Why Ti?

Why Ti? Posted on 2 Dec 20:35

Titanium is a wonderful metal. It is strong, light, and impervious to rust. However, titanium is not commonly used in cutlery. Why? The reason why titanium is not commonly used in cutlery is because it does not keep a very good edge... At least not all by itself. So why use titanium to make a knife if it doesn't hold a good edge you may ask? Because the titanium isn't what is holding the edge. As a custom manufacturer who specializes in titanium knives and tools, we utilize a process that permanently applies a layer of tungsten carbide, which is impregnated into the titanium .002" deep. The final edge is then ground to that layer of carbide, so that all of the cutting is done by the carbide layer, which at a Rockwell Hardness of 72, is much harder than almost all hardened steel, stainless or high carbon. The superior toughness and durability of the titanium body allows for hard use situations while the carbides provide the edge retention, giving the user the "best of both worlds", similar to the effect achieved through differential hardening of steel, but to an even greater degree. Our process is neither cheap nor easy, but we believe it's worth it for an end product that is 40% lighter than steel, will never corrode, and has an edge hardness of RC 72 while maintaining toughness and durability throughout the body of the knife. Two things will dull a blade, use and corrosion of the metal on the edge surface. With a blade that will never corrode, you immediately eliminate your edge's worst enemy, and the only thing that can cause it to go away without use - rust. 

As for anyone who wonders about the durability of Ti, here is a video we did of a knife that we ground too thin to sell, and hence would be weaker than anything we would sell. We do not recommend or warranty against this kind of abuse, but it's fun to see what it can take....