Talonite vs Stellite

[Cliff Stamp]

Is cobalt same as talonite and stellite? I have a large carbon fiber REKAT talonite folder( Simonich?) and also a cobalt Boye folder and they are both great cutters.

Boye uses cast Cobalt 6B, it is much softer than Talonite which is age hardened 6BH, what is usually called Stellite is Stellite 6K, which has 0.5% more carbon than Cobalt 6B. They are similar in some respects, different in others. Boye's for example is much softer and weaker, and Stellite 6k is significantly stronger than Talonite as the above materials data shows. They are all much weaker than even low end cutlery steels. How a knife cuts is largely irrelevant to the alloy at a given profile. The more durable the material in general the thinner it can be ground so the better it will cut. The low hardness and strength of the cobalt alloys demand heavier cross sections for a given task. Steve Harvey was the first to note this with an attempt to cut a piece of thick plastic which removed a section of the edge on the knife.

-Cliff

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Is cobalt same as talonite and stellite?

There are many cobalt alloys. Stellite 6K, Stellite 6B and Talonite are three colbalt alloys. There are also many steel alloys. VG10, BG42 and 3V are three steel alloys. Does this answer your question.

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I've written the following many times but some people still don't get it.

Talonite is an expensive speciality blade material. It is not good for cutting hard materials. It is best for cutting flesh and vegetables. If you want a skinning or caping knife, Talonite is one of the best blade materials available. If anyone wants to wear a knife next to their skin, on their body where it will be exposed to sweat or for use it in salt water without cleaning, Talonite is an excellent blade material.

If anyone wants a camp knife or a knife that will be used for chopping, Talonite is not the blade material to use.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

If you want a skinning or caping knife, Talonite is one of the best blade materials available.

Compared to? Which specific custom steel knives have you used for skinning and found to be significantly outperformed by Talonite? Have you tried ones from high end makers like Phil Wilson who focuses performance on cutting ability and edge retention? For an extreme challenge try grinding a Talonite blade like the M2 skinning knives Alvin Johnston makes which are used by professional meat cutters and then see if the above statement holds.

If anyone wants a camp knife or a knife that will be used for chopping, Talonite is not the blade material to use.

At least that much is admitted, it wasn't when Talonite was origionally promoted. But the "carbides in a soft matrix" is still being hyped - the logic of that fails horribly, as I noted that also applies to mild steel. The carbides won't do you any good if the matrix is so soft that the edge deforms too readily and goes out of line and/or the carbides simply tear free, or the edge is flattened.

Edges are less than a micron thick, they will bend and deform even cutting paper and cardboard. If the material is really soft and weak like those Cobalt alloys it happens much faster. You don't need to cut material harder than a blade to deform it, this should be obvious if you every chopped wood which is *far* softer than Talonite. The same principles hold to cutting softer materials as well, the deformations just take place on a smaller scale, but you can see them even under slight mag, 10x is easily enough.

Even AISI 420 is harder and stronger than Talonite/Stellite 6k which means it can be ground thinner for a given task and thus cut better for longer. There are lots of steels which are very corrosion resistant, some are even practically immune such as H1. Then you also have Beta-Ti and the host of ceramic-composites. But all of these are generally not needed unless the enviroment is really extreme. It takes a lot to rust even something like 440C when properly heat treated (high austenizing temperature).

-Cliff

 

[Timbo1982]

I have just been reading through this thread and thought I’d post my experience with stelite 6k. I had a Tom mayo covert I was using at work for a while. Initially I was hesitant to make it a user as I had read about how easily it supposedly rolls edges. My understanding at the time was it’s great for say cutting meat, flesh, fruit etc but not for hard use. I decided to give it a go and added it to my work rotation.
I’m a tradesman so the sort of use it got was sharpening builders pencils, cutting plastic poly pipe, strapping, wrap etc.what I would classify as reasonably hard use for a folding knife. The blade held up fine, it actually held an edge for longer than any other knife I’ve used and I’ve akways carried quality knives with top steels. My experience with it was that it definitely exceeded my expectations and it is not as soft as people make it Out to be.
In the end I sold the knife but only because I found the frame to be not quite as solid as I would like and the stop pin kept developing flat spots. Tom explained this is due to the covert being all titanium therefor no hardened steel stop pin he said they are designed strictly for covert use not hard daily use. I think in hindsight a tnt with stelite blade would have been more suited.
Anyway for anyone considering stelite that has concerns about using it hard I would say provided your not using it for chopping/heavy impact tasks you will find it performs incredibly well.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

I realize you're "new". But thread necromancy is generally frowned upon here.

 

[BladeScout]

Thats one heck of an old thread.
At least we got to read input by Mayo and not least Doug.