Talonite Good, Bad or Ugly?

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I've had the Talonite (R) bladed Carnivore from Rob Simonich for a while now, but haven't worn it everyday, but those that I have I would give it a 10 in performance, it does cut well and stays sharp a long time, agree on the loss of hair popping sharpness but a stropping or slight brush against a ceramic and it brings it back quickly, so what, all the knives and different steels eventually need to be sharpened, but the Talonite (R) cuts when you think it has lost it's edge.

Kudos for that and to Rob for making a great knife!

G2

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"The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions!"
Take the time to read your Bible Now, don't be left behind...

G2 LeatherWorks
 
I have a question about the fact that everyone is saying Talonite is Non-Corrosive.

I don't know the full properties of the material and I didn't really get into an in depth conversation with Rob at the show, but, can someone (Rob are you out there?) please explain how a knife material can be totally Non-Corrosive?

People have stated that they let blood dry on it, salt from the ocean, citrus, etc., and it didn't show any signs of rust. Does this mean that it will never rust, or is it just more resistant than normal stainless steels?

If I was to take some and drop it in a salt bath, am I to understand that it will NEVER rust?

I really would like to hear what you guy's think about this scenario and any other's that you can think of.

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C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "
 
Copfish, Gus, et al:

Welcome to the Talonite blade owners club!

There's a great deal of info over on Marion David Poff's site. The non-corrosive nature is tied to the properties of cobalt plus the fact that Talonite has so little carbon content... it flat won't rust.

I still find my Talonite blades to be the ones I routinely go to although, as I've stated elsewhere in BFC, the CPM stuff as well as old standbys like A2 still have their place and I indeed call upon them. No one material is yet the Holy Grail but dagnabit, I sure like my Talonite blades!!!


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-=[Bob Allman]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!

BFC member since the very beginning
Member: American Knife & Tool Institute; Varmint Hunters Association;
National Rifle Association; Praire Thunder Inc.; Rapid City Rifle Club;
Spearfish Rifle & Pistol Club; Buck Collectors Club (prime interest: 532s)
Certified Talonite(r) enthusiast!
 
ok ok...I told you before walt...you think too much....the talonite will NOT stick to my mag chuck.....the magnet at the end of my carbide scribe does nothing to it....so to me...its non magnetic....thats as technical as i get!!!!!!! will say it again for everyone to read:TALONITE WILL NOT RUST. rob has put it thru every test imaginable and guess what....NO RUST>.....no IRON.....NO RUST.......cant rust, wont rust, doesnt want to rust....put it in a bucket of whatever you want....cat pee, cow blood...ocean water with a bunch of extra salt in it....no rust.. In case anyone is still not sure... try it yourself
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[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 06-21-2000).]
 
Jailhack, that's correct: you can put it in a salt bath and it will never rust, tarnish, or corrode -- not in one lifetime, anyway (if you're interested in a time-scale of millions of years, I don't know).

Now for the trivia: there is a small amount of iron in Talonite (but it is not a steel). I seem to recall reading there are some powerful chemicals that can attack it, but I'm putting that in the trivia category since I doubt any of us will ever encounter them. Talonite is not magnetic. Pure cobalt is magnetic. So is pure nickel. The US five-cent coin, although it is called a nickel, contains so little nickel it is not magnetic, and as a result there are millions of Americans who think nickel is not magnetic. The Canadian five-cent piece does contain enough nickel to be magnetic.

Have I bored everyone sufficiently yet? If not, I have more trivia where that came from....
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-Cougar :{)
 
Hello

So far I have made 3 talonite knives and the results i got by using/testing them are quite similar to what everyone else has described, and I really love to work with it, but it is a bit too expensive to fool around with just to put the knife in stock, so I can't work with it as much as I wanted.
Hopefully, I'll get a couple more knives made of it this year.

Ivan Campos
 
Guys,
Rob has had a bar of TALONITE[sandblasted] in a salt brine tank for many months now....no corrosion....non...nada...zip. This material is RUST-NOT! You may resume your regularly scheduled programs.....

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Stay Sharp!
Will Fennell
Camillus Cutlery www.camillusknives.com

[This message has been edited by Will Fennell (edited 06-21-2000).]
 
Okay, here's the deal, Talonite is not magnetic in the sense that it will stick to a magnet, but it is magnetic in the sense that it can be detected by a metal detector. So, if you want to use a magnetic sheath for your Talonite blade, you're out of luck. If you want to play around with magnetically-triggered mines, you're out of luck. Other than that, I'm not sure; I've heard too many conflicting reports about Talonite's cutting ability to buy a blade right now.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
hello folks,

My opinion on talonite:
first of all, all metals oxidize except gold, silver and platinum. So does talonite. I did not say rust for a good reason. Do any of you people know that Aluminium rust in a split second? But we think it is rust-proof. Well, the layer of Aluminiumoxide, which coats the suface, is. The fact that iron colours red when it rusts is a big exception in the metal-world. Kobalt oxidizes too, but we see it as not-rusting for another reason. And so does Talonite. I don't know what happens excactly, maybe in needs 100.000.000.000 years to rust, maybe it coats. Conclusion: maybe rust-proof, but it does oxidize.

second; the costs of sending some Talonite over here plus the talonite itself make it not even worth trying. I doubt it will cut 25x better then a forged 52100 knife, it sure costs that much more.

third; because of the soft matrix with carbides in it, it will form a micro saw. That's good for some applications, but Talonite cannot replace most knife tasks, especially in survival situations.
For hunters, it will be a good choice. For divers too. But for filleting a fish, or a machete, or something to chop....I don't know.

