Titanium vs SS liners

jdm61

jdm61

itinerant metal pounder
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
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Another folder question. Is Titanium used for so many folder locks bars, liners etc because it is a better spring material than steel or is is more the cool factor? I know that with framelokcs, is is also a weight issue, but what about with liners?
 
Ti will retain the spring-iness longer IIRC also stainless need to be heat treated to have the spring factor.
 
I've used both for liners....Ti retains the springiness but at a higher material cost. Stainless will require additional labor time to spring temper so it's cost vs time and if you are only doing one or two I would use Ti.... I did a batch of stainless while I was heat treating some blades so I absorbed some of the labor time into another process and I only do the lock side.
 
I use both, but do use ti more because it is already spring temper + the cool factor. Once heat treated properly stainless does not lose it's spring temper. Stainless can make a difference in weight even in liner locks. 17-4 is a precipitation hardening martenistic stainless steel. Heat it to 900 degrees for an hour & air cool = about a Rc44, no temper. 410 stainless, I just heat the spring with a torch to red hot, forced air cool and temper at 350 for an hour which give about a Rc43. One distinct advantage of stainless over ti is it is never gummy so the lockup is not sticky and is very solid.
 
Hmmmm. Sounds to me like the guys who have gone with Ti and a hardened steel lock face insert did that for a good reason. Good info, gentlemen. I have some 410 sheet and I figured it had to be good for something other than knocking the teeth off of bandsaw blades. :D
Alan Davis Knives said:
I use both, but do use ti more because it is already spring temper + the cool factor. Once heat treated properly stainless does not lose it's spring temper. Stainless can make a difference in weight even in liner locks. 17-4 is a precipitation hardening martenistic stainless steel. Heat it to 900 degrees for an hour & air cool = about a Rc44, no temper. 410 stainless, I just heat the spring with a torch to red hot, forced air cool and temper at 350 for an hour which give about a Rc43. One distinct advantage of stainless over ti is it is never gummy so the lockup is not sticky and is very solid.
Click to expand...
 
Rather than asking knifemakers, why not ask collectors what they want?

In my opinion:
1) Stainless liners are too heavy
2) Stainless liners rust
3) Titanium can be anodized different colors
4) 6-4 titanium has better spring properties (it sucks to have a steel liner lose its spring)
5) High end factory knives use titanium
6) Titanium has a better "cool factor"

What knives will your knife competing for sales against? Do the competing knives have steel or titanium liners?

Chuck
 
A pair of liners measuring .050" x 4.0" x 1.0" weighs:

410 Stainless = .144 pounds
6-4 Titanium = .065 pounds

Chuck
 
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