New Alloy idea

[SpyderEdgeForever]

VG-10/Tungsten Carbide. Possibly Laminated =) WC edge, laminated with VG10 sides.

[bearfacedkiller]

I question tungsten carbide for an edge. It is very hard but probably lacks the toughness neccesary for a pocket knife. The vg10 laminate won't add toughness to the blade and in reality the lack of toughness is more of an issue on the edge. If it does chip at the edge sharpening it should be a chore even with some quality diamond stones.

[tlo14290]

I agree with the bear faced one, way too brittle for a pocketknife. I use saw blades with tungsten carbide inserts, and they chip all the time, big ones too. The edges used are not acute like a knife, either, more like 45-60 degrees included, and the more acute they are, the quicker they chip.

I believe it's been tried( not laminated ), on a fairly robust fixed blade knife, and not been a commercial success.

Back to the drawing board....

[Evil D]

Tungsten carbide is on par with sapphire and ruby in hardness, and when used to make rings is known to crack into several pieces when put under any amount of impact or stress.

https://youtu.be/IjTwmBxYN8o" target="_blank

I'm sure under very special circumstances such an alloy could be used for a blade, like maybe a surgical scalpel or something, but it wouldn't work for a pocket knife by any stretch. You'd be far better off with a ceramic blade, and that's saying a lot.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Those are some good points. Here was an interesting idea, but it would require a slightly new technology that is currently in the labs, to make it work:

There are materials that go from soft to stiff, when an electromagnetic field is applied to them.
Here is an example: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 113106.htm" target="_blank

"
A world premiere: A material which changes its strength, virtually at the touch of a button. This transformation can be achieved in a matter of seconds through changes in the electron structure of a material; thus hard and brittle matter, for example, can become soft and malleable. What makes this development revolutionary, is that the transformation can be controlled by electric signals.
"

And so what I was wondering, is how could we make some form of blade-material that would yield the best properties of strength, stiffness, and hardness, mixed with the best properties of flexibility, elasticity, and resilience?

[Evil D]

And so what I was wondering, is how could we make some form of blade-material that would yield the best properties of strength, stiffness, and hardness, mixed with the best properties of flexibility, elasticity, and resilience?

What you're describing is basically a laminate steel like we currently have in production. I don't think you're ever going to get elasticity with any kind of metal, but the rest has been around for 1000s of years in one form or another. You're not going to see a lot of flexibility in a 3.5 inch 4mm thick blade.

[TomAiello]

I have a Daniel Fairly backpacker with a carbide blade sandwiched in Ti. I haven't put it through any torture testing, but it is working so far.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

That is cool, I'm glad they're making those. Is this the knife here?

http://danielfairlyknives.com/2013/10/1 ... bide-edge/" target="_blank

Some years ago I read an article in a knife magazine about a company called Tygre Knives, or some name like that. They were attempting to produce and market knives that had laminated titanium-carbon steel blades. The problem they mentioned was that the titanium and carbon steel would not DIRECTLY weld or forge together, so they had to use some soldering material in between the layers. The knives looked beautiful, and, they supposedly had good performance, but were on the expensive side. I'll try to find the US Patent sheet if I can, it was a cool idea.

[christopher]

I found a knife company named "Tygrys Knives". The only website reference directly to it is Polish, http://tyrgrs.zone.pl" target="_blank. It is not accessible at this point.