Introduction Products are often subject to environments where friction and wear can degrade performance. In such environments, hard coatings can enhance performance and extend product life. In tooling applications, hard coatings are often used to protect cutting edges, thereby extending tool life. In automotive applications, hard coatings lower the friction between moving parts, thus reducing energy requirements and extending part life. Other specifi c applications for hard coatings include computer hard-drives and displays for portable electronic devices. In this note, we explain the methods and results of testing a titanium-nitride coating intended to improve the performance and extend the life of a utility blade.