Light trailblazing chopper - the Undergrowth Organizer!

[Mecha]

Presented for all your bushwhacking, backpacking, trailblazing needs: the Undergrowth Organizer #1!

This light chopper is hand-forged from titanium beta alloy (89.5ti 10nb 0.5 fe). It is impervious to corrosion, extremely strong, and made to be used.

The blade is just under 22" in total length, with a 5 3/4" grip and 14 1/2" cutting edge. It is about 1/4" thick at the ricasso, tapering toward the tip.

The blade weighs 11.4 oz; the sheath weighs 13.6 oz. The total package weighs 1 lb 9 oz. Sheath measures 17 1/4" in length, 2 1/2" wide, and 5/8" thick.

The sheath and grip were made with gray elk hide over cow + waxed nylon cord. All leatherwork was done by Ms. Øye.

On the sides along the spine are a handful of tiny indentations from a hardness tester. I was unable to find a spot flat enough to test accurately. More pictures of this blade can be found in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1196934-Titanium-knives-marked-and-quenched

EDIT: Some folks have been asking good questions about this blade, such as what happens when the leather grip gets wet, how the metal compares to steels, etc. In order to better reflect the experimental and unknown nature of the alloy and grip construction, as well as overall blade imperfections and the fact that daddy needs a tooth pulled, the price has been dropped to SOLD, shipped and insured to U.S.A/Canada, Paypal-able to KLSAMEE@YAHOO.COM If a buyer has any problems with the grip or leather construction, the sword can be sent back for repairs/upgrades free of charge, or course.

Thanks for looking, and all comments are welcome!

 

[HJK]

Wow! Could you discuss the impact resistance and edge holding?

 

[Mecha]

Sure thing, HJK!

The impact resistance of this metal is through the stratosphere. It's stiff but quite springy, and having abused the bejeezus out of a lot of prototypes, trying to break it is a long and difficult task. Dropping one tip-down onto concrete (or launched off of a belt grinder into a parking lot ) results in only a tiny bit of minor damage/rolling, easily fixed. If beaten overwhelmingly into a very hard or solid object, the edge can roll a bit. If used for heavy prying, the blade may get slightly warped, but it can be fixed by bending it back the other way; it is extremely resistant to fatigue from bending, prying and impact.

As for edge retention, the alloy readily gets nice and sharp. It is buttery smooth (not ragged) with fine grain structure, and the secondary bevel is convex to make it even more tough. Customers and testers have all reported that their swords are still sharp after months of use in the woods or backyard cutting (knife customers are ominously silent). I was able to lose some of the edge sharpness in a very thin sword blade after several months of wonton chopping of many backyard trees, shrubs, cans, cardboard, plastic etc. There are a few video links on madscienceforge.com

I'm not sure how to compare it, but it isn't like a fine alloy steel knife: not as hard and sharp, but very tough. It's qualities are excellent for a sword or large chopper! I'm fully confident in this blade's ability to perform normal and even heroic tasks expected of such a thing. If a buyer found its performance greatly lacking, I would be quite embarrassed and refund their hard-earned money.

 

[drducati]

That is an impressive piece. That stuff is not easy to work either.

 

[Mecha]

Thanks a lot, Dr. Ducati. It is indeed a giant pain in the ass, and this chopper certainly isn't perfect. The photos on that other thread above are more clear.

 

[drducati]

I'm wondering where you got the titanium. That is a very uncommon alloy. Beta stabilized Ti alloys are very springy. They have a very low modulus (stiffness) and very high yield strengths - that means the slope of the stress-strain curve is very long so it can withstand high strains and not take a permanent set. They are often used for racing valve springs. Other uses include biomedical implants (screws, cannulas, plates) and aerospace. The skin of the SR-71 was a beta Ti alloy, although not this Nb alloyed Ti that the chopper is made out of.
Hell of a machete.

 

[Mecha]

This alloy I'm using originated as a custom order for Boeing. It is quite aged, I would say decades. I could write a damn essay about why I think it's perfect for titanium swords, so I'll spare you!

After a lot of research on this strange alloy, its history remains elusive, and I'm still not exactly sure where it came from. From what I could find, TiNb as a structural alloy was used in the moon capsules, so it is a very old formula. It used to be used on early satellites, and it seems to generally be a space-faring alloy, probably used on the space shuttles as well. It was/is used for some forged combat helicopter parts. More recently, human joint implant experiments (a great source for titanium metallurgical research).

 

[drducati]

When I was at Auburn in the 1960's I worked in a USDA job. We had a stack of titanium sheets 4'x8'. 2 feet high. They came from the GSA depot in Marietta ,Ga. Cost $3 each at dispersal cost. They used them to cover table tops. Acquisition cost was listed as $300 ea. That was in 1960 dollars.

 

[Mecha]

According to dollartimes.com, $300 in 1960 is equal to $2,378.05 nowadays (692.68%)! Hell of a table top.

 

[lowslowmiata]

Do you accept arms and or legs as payment? I'll have a first born just to trade you.. beautiful blade you have

 

[BigRob]

Incredible, I wish! Very well done sir.

 

[jac_solar]

This alloy I'm using originated as a custom order for Boeing. It is quite aged, I would say decades. I could write a damn essay about why I think it's perfect for titanium swords, so I'll spare you!

Very interesting stuff! Very nice job on the sword as well. Maybe you could write a short essay or summary of why you think it's perfect for a titanium sword -- what advantages does it have over regular steel swords?

 

[Mecha]

Thanks fellas! Well ok jac_solar, my viking leatherworking lady Øye says it's ok to spill some of the beans to a Norwegian.

I'll list some of the properties of this titanium alloy that make it excellent for my sword-making purposes:

-A bit heavier than many ti alloys, due to the niobium content, yet still light
-Niobium alloying element shields the metal from atmospheric/oxygen contamination when it's hot, so it stays nice and clean while forging
-It's a very pure aerospace alloy, free of almost all contaminants
-Niobium content is high enough to make it a beta-phase stable alloy, so it can be readily hardened, and produce martensitic grain structure among many other things
-Iron element causes deep-hardening effect during quench, helps produce fine grain structure and is a strong beta stabilizer
-It is stronger than many titanium alloys, and it is just ridiculously resistant against impact and fatigue
-It has a deep, light-redirecting luster that doesn't look like aluminum; I think it is extremely beautiful

These qualities soften and diminish many of the problems one may encounter when making or using a titanium alloy sword.

The only absolute advantage I can think of that titanium alloys have over all steels is that titanium is completely impervious to corrosion. There is probably a steel alloy out there that is maximized to exceed any of titanium's many haughty qualities (except maybe strength to weight ratio). The particular alloy I'm using holds many properties at once that are good for a sword no matter what the material, and a few that are unique to titanium. It is perfect for forging, has a fine grain structure, it's highly heat-treatable, gets reasonably hard, is extremely tough, stiff yet able to flex in a very exaggerated way, and most importantly it gets and stays nice and sharp!

Remember folks, it's merely iron until you add just 1-2% of carbon, and then you have high carbon steel, with all of its lovely blade-making properties! Add in 11% of chromium and you have stainless damn high-carbon steel. In comparison, with the alloy I'm using, the titanium is like the iron, the iron is like the carbon, and the niobium is like the chromium/vanadium/whatever element(s) that greatly affect the properties of the alloy!

I'll just get my hat and coat....