Titanium used as a blade metal. Why only in dive knives?

G

Garvin

Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
3
I noticed that titanium is usually reserved for making the blades of dive knives. I understand that titanium is more corrosion resistant than other "stainless" steels but beyond that qualification, what is it about titanium that most non-dive knife manufacturers and custom makers shy away from?


P.S. I am new to this forum. I tried a search for this information to no avail. I am sure the answer to my question is out there...somewhere.
 
From what I understand it doesnt hold an edge very well. O by the way welcome to Blade Forums.
 
Custom maker Warren Thomas makes all kinds of knives from titanium. He uses some kind of titanium carbide treatment on the cutting edge of knife.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums!

Mission Knives uses a different titanium alloy than most manufacturers. I have a couple of their small knives. They will take an edge but won't hold it under heavy use. They are good utility kitchen knives, though.
 
It's expensive just the material, then it is also more labor intensive as it is very difficult to work which also raises the overall cost and then naturally the price. the ti most used is a commercial grade 6AI4V I think which is real soft I think about 32-35 RC, I could be wrong on this its been a while since I read over all of the data. However as someone else stated Mission Knives does a pretty good job but they use a Ti alloy called TI BETA C I forget the exact number, but it is a ti that the U.S. Navy uses for submarine construction and has a RC of 45 min after John does his special heat treat. This alloy offers all of the advantages of ti but with increased hardness. The stuff is tough and is immune to corrosion which means it will not rust, ever period. Sea water, blood even most chemicals its immune, Mission dips the blades in hyrochloric acid to clean them before there finally assembled. It can also be bent to an incredible angle and will then more or less right itself back to true and so say without a loss of structural integrity. It goes on and on about what it can do. The tensile strength is 225,000 psi thats way up there. If you want more detailed disucssion go to www.missionknives.com and check out the site, Johns got a new site but if you look around on there I think he still has all of his ti data stuff and articles about testing, etc. Its very informative. Got several mission folders and love them, don't carry or use anything else. When you can leave a knife bloody and wet in the cleaning shed for a week or so while cleaning deer almost dailey then in the summer leave it for two nights on a speck boat moored in saltwater and the thing doesn't show the first signs of rust, I'm in. Great blades but do need sharpening more frequently than traditional steel blades, but its all about trade offs right.



Good luck and welcome aboard

Mike Cope
copeappraiser@yahoo.com
 
How good is this titanium compared to talonite, stellite or cobalt for that matter. I think they are also impervious to all that titanium is and as just as expensive!
 
It's not very hard, doesn't hold an edge very well, and too expensive to use as a gimmick.
 
Dive knives are more sharp prytools than edged weapons - but cutting out of a drifting fishnet is mentioned as a possibility. It's 80% of the washup at Corpus Christi.

Some knifemakers are co-op'ing in making Ti HAK's, with their individual grinds. The best part is, of course, that you can wear them 24/7 - even in the shower - and the knife will never show it.

For a SD knife - it's small with a unique hold - Ti is good material, as your EDC should be cutting the tough stuff. Ti will hold up for long term storage on the human body (it's used for implants, and my leg has a 18" rod in it) and be able to withstand the rare ( and mostly improbable ) self defense role.

Unless you're an Embassy guard, a contractor in the box, police officer, deployed soldier, etc. Always nice to have the last word then.
 
Titanium is about $60.00 per LB for knifemaker grade. It will only harden to about 45 - 48 Rc and is hard to sharpen. It's tough on tools, Ti chips flame up every now and then. Titanium can be tig or mig welded. Silver solder or epoxy will not stick due to an oxide coating that Ti gets natuarlly (TiO2). This is what makes it non-corrosive. It's nice for liners, backsprings and parts on the handle, but it just doesn't make a good blade. If you use it for any of these parts, then you have to drill and tap (been a few broken taps and a lot of cussin) because parts have to be screwed on due to TiO2.
 
Here you can find lot of information about various Titanium grades :thumbup:

Garvin - in short, steel is much more suitable material for blades. Even the lowest cutlery grade steel surpass most of Ti grades. Then you can add quality steel to the equation and you have your answer... :)
 
This site is Fantastic! I ask a simple question and I receive a host of thoughtful and sophisticated answers. Thanks to all once again.

The Garv.
 
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