Why aren't more blades made from titanium?

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Titanium, while surprisingly plentiful as an ore, is difficult and very expensive to process into a useable product. And as a blade material, titanium has never been a plausible staple except in extremely specific circumstances. If titanium was a superior material, we'd see it being used far more than we see now.

It's simple logic that even a newbie idiot should be able to figure out. If titanium was superior, despite the cost, we'd see it being used for blades in the top-of-the-line knives. We don't, so obviously it isn't. Wondering otherwise is naive, and arguing otherwise is moronic.
 
Hammer27 said:
Besides the aforementioned reasons I'd think cost might have something to do with it as well.
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Actually, that it is uber-expensive is another myth that surrounds Titanium. 30 - 40 years ago, Ti was very expensive. But new production methods have brought the price way down. Compared to some of the exotic super-steels we love, price really isn't that much of a barrier to using Ti for blades. Besides, the amount of metal in a knife blade, a few ounces typically, isn't that much and generally isn't the biggest cost center in a knife.

Ti closed friday at $4.83/ounce. If a knife uses four ounces of it (and keep in mind that it's very light-weight, so four ounces of it is quite a lot of material) then that's less than $20 worth of material. CPM S30V, for comparision, goes for just shy of $2.00 an ounce and it's a lot heavier per cubic inch.

The density of Ti alloys is about 4.5g/cm3. The density of CPM S30V is 7.47g/cm3. So, it takes about 1.66 times more grams of CPM S30V to make a given blade vs. a typical Ti alloy. A knife that requires four ounces of a Ti alloy for the blade would require 6.64 ounces of CPM S30V. The Ti for the hypothetical knife would cost $19.32. The CPM S30V would cost about $13.25, a difference of just over six bucks. If the Ti alloy was at all better, it would be used.
 
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Phill--- When it comes to carrying a knife that I will never have to worry about rusting, I prefer a Titanium blade. It is also very light in weight. I carry a knife for SP and Titanium will do the job. With Warren Thomas coating his Titanium edges in carbide, you do get a superb cutter.
 
Why titanium as opposed to H1? H1 won't rust either and it holds a better edge... :confused:
 
Ive always understood that Titanium resisted abrasion very well but essentially too soft for knives.
 
AKA---True, Ti does resist abrasion very well.
Anyone that is serious about a Titanium blade should contact Mission Knives and visit their Forum.
 
Knives are primarily cutting tools. To that extent, they need to be able to take and retain effective cutting edges. Steel does that better than titanium.

Titanium is useful for some specialized purposes, but in terms of an all-purpose cutting tool, it tends to present cures that are worse than their associated diseases.
 
Lycosa said:
AKA---True, Ti does resist abrasion very well.
Anyone that is serious about a Titanium blade should contact Mission Knives and visit their Forum.
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I have a Mission MPF. I am not at all satisfied with its edge holding abilities. If I make one real long cut on a cardboard box, it is dull. I paid $375 for it back in the late 90s. I gave it a chance. It now resides in a collection case. Never coming out again. I do not pry with knives, so to me it is useless.:grumpy:
 
You did not do your research. A Titanium knife will not cut as well as steel. That's elementary. Titanium was not designed as a metal to cut things.
 
I'v had good times with titanium and like it alot but it really isnt the best for a blade,
handles, locks, bolsters, clips and stand offs are all great in Ti but not blades.

I have made pleanty sharp Ti knives for customers but I always tell them not to expect steel like performance from the blade.
Many people think Ti is a magical material that can do amazing things with all these super dooper properties.
low/no magnetic signature, anti corodial properties, being about 40% lighter than steel but similar in strength and its ability to change
cool colours with just heat as well as other reasons do make it a great material to use for lots of stuff but IMO blades is not one of them.

Warren Thomas has the right idea with the laminate blades and carbide edges but they are still pretty select in the uses they have.
 
Planterz said:
Titanium, while surprisingly plentiful as an ore, is difficult and very expensive to process into a useable product. And as a blade material, titanium has never been a plausible staple except in extremely specific circumstances. If titanium was a superior material, we'd see it being used far more than we see now.

It's simple logic that even a newbie idiot should be able to figure out. If titanium was superior, despite the cost, we'd see it being used for blades in the top-of-the-line knives. We don't, so obviously it isn't. Wondering otherwise is naive, and arguing otherwise is moronic.
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:jerkit:
 
Titanium is a great marketing name. People zero in on it. I've always thought it was simple. I mean think about it. It has the name "Titan" built right into it!

Given a choice, do you want the regular steel model or would you prefer the "TITANium" model. I think people see it and don't realize it and immediately they think, oh yeah, give me the titanium one.

And when you think further about the nature of what we make with it think about it because look at the knives that are popular using ti as the body parts. The Sebenza at .125 thickness slabs would not be near as impressive and 'titan' in build quality in steel because the weight would be a factor so lets suppose that Chris came out with the same idea in steel. Its likely it would have been more like a .070 thickness frame lock if that and it would probably still be stronger than the ti model he designed.

So in this regard when you graduate that to the .190 thick ti lock on something like the Zero Tolerance 0301-302 and think how unimpressive it would be to be the same strength in steel (probably about the 0200 liner thickness) then you get the idea that TITANium does sell, it is a highly marketable name no doubt about it, and its very worthy of praise in the eyes of people that tend to believe bigger is better. Its so big and impressive is what you hear often times. Well, thats because its titanium but the conclusive part of that statement that is never said is, 'and it has to be to be as strong as one in steel that would be smaller'. Being lighter weight it helps to get away with it being that bulky and impressive.

Sometimes as an retired professional sales person I find myself wondering if it would sell as well if it was given another name that didn't have titan in the name. I mean if we called it 'Wienium' would people still want it? :D It would probably be like, oh no man I don't want any of that stuff in there! :eek:

STR
 
Yer too much, STR. :yawn: :D
Steve, didn't a customer of yours mention that he has used his Mission MPF TI to field-dress a lot of deer?
 
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