Emerson liners

Nope... those Mission knives are damn expensive.

If one was affordable, I'd be all over it, just to play with. Not sure if those Ti blades would hold up to a lot of use though... and I sure as hell don't need a non-magnetic-signature piece now that I no longer work near 3T MRIs anymore.

For reference, my new 2008 CQC-14 has two Ti liners - neither one remotely responding to a magnet, one thick (0.062"), one thin (possibly near 0.040"; no mic to check, but thinner than normal 0.050" ones.)

-j
 
Missions are Salt!! Do you get a discount? I'm glad I bought one when I did. It's my "no worry" knife. Thanks for your Emerson up-date. I have a 3 week wait for my CQC-7.
 
Iv always thought of Ti knives as just a fancy prison shiv :D

Ti just cany take a good edge or keep it, you can get a point on it but a functional cutting edge is a different story.
Warren Thomas has the right idea with the carbide edges on the Ti blades but again this still has limitations.

Ti is better for other knife parts, mini prybars, bottle openers and other "cool" over priced items ;):thumbup:
 
Bro, let me tell you---Mission's Beta Titanium is razor sharp. They can shave hair! Ti, will also take more abuse than steel before it will rupture. And it's light weight. Is Titanium as good, overall, as steel??? But remember, it's Titanium! For what I want a Titanium knife for, my Mission knives go beyond their expectations.
 
Just an update for you guys. The stainless-titanium liners combination was used on a few models for the reason of keeping production ongoing. With the scarcity of titanium, EKI changed to a steel liner on the non-locking side so that production could carry on until titanium of sufficient thickness could be found.

Now, EKI has managed to secure the titanium they need for production, and hence 2008 will see the return of dual-titanium liners, of thicker 0.062" stock on all the production models.

Cheers and Regards,
Nick
 
Hey Nick---Thanks for the up-date. That news will make a lot of folks happy!
 
Lycosa said:
Good advice, Bro. STR claims SS makes a better lock than TI. It's all interesting. I'll be glad to have the CQC-7 back. I even thought of asking STR to make an all G-10 slab for the CQC-7.
Click to expand...

Let me clarify that statement. Stainless is better in some ways but not so much in others.

Its a toss up. Hardened stainless doesn't indent near as easily as the titanium and based on my own observations stainless wears better and at a slower rate.

From the making standpoint you have very little room for error or inconsistency in your contact angles and fitting for the lock contact on the blade if you are using stainless for your lock. Its been said that many makers love titanium because of its tendency to stick or gall to dissimilar metals and itself. This tendency makes it ideal for liner locks because it tends to make up for some inconsistancy by makers in contact angles where ti will stay put better on an otherwise sharper angle than is ideal when many times a stainless lock one would slide right off that same contact and allow the blade to close and it also allows ti to stay put better when the angle of your contact is ideal.

Ti has better memory and recovery than stainless after severe stress and bends and snaps back to its original shape unless its completely deformed to the tear point where stainless would be permanently bent and ruined.

Ti has the added advantage of lighter weight over stainless.

Ti has the additional feature of allowing you to color anodize it for futher appeal.

Ti does not need heat treated saving makers that expense if they have to mail out what the make out of steel to have it done for them and ti saves them time this way but makes up for the savings in H/T because its higher in price to obtain over stainless.

Stainless sheet is much cheaper and for those those that heat treat themselves its no problem and perhaps the best way to go for money savings if you are a manufacturer.

There is nothing at all wrong with mixing ti and stainless. Zero Tolerance does this in the 301 folder. The non lock liner is stainless on that knife FYI.

By the way, I have stainless sheet steel here I ordered from Jantz supply but it is unhardened. A magnet will not stick to this sheeting. So if that new liner is like the stuff I ordered from Jantz years ago and its not hardened perhaps that magent test is fruitless.

I'm not sure why this is the case but literally every sheet of the 410 stainless I bought from Jantz supply years ago is non magenetic until its hardened. The hardened locks I had Paul Bos heat treat for me of this steel are all magnetic after H/T though.

