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sorry about all of the materials posts today. I'm curious to hear comparisons between these two alloys in terms of their use for knife blades.
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stellite 6k vs titanium with carbide-coated edge
- Thread starter misterjuiceman
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Stellite 6k/6bh/Talonite, hands down. The only titanium alloy suitable for blades is the stuff Mission Knives uses, and while I'm sure there are a few others that would be suitable for cutlery use that I don't know about, titanium in general lacks the properties of wear resistance and hardness to make a good cutting tool. Mission's Beta Ti has the advantage of being almost as hard as a spring steel blade... it's very flexible and lightweight but that's about all it has going for it. Mission's titanium MPK is too thin for prying, and the alloy isn't hard/stiff enough. So while it's flexible enough to be practically impossible to damage, it's not suitable for prying much more than a soda tab.
There was once upon a time a Benchmade Emerson design (cqc7???) That used a titanium blade with tungsten carbide welded to the cutting edge. I'm to understand they worked but didn't perform quite as well as you might expect from the description.
The cobalt alloys also lack hardness, but make up for it with extremely high levels of wear resistance. Depending on what you're cutting they can actually hold an edge better than most steel blades. Just don't go trying to pry things with one and it will serve well as a cutting tool.
There was once upon a time a Benchmade Emerson design (cqc7???) That used a titanium blade with tungsten carbide welded to the cutting edge. I'm to understand they worked but didn't perform quite as well as you might expect from the description.
The cobalt alloys also lack hardness, but make up for it with extremely high levels of wear resistance. Depending on what you're cutting they can actually hold an edge better than most steel blades. Just don't go trying to pry things with one and it will serve well as a cutting tool.
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the benchmade, 970st, was designed as a demining tool since titanium does not have magnetic properties.
i had one more as a novelty than an actual user. not a very good cutter from what i remember.
i also had a mission fixed blade, and while its properties were better, it was basically designed with the same user perameters in mind. didn't take a great edge, but is rust proof, light, and is non magnetic.
warren thomas uses carbon fiber laminates with titanium and carbide edges. i have only handled them, but they are very sharp. as far as retention i can't say.
i had one more as a novelty than an actual user. not a very good cutter from what i remember.
i also had a mission fixed blade, and while its properties were better, it was basically designed with the same user perameters in mind. didn't take a great edge, but is rust proof, light, and is non magnetic.
warren thomas uses carbon fiber laminates with titanium and carbide edges. i have only handled them, but they are very sharp. as far as retention i can't say.
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If you are not going to chop stuff or cut very hard materials, Stellite is the better choice.
It is ideal for food, for example. As for prying, just make sure the blade is thick enough.
A little tease for you:
nice TNT. I just got one in cpm154. no second grind on the top though.
so for a hard use knife, would stellite 6k or talonite still be optimal?