SpySmasher
Lead Guitar
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Which was?
Mysterious titanium plate
- Thread starter Mecha
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That's what I was thinking, Mete, maybe a huge boiler/pressure vessel. I'm not sure what industry would use such a titanium monstrosity, maybe paper-making?
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I'm really interested to see what becomes of that big ol' slab of Ti. 
The Soviet-era Project 705 "Lyra"; NATO called it the "Alfa". (There was the "Mike" class too, but the only one sank due to a fire.)
I knew sub-chasers in the navy who absolutely hated the Alfa, but they grudgingly respected them too. The Alfa could operate below the thermal layer that affects sound characteristics in the ocean (ie: deeper than one kilometer, and most U.S. subs would implode at around 750 meters.) They were faster than any other sub: the Alfa could sprint at almost 50 mph for extended periods, and the general consensus was that they would be very hard to kill. My dad served on missile boats and fast attacks for a time in the 1960's-70's, and he said the Alfa's were the only Soviet boats that really worried them.
The Soviets had the right engineering and the right manufacturing, and the right materials (ie: Ti). Where most of their designs were somewhat clunky and often outdated by the time something went into service, with the Alfa, they hit this one out of the park.
~Chris
The Russians made submarines which were entirely plated in Ti. That's a whole lot of flipper scales.
The Soviet-era Project 705 "Lyra"; NATO called it the "Alfa". (There was the "Mike" class too, but the only one sank due to a fire.)
I knew sub-chasers in the navy who absolutely hated the Alfa, but they grudgingly respected them too. The Alfa could operate below the thermal layer that affects sound characteristics in the ocean (ie: deeper than one kilometer, and most U.S. subs would implode at around 750 meters.) They were faster than any other sub: the Alfa could sprint at almost 50 mph for extended periods, and the general consensus was that they would be very hard to kill. My dad served on missile boats and fast attacks for a time in the 1960's-70's, and he said the Alfa's were the only Soviet boats that really worried them.
The Soviets had the right engineering and the right manufacturing, and the right materials (ie: Ti). Where most of their designs were somewhat clunky and often outdated by the time something went into service, with the Alfa, they hit this one out of the park.
~Chris
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I can't find one either. The mysterious plate was deliberately etched Ti 4 - 2 - 5, and even underlined. A lot of titanium alloys are formulated for a specific task - they're one-offs, and don't conform to any of the commercially available grades. The data sheets are unknown outside of whatever concern ordered the ti alloy.
The Ti Nb square bar stock I've been using for most big blades is one of those, it's from Boeing, original purpose unknown, BUT...it comes from the plant that worked on the experimental RAH-66 Comanche stealth helicopter in the 90s, and the age of the ti fits right in that era. It's extremely clean, pure, excellent stuff made in the USA. It might have been from that project, which was abruptly canceled.
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I'm hoping to have it waterjet cut into slabs for knives and HT testing, and two bricks for hatchet heads. Might have a tab sent out to be analyzed, as the alloying elements are telling about what can be expected from HT plus it's just really fun to know. :]
I used to talk to the folks in Kennewick WA at TST quite a bit but not for a few years. They used to make some pretty wild stuff in Ti. Now they just make wheel chairs.
That part makes me think of something they'd CNC a firewall out of. Or it some sort of proofing piece used for other materials.
That part makes me think of something they'd CNC a firewall out of. Or it some sort of proofing piece used for other materials.
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Mecha Do you think that you can make a blade with the titanium and have it perform better than the Busse knives?
As others are saying, it really depends on the use. I don't have a Busse knife, but it seems they are extremely tough. I have handled several of the large ones before at knife shows, like those ones that have blades the size of short swords.
There are be pros and cons.
