Benchmade/Emerson question

Liu Kang

Liu Kang

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I was on the auction sight looking at Benchmade/Emerson CQC7 knife and it said Titanium which I thought was just the liner. I looked at the edges on the other side and thought it was weird and asked if it was supposed to be like that. I also asked what made this one so rare, he replied back that this one has a titanium blade. Is that true a collaboration of Benchmade/Emerson and the make a Benchmade 970st with a titanium blade? I know this is more of a Benchmade question but didn't know where else to put it. So does anyone know if this is true? What involvment did Emerson have in this knife and what's up with the backside of the edge? Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks
Dan
 
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Emerson did offer a Titanium blade at one time. That's all I know. Wait for Haze or Morimotom, Dan.
 
Benchmade is the one who offered an actual titanium blade on the knife when they were still making the cqc-7 for Emerson.
As far as a collectors item, in general no. Yes there are people who will collect them but due to the outrageous price people will ask they usually wind up marking them down just to get them sold.
Average for one that is 100% mint with good box and all paperwork to include the plastic bag $200-300.00. Most only going around $200.00 unless someone is a die hard collector.
If you're looking at it to flip it for a profit be careful !
 
Thanks for the reply thebladerunr, but what's up with the edge on the backside, is it supposed to be like that? Is there something to look for to be sure that it is the Ti blade since I don't see any markings?
 
Liu Kang said:
Thanks for the reply thebladerunr, but what's up with the edge on the backside, is it supposed to be like that? Is there something to look for to be sure that it is the Ti blade since I don't see any markings?
Click to expand...

There are a few titanium blades from Emerson, there are Ti La Griffes as well as Ti Kerambits. All made in rather limited numbers. Not having a pic to see exactly what you mean by the back side of the blade I can only presume you are seeing a carbide coating. (you could just post the pic that you saw from the bay) The carbide is applied to one side of the blade to form a cutting edge. Titanium has rubbish edge retention and has fairly low impact strenght so the carbide layer is a good way round those problems while still keeping the blade "non ferrus".

The emerson Ti blades I have seen had "titanium" on the logo but I don't know if that would be the same for the BM knives.

:):thumbup:
 
Well, I didn't say I don't have one, just who said I had one? LOL I think the model number is Benchmade 970ST.
I also looked around everywhere and all the ones I have see have the same edge, here is a pict
 
That is indeed a carbide edge. It's the same technique Warren Thomas uses for his Titanium blades.
 
Out of interest here is what a Warren T carbide edge looks like under 400x Mag.

I was able to get a shot of the microscope at the Lab. my friend works at.:):thumbup:

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Thanks for that funky pic Haze. :thumbup: That Carbide edge is an aggressive cutter. I have a WT7 and for that I am grateful. :D
 
I have one of those old Benchmades, 970ST was the model. It was, as mentioned, a titanium blade with tungsten carbide edge. Info I read back when this knife was still being made, it was supposedly made for divers and other folks who need a non-magnetic blade that still has good cutting ability. They also mentioned it was supposedly self-sharpening to a point, i.e. when you cut hard material, the Ti wears away gradually exposing more carbide. I've had mine since new and never sharpened it otherwise. It won't shave hair, but it does cut very well, albeit a little rough with cutting paper. I paid $150 for mine NIB back then.
 
i had one for a while, ended up selling it for as much as i paid. around $250 iirc.

cool knife, very light, "fair" sharpness. very toothy edge.

also, iirc, it was actually designed as a demining tool. pretty certain it was ernie who decided on the blade material, not benchmade, but not 100%. im also not aware of any other knives from that time that were using titanium for blades.

the bm's were not marked re the titanium, but the edges are quite distint as in your photo (they all look that way). and if you handle one, it is noticeably lighter than any steel bladed knife.
 
yep, i also had one back in '99 or so, i swapped it for something or another, they were prety rare and collectible even back then, i dont think BM made many of them, and they were always hard to come by, so when i got mine i never carried it and swapped it for something i just had to have, wish i woulda kept it.

its been so long since i saw a LNIB one go up for sale it would just be a WAG but IIRC the last one i saw sell went for ~ $250, i got $200 back when i got rid of mine, i could see possibly $350 tops, maybe, on a good day, probably closer to $300.
 
wow, i was thinking more in the hundreds vs thousands, i guess less than 5K is still a fairly small run, not as rare as i had thought though.

IIRC they were quite a bit higher vs the std 970 even in the day,
 
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