Mission knives questions

B

BG-S4

Joined
Sep 3, 2015
Messages
14
I recently bought a Mission MPU in Ti. Looks like old stock on the site in the UK.
I've had it about a month and so far for my EDC tasks its holding an edge really well and is very light and easy to Neck carry.
I've been doing a little research on them and have a few bits I can't find out. I tried emailing mission but got no reply :0(

Does anyone know what titanium alloy they used, closest I can find is it was beta c titanium.
From people's experinces how is it best to sharpen a mission Ti knife, also can you strop them.
I've read there were issues with QC and heat treat. Is there anyway to know when your mission knife was made. The box had no date etc on it. Although on pictures on the net the mission logo's changed.

I'm really liking titanium knives now, is there any company/custom maker making Ti knives that use a better Ti alloy than mission.

Also are current mission knives available as good as the older ones.
 
Last edited:
Anyone know the alloy Mission use or hw to date a Mission knife. Also is SM100 a large step up from a Mission Ti knife.
 
Last edited:
I have the Ti MPU and have used it as a kayaking knife and also as a hunting knife for years. Im a fan of MISSION knives.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...homemade-CF-scales?highlight=Mission+titanium

I have a few other MISSION Ti knives and use the MPS Ti (non serrated. I dont do serrations) as a hunting/camp knife.

I sharpen the knives on a Lansky Diamond set and have no problem sharpening them and putting a perfectly fine, durable edge on the ti knives. They will zip through several deer with no problem before re-sharpening.

As I often hunt in very damp conditions, its nice to have ones knives being totally impervious to the elements. Especially on extended trips. I often carry a titanium gut opener and the above mentioned MISSION titanium knives on hunting trips. They are a great combo and do stellar service.

When kayaking in salt water, the titanium MPU (non serrated) is great to have along. Ive carried other knives but even with a lot of care and cleaning/oiling, they all developed rust spots etc.
The Ti MPU sits in my kayaking vest (link) and simply gets hosed down long with the vest after each kayaking trip.

MISSION uses Beta Ti. A lot of the bad rep in regards to titanium is that few (if others than Mission) are able to work Beta titanium in my quantity. Its very very hard for the machines to work hence, when the titanium craze took off, many knife makers pumped titanium knives on the market in any other titanium grade than Beta. Some (most if not all)of these are (even) softer than MISSIONs ti knives and cant hold an edge worth squat.

BG-S4 said:
I'm really liking titanium knives now, is there any company/custom maker making Ti knives that use a better Ti alloy than mission.
Click to expand...
No. See above.

BG-S4 said:
Also are current mission knives available as good as the older ones.
Click to expand...
MISSION have gone through some turbulent times and have amongst other factors changed ownership.

There were some rumblings about the HT on some batch of Ti knives. I cant say for sure - my MISSION Ti knives work just fine......., but then they are old.

Ive written MISSION on several occasions in the past and have had no problems communicating with the company.
 
Last edited:
Hi BladeScout,
Thanks for the response, looks like you have given that MPU some god use :)
The logo on yours in the pics is different to mine. I bought mine recently from heinnie in the uk but am sure it had been in stock for a while.
Cheers
Kev
 
Is there any details showing what logo was used when?
That MPS Ti is seeing some good use :)
 
Last edited:
Hi BG-S4,

Here's the Wikipedia page about Beta C. It's an old beta ti alloy formula with a scattering of alloying elements:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_Beta_C

Like some of the other beta titanium alloys out there that I suspect will make a nice blade, it's basically the equivalent of an airplane leaf spring! :D Of course it can be used for just about anything else. The beta alloy I'm using for forged blades is beta stabilized with about 10% niobium only (and a tiny bit of iron), which makes it more of a "near beta" alloy than anything, like stainless steel with JUST BARELY enough chromium to be "stainless."

When titanium is used as a base metal it's drastically influenced by alloying elements, just like iron, copper and the other common alloy base metals. If enough "beta stabilizer" alloying elements are within the titanium, then the ti becomes highly heat-treatable "beta ti" and can form and retain a huge range of crystalline structures, which means they can be optimized for use as a blade instead of just a structural piece.
 
Hi Mecha,
I was looking at some of your YouTube videos, really cool :)
I didn't realise there were different Beta Ti's seems as cared as steels.
Think I need to do some research before choosing my next knife, but will definatly be getting a Ti alloy of some kind.
I would love to try outs me SM100 aswell.
 
Last edited:
BG-S4 said:
Hi Mecha,
I was looking at some of your YouTube videos, really cool :)
I didn't realise there were different Beta Ti's seems as cared as steels.
Think I need to do some research before choosing my next knife, but will definatly be getting a Ti alloy of some kind.
I would love to try outs me SM100 aswell.
Cheers
Kev
Click to expand...

HA! I'm glad you like the videos, they're goofy but just meant to be fun and show a bit about how my blades are made, and what they can do. SM100 is mostly nickel, and as such it's more of a nickel alloy with a lot of titanium alloyed into it. I don't know much about it.

There are indeed many different titanium alloys. There are around two-dozen commercially available alloys, which are mostly just variants of the same half-dozen or so alloys, and only a few of them are beta metastable. Many if not most of the beta ti that's made has no commercial grade number. They're proprietary or are made in small batches with specific formulas for some special purpose, usually aerospace-related.

I can tell ya they can sure make a nice sword. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top