Uhura's boot knife

Mecha

Mecha

Titanium Bladesmith
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
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Perhaps Captain Kirk would have been a bit more scrupulous had lady Uhura had her boot knife equipped that historic day.
UPDATE: Re-watched "TV's first interracial kiss," and it turns out Kirk and Uhura were being mind-controlled by an alien, so in his defense, Kirk wasn't just being a cad.

Hand-forged of hardened, futuristic 89.5Ti 10Nb 0.5Fe beta titanium alloy.
4.6 oz in weight. 9 3/4" oal, 5 3/4" blade, 4" grip. 5.5 mm blade thickness at the ricasso area.

Grip is waxed cord clad in deer, with matching deer over textured cow sheath (suitable for left- or right-hand carry), sewn in kevlar and waxed cord made by Øye.

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The following video clip shows this exact knife getting quenched (number 3):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AggQuChU3bE

SOLD, shipped to USA/North America.
First "I'll take it" wins!

-Mecha
 
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Thanks, Hankins! I really love the soft, stretchy feel of deer leather.
 
Thanks for the kind words and interest.

Rigerrobert: A fellow member is going to hardness test a forged billet that was heat-treated just like this knife was (accounting for thickness), but I won't know the results for a week or two. Real experiment data with human implants using a very similar alloy (12.5% niobium) yielded hardness of Rc 53. The question is, have I hit that golden number...
I thought about dropping the price by $50 if the buyer conducts a good hardness test on it and reports the results back to me, but deleted it cause it sounded dumb! :D

Ugh, now that sounds dumb and I want to delete it.

Edit: Is it racist to give Canadians a $50 discount? That would mean a Canadian with a hardness tester gets it shipped for $250 usd :eek:

-mecha
 
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A forward thinking knut will buy this knife, NOW.
There IS a place for a Ti knife today.
 
lol at that hack saw automation :D

nice knife too!


btw how does this beta Ti different from the stuff we see most of around here? This can be forged? OR???
 
Hi Sloth357,

This titanium is forged, using a hydraulic press, a hammer, an anvil, and my arm. 6al4v (the kind you normally see) can also be forged, HOWEVER:

Compared to 6al4v, this niobium-alloyed titanium is: a lot stronger, it gets a lot harder, and it has a finer grain, it's heavier, and as a "beta" alloy, it can retain its body-centered-cubic secondary crystal structure after a quench, which greatly changes its properties and makes it suitable for a sharp blade, rather than just as a structural piece.

6al4v responds well to a good hammering, but the niobium alloy has all the qualities I need for the perfect titanium sword.

This alloy was smelted in the U.S.A. to high purity standards, for use in attack aircraft and possibly orbital satellites.
 
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I liked both your responses, the body-centered cubic secondary crystal structure makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
 
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