Titanium pros:
-light weight, quick and easy to use (excellent weapon)
-really tough and resistant to gross deformation, even if thin
-stays sharp even under heavy machete use
-no rust
-shock-absorbing
-flexible but rigid and hard to bend
-high resistance to crack propagation, fatigue or breaking, shrugs off stress risers
-Differentially hardened
-ninja status over 9000
Titanium cons:
-lacks chopping/cutting power unless the blade is large due to light weight (for me the magic number is 18" - 28" of blade length)
-more prone to edge damage if you hit a rock hard or cut into a nail than tough steel
-Not as good against very tough things, like say, cutting sheet metal or asphalt roof shingles, or fish on the deck of a boat with steel beneath the fish as a cutting board; those things will dull the ti blade
-makes you look like a mall ninja
I'm not sure how to compare to a Busse knife, but these large ti alloy blades are really good hand tools, they function as blades wonderfully, and even knives seem just fine, better than a lot of common steel knives I use. The reason I make them is because it's the only way to make a blade that conforms to my desires in large blade performance. Several ti alloys have some really stand-out attributes that are desirable in any sword or large cutting blade, not the least of which is the laser-like speed and accuracy of the blades in use and the extreme resistance to the type of damage that would render a sword unuseable, like a huge bend or break.
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You’re capable of finding it on your own. If you cannot, then you don’t need your “question” answered.
~~~
Mecha
Huge thanks for giving such a detailed reply. I learned a lot more and am now even more curious about owning a titanium blade just for casual cutting use.
SpySmasher
Lead Guitar
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Thank you for making it very clear that you don’t understand my question.
It still stands.
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Sooooo.....this means Mecha is going to have more blades pop up for sale. I was too slow the last time he had a couple Ti knives show up in the Marketplace, gonna have to start checking more regularly. Or maybe find someone to chain him to his workbench until he makes enough for us all or trains an apprentice or two.
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An ex-crackhead swung by the shop today told me he had a thick titanium alloy plate for sale. He found it scavenging around an old railyard, lying under a rusty pile of steel debris. The scrapyard was only going to give him .14 cents a pound for it (a complete ripoff), so he came to me instead.
Lucky!
This plate is some of the strongest ti alloy I've seen yet. It's 1 1/4" thick, and was subjected to a force so powerful that is slightly deformed and even torn, which is simply mind-boggling. Wrecking ball level forces.
It's been etched with "Ti 4-2-5" which I will take an educated guess as 4% aluminum, 2% vanadium, and 5% iron. That would be HEAVY armor plate, DoD-level stuff. It has a machined surface.
I think it was from a tank. Does anyone know anything about the possible origins of this piece of plate? What do you suppose such a hunk of expensive and rare ti alloy was doing in a ghost railyard?
This will eventually be sliced up and turned into knives ...or...
Axe heads, anyone?
Probably someone has already said this but I'm not so into it to read four pages to find out.
Two thoughts :
1. RADIOACTIVE ?
2. From one of the space shuttle explosions ? Over Texas ? Where are you ?
PS: I read a long time ago about some wall behind some cockpit that was machined from solid TI. That's all I know. Not sure if this could be even in the ball park.
PPS: I say radioactive because some people many years ago were getting ahold of some scrap from Russia I believe, maybe Ti tubing (I don't recall now) and it WAS radioactive stuff.
That's the good old F-35 I bet. It has a huge Titanium firewall/bulkkead that was showcased on PBS in the Nova episode Battle of the X-Planes. It's been a few yeas since I watched it but I'm betting it's made from 6-4.
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Miltner Adams did an S30v edge bonded to a Ti body knife. They were selling for around 2000$. Now that there's only a few left they raised the price to 4000$. That seems like very dishonest business practices.
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Next time start with this then save the rest of the time you spent typing.
Where do I send funds?
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Yeah I was thinking about radioactivity too! XD Just hoping something like that wouldn't get shipped loose through a rail yard.
"Mysterious radioactive titanium plate knives."
Has a nice ring to it.
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I think Lady Earth just wanted a general comparison to a well-known, beloved knife steel, and to know if a ti alloy could be worked into a blade that performs on that level. The answer is yes, no, sometimes, and it depends on what you're using it for, lol!
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AND if you loose one in the dark you can always find it with a geiger counter (if not by the glow).
Every well outfitted hunting party has at least one GC.