The real tell will be weight difference I'd suspect. The stainless liner will weigh more than the titanium one from your older knife but also if you want to really see the diff simply touch one to a belt grinder. There is no mistaking titanium that way. I realize its not likely to grind on your folder so its obviously not a good idea but in my shop if I pick up a sheet and can't tell because I had one of the 410 pieces all I have to do is see how much it sparks off the belt and I know instantly what I have in my hand. If its ti it will spark out a nice long trail enough to scare the dogs right out of the shop. Unhardened stainless I can grind all day with them right there under me if I'd let em stay there because they don't notice it.

Stainless does spark some after heat treatment but still no where near the impressive fire works of titanium. I've caught fire to saw dust in the bottom of my band saw cutting ti sheeting for clips, locks and liners and I've seen rags too close to my belt grinder start to smoke from the sparks off the ti as I work it. This has never been a problem or concern with steel really.

STR
 
By the way, if EKI is not hardening that liner side it is of no consequence really. It will still be plenty tough and strong. It might scratch and indent easier but its not so much behind and probably on par with what he used before there to be honest. The only real draw back would be for someone pimping that decided he wanted to color anodize his liners. Then you would know for sure if its stainless or titanium because one side only would color.

STR
 
Speaking of anodizing. That would be an easy way to find out if your non lock side liner is ti or not. Get it out and on the inside where the rear spacer sits you could place a diet coca cola soaked piece of paper towel. Then simply hook up a couple wires to a 9 or 12 volt battery and stick the postive cable on the liner up by the pivot hole and hold it so its making contact with the liner, and at the same time just rub the negative wire on that soaked paper towel and scribe your initials or a smilely face or something. If it works you'll have anodized initials or a drawing there in a light khaki color when you pull the towel off. If not its stainless.

STR
 
Good point. Or just heat the corner on the liner and if it goes blue/purple you have Ti. :thumbup:

Id say a set of good scales (weight) is probably the easiest way to tell though.
 
Just got a 2008 Mini CQC-7. Has the thick and thin liners, looks like thick lock side is a dfferent duller color than thin side, hope thats the Ti side.
 
So absolutely all knives come with stainless steel liners now? Or are there still some models outfitted with titanium? I was trying to look at my knives and the liners are equally thick, so i cant rely on that test method. Any other easy way?
 
EKI indicates that all knives (edit: currently in production) come with DOUBLE TITANIUM liners.

My 2008 CQC-14 has two liners, neither of which responds to a magnet. However, I haven't performed anodization or grinding tests.

-j
 
Does it mean anything that emerson's website lists some knives as having titanium liners, while others have titanium locks? Does it imply that a knife with a titanium lock have a stainless steel liner?
 
As nicklovesknives said above, quoting a passage by Mike Searson on a different forum, EKI has confirmed that there was a very short period where stainless was used on the lock-side.

EKI has moved back to double titanium liners in all knives moving forward.

-j
 
I've been reading this with a serious amount of interest, wondering if my 2006 cqc-14 has titanium or SS liners...then I realized - I think the lockup on this thing is really, really solid - so why does it matter to me? :)
 
Titanium, while lighter in weight, when in the same thickness as stainless steel, will wear faster and also provide less lock strength (read: compress). It seems that the use of mediums such as 6AL-4V titanium (etc.) are used in cutlery applications for its light weight compared to stainless and for its outright resistance against rusting and, in some cases, small residual magnetic signature. Also, it can be easily anodized to a host of different colors.

Thus, there are pros and cons to the use of titanium and stainless steel in liner locks.
The pros of titanium: lighter weight, resistance to weathering
The cons: more compression and less resistance to mechanical wear and torque

The pros of stainless steel: higher resistance to mechanical failure, torque, cheaper!
The cons: less resistant to rusting, heavier.

God bless you, America, and our men and women overseas.

KATN,

Wade
619G6
 
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