charge AL anodised handles

[prime77]

I've read some questions about how durable the anodized handles on the new Charge models are. Thought some of you guys would find this interesting. I found these the other day while cleaning it. I've carried the AL everyday since I got it on March 9th and found these marks worn down to the aluminum where the handles rub when opening the pliers. No big deal right?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Marks like that on a "Working Tool" are what I like to refer to as "Character Marks."  They show that a tool is being used, and is a solid, reliable tool that doesn't lead a mamby pamby existence on the shelf somewhere. 

And, being aluminum, the anodizing is really decorative more than anything else.  It's not there to protect a carbon steel from rusting, so other than aesthetics, it isn't really posing any threat to the tool.

Wear 'em in good health!

Def

[J-sews]

We use black hard-coat anodizing at the shop where I work. Even though the material underneath is soft aluminum, the black surface coating is so hard that it cannot be scratched with a file! (Think about that for a sec) Based on that experience, I did not believe the black handles on the new AL or ALX would ever scratch through. However, I never considered the locations you show on your Charge prime, where one hard-coated surface is rubbing directly onto another hard-coated surface.

[NeitherExtreme]

No big deal right?

Right 

[Spoonrobot]

Usually as long as you avoid damaging the metal underneath by dropping it on concrete or any other impact that alters the top finish the anodizing should stay their forever. I have an Inova flashlight that is hard anodized that I carried in my pocket with keys/lighters/knives for two years and the finish is still 100% with no bare spots at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing#Type_III_Hardcoat_Anodizing

It does appear that the scales rubbing together has worn away the anodizing, an interesting observation since the only places I usually see hard anodizing is on flashlights that generally do not have a lot of parts movement.

[J-sews]

Hard black anodize against hard black anodize was bound to rub through eventually. 

Seems like the whole issue could have been avoided rather easily, simply by making the black handle scales slightly SMALLER than the profile of the stainless U-channel. That way, only the U-channel edges would have touched, not the black handle scales. By never touching each other, they would never rub through.