Titanium as a blade a good choice?

Warren Thomas uses titanium on his blades---that must be a mistake!!
And Mission Knives is alive and well. Think for yourself, my friend. ;)
 
I picked this Ti Tanto Necker up at Blade a few years ago. The idea of a Titanium blade interested me. This one hasn't seen much use even though it was carried a bit, so light you forget it's there. It is still very sharp. I cleared up the etched marking but I don't recall who made this one.

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TiTantoNecker_0061.jpg
 
mhawg---Thanks, mang! Nice knife!! My Warren Thomas #2 is soo light and the carbide edge cuts like a demon. :)
 
Maikutis said:
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.
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Kind of thinking it can't be bent because it's machined from a block, not because it's too hard to bend.

There are many materials more suited to blades than titanium. It's a novelty material. There are several specialty companies supposedly making very nice blades out of titanium, but that doesn't mean it's going to hold an edge longer, cut better, or be tougher than a similar steel knife.

It's just something that is different, and unfortunately it's not a super "steel," and in the majority of cases, not very good at all.
 
What I think would be cool is a steel core (name your favorite) bonded inside a couple of slabs of titanium. Very strong-very sharp-very light ? Soviets were doing this by explosively bonding the materials together.Wonder if they or the Russians today ever did this for knife blades?
 
My Warren Thomas is carbon fiber bonded to titanium. Very light and fast. However, definitely not the best idea for a utility knife unless you are very wealthy.

Mission is the way to go if you need a highly corrosion resistant knife that won't set off magnetically sensitive mines---like the UDT guys. Very nice knives.

DancesWithKnives
 
mhawg said:
I picked this Ti Tanto Necker up at Blade a few years ago. The idea of a Titanium blade interested me. This one hasn't seen much use even though it was carried a bit, so light you forget it's there. It is still very sharp. I cleared up the etched marking but I don't recall who made this one.

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TiTantoNecker_0061.jpg
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This looks like a Pat Crawford knife. He makes a lot of good flat, "hide out" designs in titanium.
 
audiopile said:
What I think would be cool is a steel core (name your favorite) bonded inside a couple of slabs of titanium. Very strong-very sharp-very light ? Soviets were doing this by explosively bonding the materials together.Wonder if they or the Russians today ever did this for knife blades?
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There is a guy who does it in the US. The knife he makes is pretty expensive and not something i would buy but it is pretty cool i suppose

http://miltner-adams.com/

The warren Thomas blades are Ti but they have a carbide cutting edge so they dont really count IMO.

Iv made Ti knives for people and most were expecting a crazy futueristic cutting machine that never needs sharpened and can cut a house in half.
When i tell them they will not be getting one they are always dissapointed
"but i thought Titanium was .......":rolleyes:
Even folk in my materials Uni class had misconceptions about Ti and were surprised when they learned the true properties of it.

It is great stuff, just not for blades :):thumbup:
 
Titanium is great for being abrasion resistant and light and tough. It doesnt get as hard as steel and does not hold an edge. I believe there was a company that made titanium blades with steel centers. They worked pretty well as I remember it.
 
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