Knives.
 

So managed to pick up a Spyderco Salt Rock 'Sprint Run' recently and as per usual over the moon with quality and overall build (even with the high vis orange scalloped handle flanks - opposed to traditional black) of the knife and for $276(AUD) found it to be a steal with the low Aussie dollar overall especially with getting from the USA with their horrendous postage charges - and in comparison to buying the Spyderco Schemmp Rock VG-10 blade for $230(AUD) locally.

I know at one stage after the initial Salt Rock H1's were made obsolete from Spyderco manufacture some of the prices were going 'la la' - some reaching near $800 for BNIB knives... Yes I was near enough dropping the coin on one, until I forgot about it and the 'Sprint Runs' came out again.
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Now my question for any of the metallurgical orientated here - I have a nice piece of Ti 6AL4V - which I would like to turn into a overall out doors work blade.
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I have spoken to a company here on the GC that specialises in Laser cutting steel etc, he wont do any cutting due to the refractory blah blah blah something carcenogenic dust - slow death et al effects of it...

Spoke to another guy who came recommended that was a an abrasive water cutter who again "I've never cut Titanium" before but we'll give it a go... Its going to be a trial and see what happens kind of scenario - $120 thanks...

Any ideas on how to cut it without too much heat build up?

Do people have any nice designs that I could turn this into or have a design that would suit this piece of metal? I know I can get some Kydex from the states for a decent sized sheath so thats taken care of.

Specs of the Ti are as follows
Long: 26cm
Wide: 6cm
Thick: 3mm

First up, why titanium? Have you used it in a knife before? The reason I'm asking is that Titanium doesn't hold an edge all that much better than aluminium. Obviously some titanium alloys will be more wear resistant than others, but usually the harder ones are also incredibly brittle.
The reason you can't laser cut a piece that thick is that it conducts heat too well, again much like aluminium, and it will tend to just liquefy and becomes very unpredictable.
If you do want to go ahead with it I would assume water cutting would be the way to go, but I'd be hitting up the search bar on knife forumms because there are plenty of people who have probably had the same question.

Titanium blades dont really work. Usually only used as a weight reducer on liner locks etc. 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium 90% titanium gives you nothing to heat treat for edge holding. You can oxidise the surface and it will sort of work but not really what you want I suspect.

Have to agree about using Ti Andrew, lots of better choices.

CNC mill for the shaping, who do you know with one of these? :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ly5-1bhHU

$350US and 6 month wait list on his blades, plus stupid postage costs to Oz.

Yes i understand the inherent qualities of Ti against other steels which are harder hold a edge better and more of a working edge - hence H1 blade.

Ive had a S30V blade on a Leatherman TTi twice now and other than the leathermen failing they were a DohDohDohDohDoh to resharpen due to their quality(ies).

However this lump of Ti is available and needs to be put to work. The high strength to weight ratio of Ti and the use of the blade make it appealing over other methods.

Anyone got any fixed blades of their own to share?

By all means, dude go for it. There are plenty of titanium blades out there, they're just very limited in what they'll do and are mostly restricted to specialty uses in highly corrosive environments. You could easily make a good food prep/process knife that would make for a great lightweight option when camping, particularly if you hike in and camp anywhere as the grams add up.
This dude makes some very unique knives, some of which are Ti with a carbide edge.

http://www.graymanknives.com/store1#...egory=13757322

This dude makes hands down the gnarliest looking knives and axes on the planet and should provide you with some inspiration.

http://www.americankami.com/

These dudes make the second gnarliest blades on the planet that are more geared towards pure badassdom and F'ing s#&t up.

http://www.millerbrosblades.com/

Making the Kydex sheath..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQUxFFON5Lo

and riveting supplies

http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/produc...roducts_id=272