Titanium Knives

P

Pillowtalk

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I have a very nice Titanium knife & am looking for advice on which stone/grade to use for this hard metal.

I have been using a Diamond/Tungsten combo - any suggestions for getting a better edge ??

The knife is one piece of metal, with a composite grip on the handle.


PT.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! I moved this from ShopTalk to Maintenance, Tinkering, & Embellishment.

Mission Knives recommends a diamond rod for their titanium knives. Actually, titanium is not very hard. If it were, it would hold an edge better. But a fine diamond rod or stone should do fine for sharpening it.
 
I sharpened a Ti boker on spyderco ceramics and it turned out pretty well but for some reason felt very dull until I stropped it with some chromium oxide. Like Esav said though you might be best off just using a diamond hone. I would also not expect it to get as sharp as normal knife steel.
 
my only titanium knife is my dive knife (easier to maintain than stainless steel) and for sharpening, sandpaper does the trick for me just as good as with any other steel.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Welcome to Bladeforums! I moved this from ShopTalk to Maintenance, Tinkering, & Embellishment.

Mission Knives recommends a diamond rod for their titanium knives. Actually, titanium is not very hard. If it were, it would hold an edge better. But a fine diamond rod or stone should do fine for sharpening it.
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Thank you.
That was a quick response !! there seems to be a lot of people on this forum.
Diamond rod ?? where would be the best place on-line to get my hands on one ??.



knifenut1013 said:
I sharpened a Ti boker on spyderco ceramics and it turned out pretty well but for some reason felt very dull until I stropped it with some chromium oxide. Like Esav said though you might be best off just using a diamond hone. I would also not expect it to get as sharp as normal knife steel.
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It will be stronger/lighter than a good steel Gerber though, yes ??
I have no issues with higher maintenance, I see it as a trade off for the benefits of this particular Knife.

Thank you also for the prompt response.

PT.
 
seth said:
my only titanium knife is my dive knife (easier to maintain than stainless steel) and for sharpening, sandpaper does the trick for me just as good as with any other steel.
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Sand-paper ?? do you use any lubricant ??
 
Very fine grades of sandpaper on a soft (leather or mousepad) backing are a standard way to maintain a convex edge -- which would be a good edge for a titanium knife. No lubricant.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Very fine grades of sandpaper on a soft (leather or mousepad) backing are a standard way to maintain a convex edge -- which would be a good edge for a titanuim. No lubricant.
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Thanks I will give that a try
No lube, huh ?? OK.

Would you agree that Ti is lighter & stronger than Steel, as far a using the metal for a blade ??

PT.
 
Unless you're looking for a very large knife, the idfference in weight may net be significant. In fact, many people like a big chopper to have the extra weight.

Titanium is specialized. In a dive knife, for example, it is corrosion-proof so it works in seawater well, and since it holds up under stress, can be used as a pry bar. It is less effective for fine cutting, especially over a long period of time.

Mission Knives uses a Ti alloy that works better than most. I use their MBK (Mission Boot Knife) as a paring knife and general utility for fruits and bread.
 
Pillowtalk said:

Thanks I will give that a try
No lube, huh ?? OK.

Would you agree that Ti is lighter & stronger than Steel, as far a using the metal for a blade ??

PT.
Click to expand...

Ti is lighter, not stronger. For anything, not just knives. While there are some grades of Ti that are harder than some grades of steel, in general and in looking at knife steels in particular, Steel is stronger.

Ti will not retain an edge as well as steel. It will resist corrosion better than any steel.

Ceramic rods will work just fine on Ti. So will sandpaper. Start with 320 or so grit. then step up to successively finer grits. Esav is correct (as always) no lubricant.
 
Personally I think that with H1 around, the only place for titanium is when you're avoiding a magnetic signature, like doing bomb or mine ordinance. That being said you are limited to the designs that Spyderco has thus-far produced, but they're some wonderful knives.

For sharpening titanium I also agree with diamond rods. They'll give you an agressive toothy edge, even though it won't last long. :)
 
Titanium is useful for much more than its non-magnetic nature, as I said: non-corroding and very tough, as for prying. My Ti neckers stay sharp enough for light work. Feeling the edge, they don't seem sharp but they work fine on food.
 
AFAIK most titanium knives only get up to about 35-40 Rockwell C, with some special alloys used in a few dive knives getting up to 50-55 Rockwell C, which is pretty darned soft, considering that gummy stainless kitchen knives are around 56. I'm more used to M2 at about 62, Japanese kitchen knives at about 63-64, ZDP-189 at about 67 or a good hard steel file at 70. Not that strong either... tensile strength, while higher than aluminum, is only 800 - 900 MPa while steel piano wire is at least 2200 MPa. Steel is for the most part harder and stronger per unit volume, but also 4 times heavier.

The advantages of titanium are that it forms a tight corrosion resistant oxide layer like aluminum does, and its strength to weight ratio.... I.E. while a titanium strut may have to be quite a bit thicker than an equivalent steel strut of the same strength, the titanium one won't rust and is still lighter than a steel part (and it doesn't melt as easily as aluminum).
 
yuzuha said:
AFAIK most titanium knives only get up to about 35-40 Rockwell C, with some special alloys used in a few dive knives getting up to 50-55 Rockwell C, which is pretty darned soft, considering that gummy stainless kitchen knives are around 56. I'm more used to M2 at about 62, Japanese kitchen knives at about 63-64, ZDP-189 at about 67 or a good hard steel file at 70. Not that strong either... tensile strength, while higher than aluminum, is only 800 - 900 MPa while steel piano wire is at least 2200 MPa. Steel is for the most part harder and stronger per unit volume, but also 4 times heavier.

The advantages of titanium are that it forms a tight corrosion resistant oxide layer like aluminum does, and its strength to weight ratio.... I.E. while a titanium strut may have to be quite a bit thicker than an equivalent steel strut of the same strength, the titanium one won't rust and is still lighter than a steel part (and it doesn't melt as easily as aluminum).
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The only Ti knife I have is the T-REX (last pic bottom right)

http://picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/16539909

I chose this one (I do not dive BTW) because it has a leg/upper-arm strap, is very light & with a blade of this size it is very light/compact.
It will not react to my body sweat, & once on, you forget that it is there.

I can not post images, so the link will have to do.

While we are talking Steel-vs-Titanium - what do you all think of the Sykes fighting knife (Original Wilkinson Sword - blade)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszXmDXv94I

Sorry about the Dullard in the vid, it's the only one I could find that had close-ups.

He does not know if his is original :confused: well it has no WS stamp on the hilt so IMO it is not original - thoughts ??

PT
 
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