Who has the most durable black finish?

[rorykoepka]

I was wondering if anyone had insight on which putter refinishing company offers the most durable black finish on a stainless steel putter? There’s so many putter restoration companies out there but from what I gather they seem to differ on the type of finish they use. I’m looking to send off my Scotty Cameron studio select Newport off to someone to black it out. Thanks!

[LUXOR54]

Might have to ask them to see what their process is, everyone will be a little different. For straight durability you'll probably want to go with a cerakote or similar baked on style coating. If it's good enough for a gun, it's good enough for a putter

[golfluvzme]

Reach out to Liam at Embrace Putters.  He offers at LEAST 3 different black finishes, none of them are going to be spray and bake finishes.  His DLC black is gorgeous and will outlast any Cerakote application that you will find.  It is a common misconception that Cerakote is a "long lasting finish".   It is good, KG Gunkote is also good, but a DLC coating will outlast them both, IMHO.  Been there, done that.

Just one Mann's opinion and always take me with a grain of salt.

LaMont in AZ

[rorykoepka]

12 hours ago, golfluvzme said:

Reach out to Liam at Embrace Putters.  He offers at LEAST 3 different black finishes, none of them are going to be spray and bake finishes.  His DLC black is gorgeous and will outlast any Cerakote application that you will find.  It is a common misconception that Cerakote is a "long lasting finish".   It is good, KG Gunkote is also good, but a DLC coating will outlast them both, IMHO.  Been there, done that.

Just one Mann's opinion and always take me with a grain of salt.

LaMont in AZ

Thanks! This is exactly what I wanted to know. Most have just a cerakote finish and I was wondering if there was anything better and it seems like dlc is the answer

[Kaexo]

Anything PVD is junk if you don't want it to show wear, DLC is ok but if you can find one that does QPQ (Quench, Polish, Quench) like the new Miura irons thats the best. As its actually rolled into the metal and not a finish at all.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Kaexo

[rorykoepka]

3 minutes ago, Kaexo said:

Anything PVD is junk if you don't want it to show wear, DLC is ok but if you can find one that does QPQ (Quench, Polish, Quench) like the new Miura irons thats the best. As its actually rolled into the metal and not a finish at all.

That’s super interesting…I’ve never heard of QPQ. Is there anyone that actually offers this in refinishing?

[Kaexo]

24 minutes ago, rorykoepka said:

That’s super interesting…I’ve never heard of QPQ. Is there anyone that actually offers this in refinishing?

As far as a refinish, not sure its possible since its really not a finish as its rolled into the molding of the metal. It could be possible so who knows.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Kaexo

[weavs2]

Check out labworx. Their GenX armour is the black finish for evnroll

[rorykoepka]

58 minutes ago, weavs2 said:

Check out labworx. Their GenX armour is the black finish for evnroll

I hear mixed reviews on that finish. Some say it isn’t the most durable. It does look fantastic though

[ckay]

Liam at Embrace. Super responsive via text and a straight shooter. 

[btyh]

DLC or PVD is the best options. Both will wear over time. If you take care of your putter and don't putt with sandy greens/balls you should be fine. 

[ShAMbotay]

I forget where I read this, but the quote was "You lose the right to call a club 'Premium' when you put a PVD finish on it."

most manufacturer's black finishes are PVD. PXG, Cobra, and Ben Hogan are notable exceptions with DLC and DBM finishes, and Miura, as mentioned before, has a QPQ finish.

 

Avoid the Big 3's black finishes, as well as PING's. Those are all PVD.

There used to be a common black finish a long time ago, I forget what it's called, but it was so flimsy that even looking at it would make it flake off. PVD might be a notable improvement from that, but it's still not good.

[rorykoepka]

Wow thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like at the current moment the best would be DLC followed by PVD. With PVD being much less durable than DLC.

Doing a little research I see that Golf Garage does DLC. Do you guys know of anyone else that does DLC? Embrace lists their finish as PVD but could they have upgraded to DLC?

[Belltower]

Really interested in the process Logan Olson uses for blackening stainless

 

[golfluvzme]

Reach out to Liam and he'll give you an up to date list of what is available.  I am 99% sure that DLC is in his realm of finishes offered.  

I think the finish that ShAMbotay is referring to is what was called "Melonite".  Cleveland used it on their irons, as did a few others.  It was very durable and a good looking finish, at the same time.   Not sure that anyone offers that currently. 

All of these jabs against PVD are sort of humorous to me.  Back in the day, we would have been so excited to have access to PVD as refinishers.  But, a normal batch charge in 2010 was $850 and none of the refinish companies had that kind of coin or the volume to make up the batch that would justify it.  I'm not going to make any claim as to the durability of a normal PVD finish, but I'll say that if it were ME looking for a durable black finish, I'd go DLC and feel pretty safe. 

QPQ is out there, but I've never heard of anyone offering it for a putter refinish.  

Best of luck on finding the one you like and I hope that it lives up to the hype.

 

LaMont in AZ