Well, if Rob Simonich doesn't care. He wrote a really good article about Talonite for an online magazine I was going to do. The magazine never panned out. I had some technical difficulties and my work load has doubled. Anyway I will post the article here. If there are any objections I will remove it. This was written by Rob Simonich, not me.
Talonite, The quest for a better blade material
Since man first banged two rock together to produce a cutting edge, the quest has been ongoing to find a better blade material. Custom knives and knife makers have also been around for millennium. Near my home here in Clancy Montana, there is a field that is plowed every few years that was occupied as long as 11,000 years ago by Native Americans. I have found many stone tools of all types in this field, from arrow and atlatl points to huge knives and scrapers used for the butchering of Mammoth and other Ice Age mammals. One thing that pops right out looking at these ancient tools is that some were cheap throw away tools, and some were very nicely made and obviously highly prized possession's of their owners that exhibit superior materials and workmanship. The "Mass Produced" knives were almost always made of a local stone that is a plain brown color, and the "Custom" knives are almost always made of a nicer looking Agate or Obsidian. So it is with today's knives.
My personal quest for a better blade material has been ongoing since I made my first knife in 1984. My first knife was made of an old file. I have tried a multitude of steels including W-2, 0-1, L-6, 1095, 1084, 5160, M-2, D-2, A-2, 154-CM, ATS-34, 440-c, 440-V, 10-V, 3-V, Cru-Wear, Vasco-Wear, and Damascus from various sources. The most recent and most exciting material to work with in my opinion isn't steel at all but a material called Talonite.
Talonite 6bh, is a Cobalt Chromium alloy designated 6b, that has been age hardened hence the bh designation. With the most modern manufacturing and new age hardening techniques, Talonite in my opinion is a superior alloy to the 6b. What is Talonite made of? Here is the breakdown on the last shipment I received.
Co Balance
Cr 29.86%
W 3.85%
Fe 2.64%
Ni 2.46%
Mn 1.44%
C 1.05%
Si .58%
Mo .07%
P less than .01%
S less than .01%
Rockwell Hardness Rc 48
I first became aware of this material through the internet. The folks handling this material have been using it to manufacture saw tips for the big circular saws found in sawmills. They wondered if it would make good knives and offered a few free bars to interested knife makers through one of the forums on knives. I contacted them to get one of the free bars and found that the free sample material was gone. I offered to purchase a bar to try it out and received my bar in a few days. I had never worked a material like this before and was about half scared to start cutting and grinding on a $75 bar of material! After exchanging a few e-mails with Kit Carson concerning this alloy which he has vast experience with, I started to grind away everything that didn't look like a knife. The knife had been commissioned by a fellow forumite, Bob Allman and I kept him apprised of my progress.
I quickly developed a Love-Hate relationship with Talonite. It ground much easier than expected, and drilled nicely with the cheapest carbide bits I could find. When it came to giving the blade a finish and sharpening, I treated it like any other cutlery steel. I couldn't get a decent edge on it and I wasn't able to make it cut rope or wood well. After regrinding the blade thinner, and experimenting with edge angles, I was happy with the edge I got and decided to see if it would cut. I cut up several small 1X4 soft pine boards laying around my shop, with no noticeable difference in the edge, I then got some heavy 1/4" corrugated cardboard used to pack furniture in and proceeded to slice a couple thousand linear inches with no noticeable dulling. I then took the knife on a hunting trip and field dressed and skinned 2 fat White tail deer with it, and the dang thing was still sharp as could be! Bob had asked me to touch up the edge before I sent it to him but I sent it as it was. Bob received the knife and did a bunch more cutting with it before he touched up the edge. This was an impressive material! Bob says the knife well out cuts his 440-V knives which were up to this point his most impressive edge holders.
Many more knives and much more experimenting and testing has gone by since the First Talonite knife dubbed the Wambli. (Lakota for Eagle) The more I used Talonite the better I liked it. I was ordering enough of the material the I was approached by the supplier to become their distributor of Talonite to the knife industry. I gladly accepted, and am sending out several bars a week to custom knife makers and manufacturers.
I have compiled a list of what I feel are the main advantages and disadvantages of Talonite as a blade material.
Advantages:
Extreme wear resistance, customers report much better edge holding that 440-V
Extremely corrosion resistant, I haven't been able to corrode it in my shop.
No heat treating is required, grind and put to work.
Works easily with the proper abrasives and tools.
Easily soldered and welded.
Fairly tough, no edge rolling or chipping has been reported to date, bends before breaking
Takes a nice satin finish and bead blasts well..
Disadvantages:
More costly than traditional cutlery steels.
Requires special tooling to drill, ream, and mill/
Doesn't take a high finish well. Has a distinct grain.
In my opinion, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Talonite isn't for everybody, but for me and a growing number of folks with Talonite cutlery, feel it is as good as it gets until something better comes along. There has been quite a bit of interest from some big name cutlery manufacturers. Don't be surprised if sometime in the near future you see Talonite offered in a production knife.
In closing, my quest for a better blade material will always be ongoing, but for now make my knife Talonite!
Again, the preceding was from Rob Simonich. It ia a brilliantly written piece and I can't take credit for it.
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Dennis Bible
