Besides lightness, why is titanium more desired than steel for frame and liner locks?

That's a good question. It makes for a better spring. But I think the main reason is it caught on and now is the trendy thing to do. The trendy thing is often confused with the better thing. Titanium is great though, especially for a frame lock that would be way too heavy in steal. But steal is strong and doesn't wear like Ti. I would not be against a steel liner lock.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Honestly? The advantages over steel are pretty minimal, where they exist at all. Mostly people dig it and it sounds all space age. It's not bad, though, so if you want one, go for it.
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This.

But I've found titanium is a grippier surface than steel, so it's not as slippery as bare stainless when used for grip panels.
 
Apart from it's inherent properties, it's just plain cool.
Occasionally someone (a non-knife person) asks me:

"What's that made of? Steel or aluminium?"
"It's titanium"
"Titanium? Nah, that doesn't sound right".
"Yeah mate, it is".
"Are you sure? Isn't titanium really rare and expensive?"
"No it's not rare. I got a few knives with titanium handles".
(Examines it)
"Nah, it's aluminium, I can tell 'cos it's fairly light".
"Nah mate it's titanium. Titanium is very strong and relatively light".
"Yeah, sure, whatever". (Convinced I'm a sucker for marketing BS.)

Sometimes I think its just better to just lie and avoid the frustration.
 
Titanium is elastic and rigid: it can bend far under a lot of force and still spring back, and do it with very little fatigue. It also has amazing fracture resistance in all temperatures, and is pretty much corrosion proof. There are also a lot of different ti alloys with differing properties, and a different gleam; it's very beautiful, and costs more largely because it's hard to work. It's extremely strong for its weight, and as someone else said, it just feels nice in the hand. Titanium alloys are hard to describe, but it's pretty obvious what's up when you handle it.

Ti alloys also work harden in a way that seems to improve them over time.
 
Mecha said:
Titanium is elastic and rigid: it can bend far under a lot of force and still spring back, and do it with very little fatigue. It also has amazing fracture resistance in all temperatures, and is pretty much corrosion proof. There are also a lot of different ti alloys with differing properties, and a different gleam; it's very beautiful, and costs more largely because it's hard to work. It's extremely strong for its weight, and as someone else said, it just feels nice in the hand. Titanium alloys are hard to describe, but it's pretty obvious what's up when you handle it.

Ti alloys also work harden in a way that seems to improve them over time.
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This guy is the titanium expert. Anything you need to know about ti, ask mecha. I've been to his shop, and dude makes some mean ass titanium blades.
 
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