Most knives I see are made from stainless or carbon steel, but is there any reason why (cost aside) you couldn't make a blade out of titanium??
Cheers
Wilderbeast will
Cheers
Wilderbeast will
titanium blade?
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Tensile strength; edge retention?
Seems pointless (no pun intended, honest) when we have such a wide range of suitable steels.
Tensile strength; edge retention?
are these very poor or something?? Sorry don't know much about Ti
are these very poor or something?? Sorry don't know much about Ti
Neither do I mate.
That's why I put the ?.You would be better posting the question on BB; there are a lot of people there who do know about these things.
Tensile strength; edge retention?
Seems pointless (no pun intended, honest) when we have such a wide range of suitable steels.
there are a wide range of suitable steels for tent pegs, cups, and KFS yet they are all availble in titianium as well, i think the OP has a resonable question, each to their own and all that.
There are plenty of Ti divers' knives out there.
Possibly because it's pretty inert in seawater, rather than for Rockwell reasons.
Possibly because it's pretty inert in seawater, rather than for Rockwell reasons.
Yeah, I have a Ti divers knife. Compared with my previous s/s knives, the Ti blade actually keeps its edge better and is apparently totally immune to seawater corrosion. Mine lives in a knife pocket on the thigh of my drysuit, and stays there most of the time. Considering I dive a couple of times a week most of the year, its stood up pretty well. The only thing I don't like about it is the lightness. For a relatively large knife (5 inch blade) it weighs very little (even less in seawater) which can be a problem when you want to 'hack' rather than cut e.g. clearing areas of kelp stalks.
Good tool though
Intertidal
Good tool though
Intertidal
Like wise I've seen a few diving knives with titanium but i assume thats due to corrosion resistance.
I've no experience them though.
Richard
Oh I agree.
I was just slipping in an answer so that he would get some sort of response, it can be quiet in the mornings and it's nice to know that your post has been seen.
I would like to know if there is any advantage (apart from corrosion or weight) of using titanium myself.
It's a curiosity of subsea engineering that submerged Ti is almost exacty ½ lighter than steel, and Al ½ lighter again.
Just had a quite look on the net. Ti is almost as hard as some steels, but doesn't have the modulus of elasticity (half that of steel), this basically means it's twice as brittle as steel.
So if you had a knife from Ti it would keep the edge reasonably well but is more likely to break (especially the tip) compared to steel.
No idea if you could change it with heat in anyway, but I suspect not enough to work. I guess it really depends on what you're going to use it for. For diving (I'm a diver too!) it's handy because you don't tend to use in quite the same way as bushcraft. More for cutting fishing lines, kelp and opening scallops (oh and catching flat fish if you're feeling a bit brutal!).
Even stainless steel rusts after a while without cleaning...
So if you had a knife from Ti it would keep the edge reasonably well but is more likely to break (especially the tip) compared to steel.
No idea if you could change it with heat in anyway, but I suspect not enough to work. I guess it really depends on what you're going to use it for. For diving (I'm a diver too!) it's handy because you don't tend to use in quite the same way as bushcraft. More for cutting fishing lines, kelp and opening scallops (oh and catching flat fish if you're feeling a bit brutal!).
Even stainless steel rusts after a while without cleaning...
I guess your diving knives have serrated edges? Mine does at least, although it's made of s/s. Titanium doesn't have the hardness nor the finer grains which are imperative in a sharp edge. It just isn't possible to get the same sharpness. And it's a bitch to machine. When you grind it it gets harder, and if it gets hot enough it will get oxidized in the oxygen rich atmosphere we happen to have here on earth.
That said, I wouldn't mind a 6/4 Ti diving knife in a nice anodized colour.
That said, I wouldn't mind a 6/4 Ti diving knife in a nice anodized colour.
Huh? you sure your not getting the elasticity thing the wrong way around?
Titanium is used to make some very expensive motocross suspension springs, I do know its notch sensetive though but so are most steels used in coil springmaking.
Yep, pretty sure, figures are 16 x 10^6 for titanium and 29x10^6 for steel (higher the number the more elastic), I know what your saying though. I suspect the springs are treated from standard Ti (hence the price!). They will still flex, just not as much as steel. They use Ti for the weight saving not the amount of spring. Much like in performance car engines, they use Ti valves so they don't have as much inertia, which means they can rev higher.
Like alot of metals, heating and cooling can change the properties a fair bit.
ive used various titanium bicycle components over the years, and not purely because of the light weight, but when used in the construction of contact points.. . bars, stem, seatpost, saddle rails, that kind of thing, titanium gives a kind of micro suspension through its springiness. not suspension with any visible travel, but enough to absorb a degree of buzz or vibration out of the road.
