thanks!
more good questions!
there is usually about .230" edge, so that would be a lot of sharpening before failure (i guess it would have some radical serration pattern after that!). None of my personal knives have ever been sharpened that far back, and I've been sharpening for over 30 years though I understand a chef or butcher might put that kind of wear on. On the other hand, for a pro there is the weight savings over years of use
the carbon fiber will not last long in the pivot or lock area... wear inserts would have to be used there, that would reduce the continuity of the fibers (it's my own custom lay-up but there are limits) and reduce strength. Carbon fiber laminates are strong for their weight because they are large for their weight, separating the tension and compression forces. For a compact mechanism like a folding knife pivot and lock we need to stick to materials that are strong for their size. I guess you could have oversize pivots and such but I typically only made lockbacks... hmmmn now you've got me thinking... maybe after Blade show I'll look into it...
I currently use M2 for the edge, much better than the stainless in the prototype. I scaled it down a little to 4.5" cutting edge, less than half an oz of metal in the entire knife, and very little is exposed for corrosion
there needs to be an electrically insulating layer between carbon fiber and any metal to avoid galvanic corrosion (theoretically). I always use some super thin glass twill fabric for this during the lay-up, though on a couple early ones I didn't and they haven't suffered yet