food for thought

SpartanSaint

SpartanSaint

Joined
Jun 17, 2010
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So i was reading like i always do, and saw someone make a comment about a ti fixed blade he's having made, with a carbide edge. i recently fell in love with the becker necker [have i mentioned that i hate you all :D] and the idea of a ti neck knife is rather fantastic!

however, i don't know how a titanium knife would behave. i know it makes a poor blade material due to hardening reasons etc, but the carbide edge would solve that, no? but that raises the question of how a carbide edge would behave... how would you sharpen it? can you sharpen it? how thick would the carbide edge be? does it even NEED sharpening? stuff like that

feel free to answer and discuss!! please and thank you
 
my understanging of this particular material as written by Ed Fowler is that the carbide is on one side of the blade only & just using the knife helps it to self sharpen. i hope i've got this right but fowler is the only contributor on this subject to date. [to my knowledge] dennis
 
My two cents:

This sounds way too gimmicky to me. If the 'carbide edge' on the knife is anything like the carbide tips on saw teeth or router bits, it's extremely brittle stuff. Great for cutting, but it'll chip in a heartbeat if it gets dropped or if it impacts anything hard (like other metal).

And the rest of the Ti blade might be lightweight, and non-magnetic. Beyond that, I see no practical reason for a knife like this.

As I said, that's my two cents. I'm sure some more knowledgable folks will provide their expertise here too.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
My two cents:

This sounds way too gimmicky to me. If the 'carbide edge' on the knife is anything like the carbide tips on saw teeth or router bits, it's extremely brittle stuff. Great for cutting, but it'll chip in a heartbeat if it gets dropped or if it impacts anything hard (like other metal).

And the rest of the Ti blade might be lightweight, and non-magnetic. Beyond that, I see no practical reason for a knife like this.

As I said, that's my two cents. I'm sure some more knowledgable folks will provide their expertise here too.
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lol thats why i asked....

i have no idea how it would behave. saw tooth carbide seems like a logical comparison, however i hope thats not the case as it would indeed prevent any kind of ti custom from entering my list of must haves
 
SpartanSaint said:
lol thats why i asked....

i have no idea how it would behave. saw tooth carbide seems like a logical comparison, however i hope thats not the case as it would indeed prevent any kind of ti custom from entering my list of must haves
Click to expand...

This may be something different than what I was thinking about. As Dennis Strickland pointed out, the carbide might be some sort of coating on the blade. I think Buck Knives did this a few years ago with a few of their knives. In effect, the carbide coating can be 'ground off' at the very edge, leaving an extremely hard & sharp edge of carbide alongside the Ti edge. Again, though, it seems to me like the stuff might be very brittle. As I said, Buck did something like this (hard-edged coating on the steel blade) a few years ago, but it didn't seem to catch on. I don't know why specifically.

Edited to add:

Here's an older BF thread on the coated Buck knives (this is what I was referring to):
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691958
 
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look at this, this is a carbide tipped planer knife
carbide-tipped-planer-knife.jpg


I assume it is less brittle than just a pure carbide blade, but even so micro chiping on the edge will be a problem, additionally it must be quit dificult to sharpen

http://globaltooling.bizhosting.com/products/knives-planer/carbide-tipped-planer-knives.html
 
hmm. good thoughts, i was just hoping we'd get an expert in here, someone who does it etc to answer these questions we have haha

you have to admit, the idea is genius on paper. however, in practice? idk. still waiting. Titanium Nitride [i have it on my gerber :barf:] isn't the same stuff i don't think.... the person mentioned it was being done to a custom, and i would doubt that they'd just coat it in that stuff. so idk..

i would think that it all depends on the carbide used, how it was applied etc. i don't believe the one sided auto sharpening would work with a ti blade, seeing how ti is so wear resistant? correct? the ti wouldn't wear away the way 420 would, at least to my understanding.... so the buck 119 fashion wouldn't work the same. plus i doubt a custom maker would use buck's failed methods on a high end set up

[sigh] more questions and no answers
 
I just Googled 'ti knife carbide edge', and found a link to a custom maker (Warren Thomas) who's made a Ti-bladed knife with a blade that "features a titanium core, double carbon fiber lamination and titanium carbide micro-welded into the edge." :eek:

We're not supposed to post vendor links here, so I'll refrain from that for the moment. But, if you Google as above, it's easy enough to find it.
 
um ya, something about monkey's? i found a ti knife by warren thomas [i just googled him] and zomg.



can someone tell me how well the carbide edge works? cuz i'd like to set about cutting out a kidney when my 940 gets home from the spa

edit: warren thomas has made more than one it seems. looks to be his thing, and a helluva thing at that. 1.4 oz neck knife... the kydex probably weighs twice that!
 
carbide is brittle and would chip if you dropped the knife and hit the edge. it would be hard to sharpen unless you had what is called a green wheel or diamond stones. the green wheel is softer than most grinding wheels which allows sharp grit particles to be exposed more often than any other abrasive wheel would allow.
 
Benchmade did this with a version of the 970. It was a Ti blade with a carbide coating. I think it was introd about 15 years ago.
 
The Titanium Carbide addition to one side of the edge of a titanium knife is probably the most exciting event I have witnessed for some time. The coating is only on one side, to sharpen all you do is take a couple of strokes on the non coated side. The Blades we have tested so far demonstrate fantastic cutting abilities. Chris Amos just brought one to the Willow Bow where we are conducting a seminar for the high endurance performance blade. We tested his blade and it cut longer than we could.

Do they chip? Maybe, but it would take pretty strong magnification to see them. The carbides actually provide a micro serrated edge, the coating is impregnated into the blade, not on the top so it will not chip off.
 
hats off to Ed Fowler for chipping in. if this man says it i believe it. through the years he has always been truthful. dennis
 
I figured as much. That is why I'm getting the Ti fixed blade w/ carbide. IIRC, I'm the guy the OP referred to. Reese Weiland is making the Ti fixed blade from .160" at a total length of one foot, 6" blade. He is doing the Japanese rayskin and cord wrap right now. When it gets here, I'll send it to Tom Krien along with the Ti blade Reese made for my factory Super CQC7 handle.
 
Charlie Mike said:
I figured as much. That is why I'm getting the Ti fixed blade w/ carbide. IIRC, I'm the guy the OP referred to. Reese Weiland is making the Ti fixed blade from .160" at a total length of one foot, 6" blade. He is doing the Japanese rayskin and cord wrap right now. When it gets here, I'll send it to Tom Krien along with the Ti blade Reese made for my factory Super CQC7 handle.
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that is correct sir. you inspired me. and your faith in the above puts the warren thomas neck knife in my list :D
 
Reading back to early threads, Kim Breed tested one of George Lambert's Titanium blades some months ago. Through extensive testing he did not have to sharpen it, stated it actually seemed to get sharper as he used it. He ordered another for himself.
When you have to dress up an edge, you only work on the side without the Titanium Carbides on it.
 
Ed Fowler said:
Reading back to early threads, Kim Breed tested one of George Lambert's Titanium blades some months ago. Through extensive testing he did not have to sharpen it, stated it actually seemed to get sharper as he used it. He ordered another for himself.
When you have to dress up an edge, you only work on the side without the Titanium Carbides on it.
Click to expand...

thank you for that!

i wonder. instead of getting a warren thomas, if there's a custom maker would would make me up a titanium neck knife custom like for me for <$150..

i'd like a drop or clip point, 2.5"- < 3" with a smaller handle... any suggestions?
 
Within a year, I'll be making carbide edge Ti knives.
 
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