Titanium as blade material?

[dkb45]

The thing with titanium blades is that you cannot sharpen them with the same stones as steel if you want it to stay nonmagnetic. I have heard that some grades of titanium can't really be sharpened the same as steel, too.

 

[RamZar]

The fox blade above is grade 5 which is not a beta metastable titanium alloy. Most products that are called "titanium" aren't even titanium!

Grade 5 is a titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V: 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium) and probably the most commonly used one for many purposes since it's strong and stiff. The Fox blade is a composite of Ti6Al4V and CF. It has a unique mission in mind.

 

[Mecha]

There are many grades of titanium, and just like the many grades of steel, some are better for blades others. There several different grades of 6al4v titanium alloys, from standard structural grade 5 to biomedical-implant purity grade 23, to crap imported material. It's good at pretty much everything, but it isn't a beta crystal phase stable alloy of titanium.