Why aren't more blades made from titanium?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sharp Phil said:
First, you don't have anyone's IP address.

Second, it's painfully obvious "Tachyon" is a second account created by you.

You're way out of line.
Click to expand...

Correct.

Wrong - He's my friend from uselessjunk.com

Indifferent - arguable

What you sticking your nose in for anyway.
 
What part of knock if off don't you guys get? Jaymz and Tachyonisawesome both better stop the nonsense and insults now!

Last warnings have been given.

STR
 
Not Whine & Cheese. Not your corner bar. The arguing and personal attacks will cease immediately or the infractions will become serious.

Discuss knives, not each other.
 
Jaymz said:
Really? I thought it was harder than steel. Much harder.
Click to expand...

No, to the contrary, it's quite soft. It's tougher than steel, I would imagine, as in the opposite of brittle. That would mean lots of edge rolling, though - poor edge retention.
 
STR said:
What part of knock if off don't you guys get? Jaymz and Tachyonisawesome both better stop the nonsense and insults now!

Last warnings have been given.

STR
Click to expand...

You fail to notice that it was the guys who have been here for a while - forgive me for forgetting names, that started all this.
 
THG said:
No, to the contrary, it's quite soft. It's tougher than steel, I would imagine, as in the opposite of brittle. That would mean lots of edge rolling, though - poor edge retention.
Click to expand...

But how much softer is it? Surely not by much?
 
So anyone know how much harder the hardest steel blade is than the hardest titanium?
 
Jaymz said:
So anyone know how much harder the hardest steel blade is than the hardest titanium?
Click to expand...

Titanium vs steel. But at when RC is way high the material becomes brittle and almost impossible to resharpen. Hence High RC harndess materials are not very good Knife blade material IMHO. If you need light weight there are other alternatives.
 
Heat treated steels will be found in the Rockwell range of 50s to over 60. Titanium is in the 40s at best. This is only part of the problem, since the steel or titanium is only the matrix, and the carbides that form in the steel give it much of it's cutting ability. Carbides don't form in titanium. Some makers have bonded carbides to the edges of titanium blades to correct for this. Complex and expensive, this correction.

Depending on the medium being cut, titanium can be entirely satisfactory, even if not up to what steel could do. But as MikeC indicated, when steel corrodes too quickly to be useful, whatever titanium can do is an improvement. I myself find titanium works fine on food prep.
 
Jaymz said:
You fail to notice that it was the guys who have been here for a while - forgive me for forgetting names, that started all this.
Click to expand...

I didn't miss that you were the first to throw out a personal insult in this thread and after you were given an apology by someone that made a generic statement. In your case you were warned for it. The other guy simply said a general statement of how it would be moronic to argue otherwise which I read to mean, generally speaking it would be moronic to present this argument. Thats an opinion not an insult directed at a member because he did not say specifically that anyone here was a moron. When you direct your insult at a specific person thats the difference, which is something you failed to notice. You can disagree without being insulting. I suggest you all do that if you wish to continue having this thread open to posting.


STR
 
TachyonIsAwesome said:
That depends on the type of steel.
Click to expand...
It does, but the differences are huge. The lowest quality steel you'll find on a knife that doesn't cost less than $5 at a flea market (such as on a Swiss Army Knife) will be around 55Rc. The benchmark for hardness of premium steels (such as S30V, 154CM, VG-10) is 59-60Rc. The hardest most titanium alloys can get is 40-45Rc. IIRC, Rc hardness is also (reverse) logarithmic. That is to say, the difference between one Rc is smaller the harder you get.

If a blade of 60Rc dulls significantly from daily use such as cutting up cardboard, a blade of 45Rc will dull beyond usefulness extremely quickly. Of course, we're talking 2 different metals with different carbides and different coefficients of friction, but in all practicality, titanium simply doesn't hold up as a blade material.

Do not confused hardness, or edge retention. with strength. Titanium is very strong, and extremely strong when comparing strength-to-weight ratios. However, carbon fiber is also extremely strong. Fiberglass is extremely strong. Plywood is extremely strong.

But when you're talking about knives, steel is the best choice in terms of performance. You can make CF or fiberglass, or even cheap plastic sharp enough to cut (just ask any convict), but durability and edge retention is a different matter. You can make a knife (or shiv) out of anything, but cutting skin is far easier than other materials you might want to cut with a knife. Think paper cuts. Hell, I sliced my tongue up pretty bad once on a Jolly Rancher that got too thin. But I wouldn't make a knife out of paper or candy.

There are knives made from G10 fiberglass, or even plastics like Givory. But the usefulness of these are extremely limited. Perhaps as a light-weight self defense tool, or purchased by somebody who thinks they're James Bond, but will probably only ever see use as a letter opener.

Titanium is the same sort of thing. Titanium knives exist because they're lighter than steel, and won't rust. But they almost exclusively exist as back-up, self-defense knives that'll cut flesh fine (and edge retention isn't a factor), rather than daily utility blades. Trying to use a Ti knife as a regular knife would be an exercise in frustration and a waste of time and money.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top