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Post by Jance k on Aug 27, 2013 2:50:07 GMT
I was wondering what would happen if you used titanium to make a sword. I know it would be lighter but would it be to brittle or could it stand the stress of heavy use? What do you all think?
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Aug 27, 2013 2:59:43 GMT
As I understand it from the information I've been told, titanium would not make a good sword steel. The ways that it is superior to steel are not translatable to that medium.
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 27, 2013 3:16:26 GMT
Titanium is considered superior to steel because it has a higher strength in relation to its weight. In a sword, it would be no good. It wouldn't hold an edge, and it would be too light. Force=mass x acceleration. You'd lose a lot of mass.
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Post by Jance k on Aug 27, 2013 3:22:00 GMT
Thanks that makes since. The reason I am asking is because my goal is to forge a sword at least 6ft and that would be one heavy sword so I was wondering if titanium would work if it was such a big sword.
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Post by THE_SUPERWEIRDO on Aug 27, 2013 3:25:07 GMT
Now that would be a different story... I'm not a scientist, but I can say that if it did have the same weight and mass as a steel sword smaller than what you're intending to build, I would guess it would be an awesome sword to have Don't know how it would hold an edge, maybe have some steel on the edges?
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 27, 2013 3:26:17 GMT
As in 6' total or a 6' blade? The first has been done to great effect. I suppose it would be possible to make a titanium spine with steel edges, but a big fuller would accomplish the same thing. My question is, why that big?
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Post by Jance k on Aug 27, 2013 3:36:28 GMT
There's not really a reason but it would awesome to own and be able to use if you wanted to. Mainly I want to see if I can make it and then see if i can wield it.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Aug 27, 2013 3:47:14 GMT
Compared to steel, titanium is much more flexible (about twice as flexible), so a titanium sword of the same geometry will be floppier. It will need to be thicker to compensate. It should still manage to be lighter for the same stiffness, perhaps about 25% lighter.
It's also soft compared to appropriately heat treated high-carbon steel. Expect about HRC35, at most.
Toughness for pure titanium will be about the same as for 1040 steel quenched and tempered. Up to 3 times higher for the toughest alloys, and less than 1/10 of this for the most brittle alloys.
Tensile strength for the stronger alloys can be similar to high carbon steels.
Fatigue might be a worse problem than in steels, but I don't have useful numbers to compare.
So, basically, better corrosion resistance, much softer, and a little lighter. Possibly less durable.
Like aluminium, the surface will oxidise, protecting it from further corrosion.
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Post by Jance k on Aug 27, 2013 4:27:53 GMT
Thanks for the info. I'll probably use steel with a good fuller. Thanks for all your help I've learned something new.
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 27, 2013 4:36:53 GMT
Check out the SBG "Krom Killer". It should give you an idea of how much such a sword would weigh.
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Post by Jance k on Aug 27, 2013 4:53:20 GMT
Thanks I took a look at it and that is close to what I want to do. That thing is amazing. Do you think a 10 pound sword would be to heavy if it was well balanced?
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Post by Onimusha on Aug 27, 2013 6:36:25 GMT
According to the importer, that's the shipping weight. The sword itself is 6.7 pounds.
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Post by freq on Aug 27, 2013 7:57:27 GMT
having had a go at a couple of titanium blades myself (one of which is here viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18251) i would highly recommend using steel, sure its heavy but its also a lot more forgiving, Ti doesnt hold an edge worth a damn, its hard to grind, gives off super incandescent sparks (comparable to welding)and is really hard to forge, ive made a claymore that was close to six ft total length and wouldnt even attemp to replicate it in Ti, would take far too much grinding and you cant even aneal it then temper it once rough grinding is done.i think if it worked as a blade material it would be used more commonly instead of only being used in things like diving knives that dont require sharp edges but do require corrosion resistance
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