Benchmade/Emerson titanium blade CQC7 care?

[sjstill]

Just got a BM/Emerson 970ST, and I want to be clear on how to care for and sharpen the blade. Has carbide embedded on one side. Never had a knife like this before, light as a feather!

Steve

 

[GSDNPWC]

I would contact richard j. I know he has some experience sharpening Ti.

 

[RevDevil]

You don't sharpen blades with a carbide edge. They sharpen themselves, so to speak. They are designed to be very sharp and have a somewhat serrated cutting effect. They aren't designed to be scalpel like or have mirror like edges. Titanium does not rust, so there is no worry there either. It is not a knife designed to old up to every day use, it's a more specialized knife.

Here is the official word:

The 970-ST was built at the request of a military organization who needed a strong, lightweight, non magnetic, non corrosive, folding prybar with some limited cutting ability. In our efforts to increase the cutting ability we discovered the tungsten tantalum carbide that is deposited on the cutting edge of the blade.

While the Sharptek carbide treatment DRAMATICALLY increases the cutting potential of the titanium blades, it is not a magic coating and is not superior to steel in terms of edge retention.

We do not recommend the 970ST as an every day working knife. You would be much better served with one of the steel blades for every day use. Where the titanium blade would really shine is as an emergency tool in a corrosive environment where it would require very little maintenance but would be there, and work, when you REALLY need it.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

There is an article on Emerson's site that mentions that those types of blades are meant to be ground away on one side, with the harder carbide coating remaining as the cutting edge.

http://www.emersonknives.com/Mag_Article_c.html

 

[sjstill]

Thanks, Gents! I didn't buy it as an EDC, so that won't be an issue. Just seems like a cool blade