Knife by campfire

MikeC

MikeC

Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
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Was sitting around the fire at the huntin camp the other evening and sitting rather close as it was cold. Had a few drinks and wind up sitting for several hours maybe 4.

My edc was in my pocket closest to the fire and when I reached for it after walking away for something the knife was hot and I mean hot so hot it was uncomfortable to hold until it was removed from my pocket and the proximity of the fire for a minute or so.

the knife was a Mission MPF 3 which is solid titanium both handle and blade, some buddies of mine that were there noticed the same thing with their knives and one of them carries a sebenza.

Do you think this did any damage to them? I had never even thought of this before the other night and now hoping I didn't damage my knife either blade or handle?

Any engineers out there are knife makers who know the anwser here?

Thanks in advance

MikeC
 
This happens to me all the time on scout trips. I dont think it does any damage. I am by no means an expert though.
 
Definitely no trouble. Steel won't lose a heat treat until it reaches over 300F, which yours definitely did not if you were able to hold it whatsoever. Also, the blade was almost certainly not solid titanium, but rather coated, but even so the point stands. The handle should be fine as well.
 
Your knife is fine. In most metals, for recrystallization of the grains to occur (at any appreciable rate), the material would be far too hot to handle.
 
You'dve definitely felt it through your pants if it got hot enough to ruin the blade's temper. Grain growth temperatures are hot!
 
Brutus the blade on the Mission MPF 3 is solid Titanium not coated in fact the entire knife is titanium, the handle, the blade, the pins, screws, etc. The sebenza was titanium handle and S30V blade.

I have done some research on the titanium used for the handles and for the Mission blade which is a beta ti alloy and on the S30V, the research claims these materials have very good high temperature properties and was suprised at the Titanium temperatures whereby the material still maintains its workable qualities.

I guess there fine, just kinda freaked me out.
 
I tell ya what you should be more concerned about while sitting next to the campfire.. your shoes! I thought I was far enough away from the fire (my feet were even getting a little chilly!) when I looked, melted a hole in the sole of my shoe, and it started to come off completely at the toe. Watch it!
 
Jake Bauer said:
I tell ya what you should be more concerned about while sitting next to the campfire.. your shoes! I thought I was far enough away from the fire (my feet were even getting a little chilly!) when I looked, melted a hole in the sole of my shoe, and it started to come off completely at the toe. Watch it!
Click to expand...

:thumbup:+1

I had a research team out on a collection trip, and one of the undergrad students was warming his feet by the fire. He stood up and the soles of his shoes collapsed like a marshmallow being squished btwn two graham crackers. He fell an smacked his face along the ground. It was pretty damn funny and even more educational. Campfires are not to be trifled with.
 
to affect the temper a knife would likely need to be heated to several hundred degrees.

probably hot enough to set your pants on fire, so to speak.
 
Your Mission knife and Sebenza are ruined. Send them to me for disposal before someone gets hurt.
 
Metal around 50-60C feels blistering hot, even though it isn't quite. It's due to the metals rapid heat transfer, same reason why a rubber handle feels warmer than a steel handle even if they're both at 0 degrees F.
 
You would have lost your temper far before the knife... by that I mean your underwear would have been on fire.
 
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