I think the future of knives is not in metals, but in kristalline or ceramic materials. But for now, there's no better alternative.

That was the negative part. Now the positive.
A micro saw can solve most cutting problems
The rust-proof nature is very good, because then you have, besides a use knife, a collector knife which will not rust away. Try and keep a 52100 blade whithout treathment; very soon you will have a dark blade.

And, let's face it. Talonite is a hype and you are all jumping on it. Now there's nothing wrong with that, just human nature.
Even I, being as sceptical as I can possibly be, want to try a piece of talonite.

hey, does anyone has Rob Simmonich E-mail adress? Maybe I should discuss this with him.
Or anyone else who mail me and says that I am soooo wrong.

greetz, Bart.

Feel free to mail me.
 
mr bart student- how many talonite knives do you own....how many have you used???? I dont want to blow you out of the water, but you dont know what you are talking about....It is an excellent material.....everyone that I have made a knife for out of talonite is elated with it...it is not a fad, Kit Carson and I have been making stellite knives for over 16 years....It IS expensive, but it makes excellent knives...excellent...fillet knives, hunting knives, folders.....anything you want....you just have to understand its limitations as far as the strength factor goes and design the knife around its purpose. that includes the blank thickness, type of grind, and thickness of the edge... I have been making a lot of knives out of talonite and have not had ONE negative response.....not one....
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I've been away from this thread for a while...
Tom, I would have said that Talonite was non magnetic also. I didn't stick to my chuck either, had to use the old double sided tape!! Walt blew me away with his explanation of magnetism
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I learn something new every day!!
I must agree that it's not a fad, people tell me all time how they put theirs through some hard use. I have customers ordering second knives from me in Talonite. Also, it seems like EVERYONE that orders or is interested in Talonite already has a CUDA or another makers Talonite knife, that they paid good money for..... and USED.
If I ever get time, I would like to make myself a larger knife out of this material!
Neil

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Talonite, new pics, knives in stock!

blackwoodknives.com
 
I have Talonite knives by several makers. I have a gripe! I don't have enough! Okay, the cost is high, but that factor is outweighed by the edge holding, ease of sharpening, stain resistance...


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"Hi, I'm Fish, and I'm a Taloniteaholic..."
copfish@aol.com
 
O.K., you guy's are all in agreement about the non-corrosive value of Talonite, but I have been wondering about something else too.

What about using it in a large camp type knife? I am not talking about a skinner, I mean something around the size of a Camillus Brute or Magnum Camp. Since Talonite is on the soft side of the Rockwell scale, how would or does it hold up to choppinng chores and heavy use?

This material is really starting to get my attention and I am trying to find out its plus and minus values.


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C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "
 
Jailhack,
I posed that same question in the link I referenced at the beginning of this thread. As you can see, Tom Walz jumped into that conversation and defended the abilities of Talonite in the chopping scenario. I don't own a Talonite blade, and have no reason to doubt what Tom says, but I'll admit that I am still having a little difficulty reconciling these claims of performance with the performance that would normally be indicated by a material with the tensile strength and hardness of Talonite. As we are now starting to see larger blades made from Talonite, hopefully the real world tests are not far behind.

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Semper Fi
 
Rob Simonich has made every type of knife under the sun out of the stuff....No problems, again, you have to be aware of its shortcomings and compensate, just like every other knife steel on this planet... go to his website, or to http://www.carbideprocessors.com and check out the facts that are already there. the stuff isnt soft...its WAY harder that gun barrels...it just isnt as hard as we are used to on some of the modern steels...I would imagine its harder than a lot of knife blades from the last century...

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
I'd better shut up now or Tom will never sell me one of his TNTs
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Semper Fi
 
Jailhack,
The main problem with a large chopper or camp knife made of TALONITE is the cost of the material. TALONITE is VERY expensive compared to steel. Approx. 16 times the cost of ATS-34.
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A BRUTE would take[ of the top of my head] about $450 worth of TALONITE[+/-$150] before you even started working on it. Then its really a pain to grind, even with automated grinding equipment. Bigger blade equals more grinding.......

IT would be REALLY expensive...and would not really be playing to its strenghts. Talonite is a great edge holder, but not the best at impact resistance...not BAD , but not the best.

So you wanna make a big camp knife[ that will be expected to chop] out of material that is ALOT more expensive than the other material it will get compared to,...and is not really better FOR SOME OF THOSE TASK?

TALONITE makes a GREAT utility or skinning blade,...ultimatly rust proof, holds a workable edge a VERY long time, and is VERY easy to sharpen. Make the camp knives out of A2, D2, 0170-6c, 3V,1095, etc. You'll be happy and have ALOT of money left to go camping
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Stay Sharp!
Will Fennell
Camillus Cutlery
www.camillusknives.com
 
Maybe this should be a separate topic and maybe it's been covered before but.... What about Stellite?? I've worked with both and they seem to be very similar. I find the that the Stellite I've used to be a little tougher on belts and about 5 Rc points higher. Cost is less but the price would probably equal out due to the dificulty of grinding.
If people had the choice of two identical knives except one being Talonite and the other Stellite, would they automatically choose the Talonite model because of the "FAD" theory?? Is Talonite a more accepted "buzz" word than stellite.
I stated before that I dont' beleive in fad idea regarding the materials qualities. I'm just curious as to the acceptance of both materials being so similar.
My thoughts are to try some more stellite just because it's availble in more sizes and comes finished better. Because I can friction saw it, plates would be more economical that bar stock.
Neil
PS I hope this made sense?
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Talonite, new pics, knives in stock!

blackwoodknives.com
 
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