titanium vs. stainless steel: which makes a tougher folder liner or frame?

C

cognitivefun

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Oct 24, 2004
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I am curious about the qualities of titanium for a folder frame.

Is titanium more resistant to bending and torquing than stainless steel?

What are the differences in terms of use in a folder liner or frame?
 
unless the stainless steel is very soft it should be more resistant to bending and torquing then titanium, titanium's main quality is it will not break when bend or torqued and it has "memory " which will "spring it backe " to original shape. It is more pliable then common stainless steels but it will not take a set as easily. In the thicknesses it usually comes in for handle slabs, titanium should not be so easy to ben d or torque however.
 
Titanium can indent easier than a comparable stainless because the titanium is not as hard as say a piece of hardened 410 stainless would be. The oxide layer on titanium can be ceramic like in hardness though so it is best to have at least a three light layer deep anodized or heat colored finish on the titanium for a better wear resistance where the lock meets the blade when dealing with liner or frame locks.

The other things that make titanium preferred over stainless for liner locks is the inherent memory ti has. A titanium lock can be bent and twisted severely and it goes back to where it was originally much better than a stainless one taken to the same extremes. Titanium also galls or sticks to dissimilar metals so it mates better to the hardened blade and holds its place better or resists slipping and moving better I should say than a comparable stainless one.

Then of course there is the superior corrosion resistance that titanium has over anything else you compare it to. Also titanium can be anodized or colored to give more eye candy appeal.

A .040 thick stainless lock is stronger than a .060 titanium one but titanium is plenty strong for the stuff it is used for in knives. What is used in knives is an alloy of titanium and not pure titanium so it has some features that make it very well suited for anything we need them for in cutlery. Usually 6AL-4V titanium is used almost exclusively in cutlery applications. Some call it cutlery grade or knife making grade ti.
 
I believe Mission Knife and Tools uses bets titanium. I have a Mission MPF 1, that I love. It is all titanium.
 
here in s africa some of the knifemakers use 301[if memory serves] ss for liners.supposedly the difference betw ti and 301 for folder liners is that ti can be ano'd.i'm making a few folders using the ss.not done yet so i cant comment,but it feels very similar to ti when cutting,drilling grinding.it's also a bear to bend[1.6mm thick]
 
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