The Strongest Frame Lock Material?

H

Hypermole

Joined
Aug 23, 2012
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Is Titanium the best handle-lock combo or is there another steel that provides a stronger lockup.

I have been under the impression that Titanium was the best with all things considered.

Thank You
 
Last edited:
marcinek said:
There is no "best" or "ultimate" knife steel...so "no."
Best blade steel (actually it's not steel), or best lockup "steel"? You kinda changed subjects a couple times mid-post. :confused:
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Thanks .. I have that fixed, I hope. From what I've seen some frame lock knifes will use different material when building the handle.
So what I am trying to understand is if only one material is used in the handle, would Titanium be the best overall.

Sorry about the confusion on my part. I saw a knife with a Titanium handle and a blade made from D2 steel and I was under the impression that would be the perfect combo for a frame lock knife.

Thanks
 
Hypermole said:
Sorry about the confusion on my part. I saw a knife with a Titanium handle and a blade made from D2 steel and I was under the impression that would be the perfect combo for a frame lock knife.

Thanks
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The titanium handle is excellent (good ebough for a Sebenza!). The D2? Depends. Depends on what metal properties you like your blade steel to have. All steels are different...that's why there is no "ultimate" or "best" steel. D2 is great for some stuff, not as great for other stuff.
 
Unobtainium handle with a Damascus blade composed of Adamantium and Vorpal.

There is no "best".
 
There are far better options concerning materials for framelocks in the wear region than ti...steel is the next best thing:)
 
marcinek said:
The titanium handle is excellent (good ebough for a Sebenza!). The D2? Depends. Depends on what metal properties you like your blade steel to have. All steels are different...that's why there is no "ultimate" or "best" steel. D2 is great for some stuff, not as great for other stuff.
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Thank You very much for this explanation. I see the same type of knife with Titanium Handle and S30V blade steel. It is a very nice looking folder but price is out of my budget and I'm still not sure about frame locks in general.
 
Hypermole said:
Thank You very much for this explanation. I see the same type of knife with Titanium Handle and S30V blade steel. It is a very nice looking folder but price is out of my budget and I'm still not sure about frame locks in general.
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You haven't mentioned brand or maker of this knife, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be careful of "titanium" and "D2" framelocks being sold at a too-good-to-be-true price.
 
marcinek said:
You haven't mentioned brand or maker of this knife, but I'm sure I don't have to tell you to be careful of "titanium" and "D2" framelocks being sold at a too-good-to-be-true price.
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There were a few but the Buck mayo tnt s30v is what I'm currently checking out.

Buck%20172%20mayo%20tnt.jpg
 
Hypermole said:
Is Titanium the best handle-lock combo or is there another steel that provides a stronger lockup.

I have been under the impression that Titanium was the best with all things considered.

Thank You
Click to expand...

As already mentioned, steel would make a stronger handle / frame lock combo. If absolute strength was your only criteria, that would be hard to beat. Titanium is lighter than steel with a more than adequate strength-to-weight ratio and very good memory. It's also corrosion proof in more settings than steel is (maybe it's completely corrosion proof, IDK for sure).

6AL4V titanium and S30V steel have become the "industry standard" of framelocks, but there are other good combos out there. The new ZT 566 framelock uses a steel lockside instead of titanium and Elmax for the blade steel. ZT wouldn't use steel for their frame if they weren't confident that it would work for that knife.
 
bld522 said:
One of my all-time favorite Buck knives and hard to find. I'd grab it if I were you.
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Agreed. Used t have one and it was flawless. That would be a really nice EDC blade if you like Ti & S30V. Buck did a good job on that collab.
 
I know there is no perfect steel or alloy, butI will say dm-100 is pretty intriguing as is NiTinol.
 
Titanium has advantages and disadvantages. 2/3 the weight and strength of steel, very corrosion resistant but EXPENSIVE due to the chemical reaction process required to refine it to the metallic state. That chemical process is also a potential pollution hazard I have read. Prior to electrolytic refining of Aluminum it cost as much or more than silver! Titanium does not yet have a cheap refining process.

Even so I feel that a lot of Ti products are overpriced at retail based on my own purchase and machining of 6AL4V titanium bar for making my own body jewelry.
 
Tony8179 said:
Unobtainium handle with a Damascus blade composed of Adamantium and Vorpal.
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Sadly you'll find that unobtanium scratches too easily for it to make a great handle material. The adavorpalmascus is pretty awesome though, so I won't argue that. You get the perfect blend of adamantium strength and vorpal head-sliceyness with adavorpalmascus. Heads just pop right up, and you never have so much as a tiny nick to clean up.

If you do go with unobtanium, trust me you'll want to keep your keys in the opposite pocket.
 
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