Linerlocks: Titanium Liners or Steel Liners?

Cosmic Superchunk

Cosmic Superchunk

Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
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I've always heard that titanium liners provide more strength for linerlocks than steel does, but in looking at several production folders I own, it seems that the titanium liners wear out faster. Has anyone else had this happen?
 
Titanium is not as strong as steel. Titanium is stronger for the weight, but not stronger absolutely. So assuming steel and titanium liners of exactly the same dimensions, the steel liner will be stronger, spring hardened.

The steel liner will also last longer than the titanium liner.

The titanium liner has the advantages that it's lighter, so it shaves some weight off the entire package, and it galls against the blade, providing some theoretical extra margin of security. But that of course leads to the titanium liner wearing much more quickly.

Joe
 
We should probably also mention the advantage titanium enjoys in terms of being essentially corrosion proof, but you guys already knew that. :)
 
Originally posted by Joe Talmadge
Titanium is not as strong as steel. Titanium is stronger for the weight, but not stronger absolutely. So assuming steel and titanium liners of exactly the same dimensions, the steel liner will be stronger, spring hardened.

The steel liner will also last longer than the titanium liner.

The titanium liner has the advantages that it's lighter, so it shaves some weight off the entire package, and it galls against the blade, providing some theoretical extra margin of security. But that of course leads to the titanium liner wearing much more quickly.

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe, thanks for the clarification. I have had knives which repeated openings and closings have caused their titanium liners to move clear across the blade tang in a very short period of time causing a bit of vertical blade play in the process and the case of one particular folder, total lock failure. That definately explains why. Thanks again. :)
 
Originally posted by Bronco
We should probably also mention the advantage titanium enjoys in terms of being essentially corrosion proof, but you guys already knew that. :)
Click to expand...

Good point! But here's some information that casts doubt on whether or not a titanium liner would inrease your corrosion resistance overall, in some situations.

When you have two different metals "connected" by a conducting fluid, you can get strange things. I've heard that in tests of folders that have different metal parts, those made up of different metals rust more quickly than those made up of similar metals, due to the battery effect. That means that in certain environments, an all-stainless folder could conceiveably be less-likely to rust overall, than a knife with stainless blade and screws/fittings plus a titanium liner. I haven't tested this directly, but have been told it is true by someone who claims to have done it.

Joe
 
Never heard of that one, Joe. What kind of reaction is that called?

Haven't had a problem with rust on stainless liners, so it's not an issue for me. Stainless is better in every respect except for corrosion resistance, IMO.
Stronger and more wear resistant...that's all I really want out of a liner lock.
 
I prefer titanium over steel for both liner and frame locks. Maybe because I've never had a ti frame lock fail under use or had a ti liner break off. I usually stick with what works for me.
 
I believe that what Joe was talking about is "galvanic corrosion", which occurs when two dissimilar metals are in close contact for long periods. Slthough I'm not an authority on this, I just finished a Industrial Chem. course a few weeks ago and various kinds of corrosion were about half the class. What happens is that the two conductive metals exchange electrons between each other, resulting in corrosion because each reverts into its most stable form, which for steel is rust. This occurs for most metals, however I seem to remember that Ti is chemically inert so I am fairly sure that galvanic corrosion would not be an issue in a steel + Ti folder because the electrons could not be exchanged. Not entirely sure though.

This same principle is why bead-blast finishes rust so readily, each of the little "pockets" in the metal fill with atmospheric contaminants and create a mini galvanic cell, causing the nearby metal to corrode.

However, galvanic tendancies can also be used to prevent corrosion too, by the use of a "sacrificial anode". In this setup a piece of a more electrochemicly reactive metal (usually magnesium) is placed in contact with a steel or iron structure. Because of electron exchange, the steel can't corrode until the other metal is oxidized. It is used frequently to prevent rust on underground storage tanks. This principle could easily be applied to a folder or fixed blade by making a removable, replacable magnesium insert for the handle/blade, thereby producing a very corrosion-resistant knife.

I'm farily sure anout all this, but anybody who is/knows a chemistry expert might want to ask them to make sure.
 
Thanks for the explanation. I thought is was "galvanic" but really wasn't sure.
The flip side "sacrificial anode"...that sounds interesting, too.
 
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