Titanium as a blade a good choice?

M

Maikutis

Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Messages
193
Noobie question here, but why aren't more knives made with a Titanium blade? I imagine it would be difficult to sharpen, but don't have much more of an answer. My friend, who cares little about knives, asked me and I don't have an answer for him, but told him I would get him one. Thanks for any feedback.

mike
 
titanium is generally too soft and doesn't hold an edge well. It's used in a few dive knives where corrosion resistance is more important.
 
Oh no---Bash the Titanium blade thread again!
Does Ti cut like steel? No.
Does Bets Ti cut well? Yes.
If you want a rust free, tough, good cutting blade, Beta Titanium will not let you down. My Mission Knives are all the proof I need.
 
New Nickel Titanium blades were introduced this year at Blade 2008.

Expensive stuff approx $2k for a folder.


97957695
http://www.pbase.com/haveblue/image/97957695
 
From a metalurgical point of view, titanium does not undergo "phase transitions" like steel so it cant be quenched and tempered and it's properties can't be honed like steel.

With steel you start with an alloy and then can heat treat it to improve its performance. With titanium you don't have that option.

(more knowledgeable forum members may correct me, but I think that's right.)
 
If the knife is made by a reputable manufacturer, then you have nothing to worry about, even if the blade is titanium. Mission Knives' titanium bladed knives get very favorable reviews here, as Mission knows what they are doing with titanium. Just ask Lycosa. He has a lot of experience with them.
 
Maikutis said:
Noobie question here, but why aren't more knives made with a Titanium blade? I imagine it would be difficult to sharpen, but don't have much more of an answer. My friend, who cares little about knives, asked me and I don't have an answer for him, but told him I would get him one. Thanks for any feedback.

mike
Click to expand...

SaMX said:
titanium is generally too soft and doesn't hold an edge well. It's used in a few dive knives where corrosion resistance is more important.
Click to expand...

What SaMX said.
 
I have two mission Ti knives. They are very well built, and sturdy. If I could, I would trade my Ti bladed folder for one of their A2 bladed ones. That option wasn't available when I bought mine.

I like Titanium for certain purposes. It'll never make as good a blade material as Steel IMO. Not unless new alloys are brought out that I haven't seen.

BTW, I know D9 alloy , as in the "widgy" pry bars for the key chain, and also used in nuke reactors is a steel/Ti alloy. It makes nice mini pry bars. I wonder how it would do in blades? I wonder what the max RC is? For my tastes, anything below RC56 ( 58 is better, and ZDP at RC65 is better yet) shouldn't be in real knife blades. Yes, that rules out 420j as a blade steel for me. Joe
 
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If your friend wants a corrosion free knife for a good price, tell him to get an H-1 knife from spyderco, other wise titanium is too soft to hold an edge. Its almost like comparing a soft piece of steel to an already hardened piece of steel. The soft piece will get an edge, but not much of one, while the hardened piece can get an extrememly sharp edge due to hardness and other factors.

Titanium is what it is, titanium. It has its own place on the periodic table and can only get so tough all by its lonesome.

Steel on the otherhand is a mix of different elements which are out together based on how they affect the steel. All of the fancy names of blade steels are just different mixtures of elements put together for that all around knife blade.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it :)
 
Titanium is for handles not blades :p

There is a number of issues that make Ti a problematic blade material.
Thats why knives are made of steel :)
 
Titanium by itself is worthless as a blade material. There are some alloys that contain titanium that can be effective depending on the alloy itself. In general I think it is safe to say that, unless you have a need for some property that a titanium alloy blade will deliver, there is simply no good substitute for steel as a blade material. The same holds true for ceramic blades for other reasons. Stick with steel unless you have unusual requirements.
 
Here is the Question: What are you going to use the knife for? Then, go from there!
 
Whoa, didn't know this would cause a flame war :).

Neither myself nor my friend, need a titanium blade, it was just a discussion. He said it was the perfect steel. We both thought that titanium was a hard metal, but reading here, I guess it isn't. I had no idea it was considered soft. I understood you can't bend titanium. My wedding ring is titanium, and the jeweler told me it cannot be resized, as it can't bend, that it is carved from a block of titanium. So whats going on here? Why, if titanium is soft, can't a ring be resized? But if it was hard, why can't a good knife edge be made of it? I'm confused.
 
Maikutis said:
I understood you can't bend titanium.
Click to expand...

Couldn't make a frame-lock if the stuff didn't bend.:D
It is softer than steel, at least in my experience with peening the end of liner-locks to get better engagement.
 
Titanium is good for a lot of things and has an amazing strength to weight ratio, but its just doesn't work in knife blades. You and your friend confused hard/strong with strength to weight ratio, and that's why you though it would be good for knife blades. About your ring titanium doesn't have as much memory as normal steel alloys, so once you bend it or make a shape with it your not supposed to change that shape again.
If you want a good titanium bladed knife I would say buy a Warren Thomas custom.
 
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