Titanium Knives?

[Darin]

Ah, ya'll should be so lucky. My wife brought me home a new dive knife! And a titanium one at that! Gotta love her.

So, I know almost zero about Ti other than it's lighter than steel and stronger, and won't rust. But, I thought Ti was fairly brittle? Is this true or what? Anyone ever had any problems with them?

I guess I just need to know what the limitations are for this knife.

Thanks for the help.

Darin

 

[Jim Ernst]

i have a ti made by wenoka, it seems to be a great knife, have no complaints and i have not heard of them being brittle, good knife!!

 

[CALI68]

That was sure nice of your Wife!

I have a Titanium Wenoka "Big Squeeze" and after tons of diving it still looks as new as the day I bought it.

 

[Bob3]

Now ya have to get yourself a good knife sharpener, like a diamond Lansky set.
I use a diamond fish hook sharpener ($5)

 

[sharkbaitDAN]

I've never heard of problems for divers, but...

My friend has done some work as a blacksmith, and I was talking to him about pros and cons of Ti. Unlike most other alloys people work with, Ti alloy don't really bend. Steel and Al can be bent and formed at room temperature with pressure. Ti just sorta breaks when pressure is applied at room temp. For diving, most knives will bend before they break if you try to pry something. Ti will not give much, if any, warning before breaking. Bottom line, if you are prying something with a Ti knife, and it won't budge, you might want to stop. The amount the knife will bend depends on the alloy, which is not something that is published. You can find out the family of alloy, like Beta Ti alloys, but thats sort of like saying stainless steel. This is what I have been told anyway, and some has been confirmed with a some internet research.

Oh, the one problem of heard theoretically is that the knife is light weight and you may not notice if it falls out of the sheath.

 

[Darin]

Thanks all for the info.

I am familiar with other metals, like ss and other steels (I'm a gunsmith). I do know there are areas where Ti is not good for, like high shock or other areas. But for wearability and strength-to-weight, it can't be beat.

I knew there were some downsides to Ti because otherwise there'd be a lot more Ti knives on the market, not just for divers.

Now, I have a German friend whom has a titanium and ceramic knife. SWEET! Now THAT'S a brittle knife. But SHARP, boy howdy is it sharp. (SHHHH! Don't tell TSA!!)

Darin

 

[paulwlee]

The main downside and IMHO the reason that there aren't a lot more Ti knives on the market is that it's expensive!