Making A Nitinol Knife. Part 1: Forging Nitinol

Looks like I've been sent original US Navy nitinol and asked to make a 7" blade! I got to squish it out into a usable piece and forge it into a knife! I've been hiding a bow and shoes in my videos in honor of my family, have you noticed?

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[jeverettrulz]

content like this is precisely why this is one of the best knife/metal working channels on the Tube! thank you for sharing

[SignalJones]

"Making A Nitinol Knife. Part 1: Forging Nitinol"
me, a guy with a welding degree and limited experience with Inconel, Nitinol's nicer younger brother, grabbing the popcorn and sitting down:
"ooo this is gonna be hilarious"

for the record guys: both inconel and Nitinol are "super" alloys. they don't really like working under hammers. or working at all. they machine like trying to cut steel with peanut-butter.

[LilyBlossom]

Jesus, that stuff's a nightmare to work with. Solid attempt, man. Very educational.

[_DSTNE_]

As many times as I've rewatched old videos, I've NEVER seen the hidden Easter eggs. Bravo sir.. bravo. Now I have to watch them all again lol

[sirmontag]

You're running into fairly normal issues when trying to forge titanium alloys, I've been there. Short answer is that outside of expensive specialty equipment, stock removal is the only viable way to get anything out of it. And then when you go to try stock removal, it just chews through belts like no one's business, ceramic ones included.

I have two different 50% completed titanium 6alv knives and I ran into the exact same problems when trying forge it - embrittlement, work hardening even when heated to glowing orange, and severe oxidation. Between the embrittlement and oxidation, my attempt at forging a usable knife was a complete failure. It is a knife shaped object though, so at least I have that.

My second attempt, stock removal with a 2x72 belt grinder and ceramic belts was expensive - it ate ceramic belts like no one's business, it was both gummy and very hard to get anywhere, and it threw blinding white hot sparks everywhere. I got the rectangular block ground down to the knife blank outline and gave up after using a little over $100 worth of ceramic belts just to get to that point. I estimate that finishing it would be another two hundred dollars worth of belts, if I can even get a useable edge out of the end product and not just a wedge.

Titanium alloys don't hold a edge worth a darn from everything I've seen. I think as knife materials go, they're right up there with plastic - can it stab something a few times? Sure. Will it have a keen, useable edge that can cut stuff a few hundred times before needing to be sharpened? Not really.

So I've got tantalum next up on my list of 'exotic materials knives aren't made out of for very good reasons but I'm still going to try' list 😂

[deadrussianliberal]

It seems like you need diamond saw blade, adamantium hammer and dragon scale anvil to work with this stuff.
Not to mention nuclear reactor core to heat it.
Not worth, considering the end result would be a Knife of Corrosion Resistance+2

[JakHart]

As soon as you said your final words in this video, my first thought was "how can you leave me hanging"?

And then 🎶.

That hit me in my heartstrings.

[thecountbassy_]

Going around in circles, cracking valuable material left and right, congratulations, you’re a certified materials engineer! XD

[brysonalden]

I'd never heard of this stuff until you posted this wonderful video, so thanks for expanding my knowledge. As noted by another commenter, this is why I watch. The way it behaves and the grain structure are enough for me to know I'm better off sticking with materials I know.

[beezo]

Wow, what a cantankerous material to work with. My hats off to you for staying in there and battling it out.
...still looking for Easter eggs 😄

[Noah-hzll]

We frequently use nitinol products in the operating room (I'm a certified surg. tech). It's used a lot in kidney stone retrievals (wire baskets) as well as guide wires for the bone anchors we use in various tendon/ligament repairs. Stuff is indestructible, just so flexible and tough. You can practically tie it in a knot and it springs back to original form.

[gregmead]

I've been watching forging videos for a year or so, and I found this one fascinating. So many of them seem to go perfectly. It was really interesting to see how you were NOT able to successfully forge this.

[jamessnodgrass]

I've never seen anything act even similar to that Steve. You gave it a helluva try. Only the navy would invest in something so difficult and expensive.

[paulrichardspencer]

It's usually single crystal cast or rolled, then cnc cut, with an industrial forge, with large environmentally controlled ovens and cooled oil quench machines.
My ex partner used to work for a company that did this for airplane components and let me tell you the machines in operation are amazing and absolutely huge.
I wouldn't feel bad if you cannot achieve the precision, i mean, the presses are inside ovens that keep the metal at temperature and the atmosphere inside said presses/rollers/forges is argon or some other inert gas to remove the oxidisation problem, something you will find extremely difficult as you cannot do hands off forging.

[numbnutz]

You know W2 makes a nice knife. And it won't BREAK YOUR ANVIL! That stuff is crazy. Maybe you need to use forge of Nidavellir for proper results?

[larrybud]

Best forging channel around. Anybody can film them banging on hot metal with no dialog (and dang, those are BORING!!), but the descriptions, explanations and failures are why this is great stuff.

[krissteel]

And in this episode, a man sends Steve out to get a long weight, 4ft of fallopian tubing and a can of elbow grease

[DavidMoonForge]

Lol, "How good does this steel stack up against other steels for edge retention? Ha ha, not so good from what I can see." I love all the work and effort just to see if it's possible without any real reward. I love all your videos, nice work!

[robertbailey]

Steve I noticed from your first videos to now and always wondered why switched forges and noticed alot of people have your last type, does it work better or what, been subscribed since beginning, really enjoy your videos they're honest and you represent most of us that don't have million dollar equipment, keep up good work thank you for all you do

[SeaforgedArtifacts]

Knifemaker's adamantium....
Ridiculous to make, hard to shape,
Soo worth it.