Spyderco Forums

As many of you know, titanium metal has been used for years in knife blades and handles. I have read a lot about it and have felt and used some titanium knives. There are some who put it down as a blade material because in its pure state and in some forms of alloys, while it is stronger than steel pound for pound, it is often not as hard as steel. However, Beta Titanium alloys have been made which can even RIVAL STEEL in their hardness and edge holding ability.

And so, I welcome your views and feedback on titanium for cutting tools and other uses.

Well, it's a little off the wall but I have a personal connection with Ti because I literally have a couple bits of it in my skull LOL....just some souvenirs from brain surgery. Before that it was all the rage back in my BMX days, and along with CF it was just a futuristic material that oozed with cool factor.

On another odd ball note, it's also an excellent metal for body piercing because it lacks nickel, which almost everyone is allergic to on some level and even the best "surgical steels" have some amounts of nickel in them. This is why Ti is used in surgery. It also helps that it's non magnetic so things like MRI's aren't a risk.

Ti is good for the reasons David mentioned, it is also light and strong. I still think the aluminum/scandium like that of S&W gun fame would make a fine scale material, however, that would be lighter in weight than Ti.

No dislikes for me only likes

My only issue with Titanium is that it adds significant cost when compared with most other materials.

As far as its use as a blade material, I can't comment since I've never owned a Ti bladed knife.

my only dislike is its price

It's a very displeasing shade of grey.

demoncase wrote:It's a very displeasing shade of grey.

Yes, but it doesn't have to be. I like that I can change the displeasing shade of grey relatively easily. :spyder:

remnar wrote:

demoncase wrote:It's a very displeasing shade of grey.

Yes, but it doesn't have to be. I like that I can change the displeasing shade of grey relatively easily. :spyder:

I was kidding

I'm with Spydergirl88... I love it used for all but blade steel, that just will not do.

I LIKE how it nearly instantly warms up to your body temperature.

I LIKE how it doesn't make your hands smelly.

I LIKE it's strength : density ratio.

I DISLIKE it's affinity to form snail trails out of seemingly NOWHERE on your display pieces...for a user, no worries, but it gets under my skin when I take every effort to coddle a near mint museum piece only to notice a snail trail has inexplicable formed....Sage 4, I'm looking at YOU!!!! :mad:

I really like it especially when it looks like this :)

Love it, usually expensive though!

A fan here also.. Just picked up a Boker Dog Tag with Ti.. John :)

Pros:
It's light, almost hypoallergenic, and strong enough for load-bearing uses (locks).

Cons:
It's boring and has lead to an extensive slab-handled trend. Coloring of it always feels fake.

Some of that subjective and easy to disagree with. For me, simply as handle scales (aesthetic only) there are better materials and even better metals.

Only likes for me.

I have a Sage2, a Ti UKPK, a Techno, a SpydieChef and a Southard Flipper so I'm not averse to titanium, even with RILs in four of them. I find that it warms to the hand rather quickly and is also "emotionally" warm.

It is relatively soft stuff, so it dings easily. But after dropping my Techno on asphalt, the softness worked to my advantage and I was able to clean up the damage to my satisfaction.

I remain curious whether traction would be better on titanium scales than on stainless-steel scales polished to the same degree. My sense is they would. The highly-polished Ti bolsters on my Sage4 have a suggestive grippiness. But I may be looking for something that isn't there.

I like titanium.
its a great metal for a bunch of stuff - knife handles, flashlights, pocket gadgets, even my belt buckle is Titanium.
No worries about rusting or corrosion or allergies.

I even have a Carbidised titanium knife by Daniel Fairly which works really well - the thin layer of tungsten carbide on one side of the blade takes and holds a great edge - it just keeps cutting in abrasive materials (my first pick for cardboard)


my only issue with titanium is the price....

I'd like to see more titanium blades and tools of all kinds for never seen before edge length/ weight ratio, it just requires investing time, money and much patience like Mecha at BladeForums does.


His work is truly wonderful and my number one reason to be interested in Titanium and its applications, even though blades like his appear very distant in the future