Ok Don, What is Talonite

I saw the name Talonite on someones tutorial and how "Talonite will cut you, I've never worked with it and not got a cut" then I was reading your tutorial on dovetail bolsters and it was etched on the blade at the end...What is it?? and what are the bennefits\drawbacks???

Thanks

BTW - Don, nice knife in the tutorial!!

Talonite is a proprietary alloy sold by Carbide Processors. It is cobalt-based rather than steel-based.

The material that went into the knife on that tutorial cost $75, so it is not cheap. Here's the breakdown:

Carbon 1%
Molybdenum 1%
Manganese 2%
Silicon 2%
Iron 3%
Nickel 3%
Tungsten 5%
Chromium 30%
Cobalt 55%

No heat treat is required, since it is "age hardened", but it is relatively soft compared to other knife materials (45-47RC).

The reason it makes such a great blade material is that it is chock full of carbides (the things that do the cutting on a durable knife edge). It slices forever, and when it does require touching up, because of its relative softness, sharpening is easy.

Don,
Didn't you mention at one time that it was real tuff on grinding belts? Ray

Oh, yeah! And you can not cut it with a bandsaw (even bimetal); buy it close to the size you need, and grind off the excess. Drill only with carbide.

That's good to know Don, thanks

Don,

Do you have any names/sites where talonite is available from? I haven't seen it at Admiral. I would like to try it once I've had practice on some of the air hardening for stock removal. I like the idea that it doesn't need heat treating. I can see colors but have no eye for knowing the differance between shades. You said it can't be cut on a bandsaw, how about a jewelers frame?

Drac

Chuck Bybee is the distributor: titanium-man.com/
Good guy. Nope, can't cut it with jeweler's saw either. This is "grind only" stuff.

Nice site and not just for the metal.

thank you,
Drac

Thanks for that link also Don, I haven't seen Ti in those thickness anywhere else.

Last question (maybe)

Is there a notable weight differance between Talonite and some common knife steels. Such as Titanium is light enough to know there is a differance per square inch between it and Steel.

Short answer: no.