Can you make a sword out of titanium??

[LaLloronaVT]

So if it can’t hold an edge then maybe it’d be better as a stabby sword, I present to you: the titanium rapier

[nathankiefer]

Titanium with Steel edges and this could make some of those impossibly big weapon designs a bit more possible

[NocturnalPyro]

Titanium not only doesn’t hold an edge it’s really hard to sharpen in the first place. Armor made of titanium would be a different story, you could effectively make a set of armor that’s twice as thick weigh the same and is basically impenetrable. Meaning not even the spike on a warhammer or pole axe would be able to poke through it.

[kaiburns]

What about a sword made out of tungsten or depleted uranium?
The same stuff that modern APFSDS are made of

[jmd]

this might be the first time I've seen the question "Can you make a titanium sword?" answered without it being started of by saying "you mean titanium alloy"

[leonardoribeiro]

i have a question, do you think, a gauntlet with a "small/medium" shield in the forearm, with a turtleshell design and a type of mid-moon cut in the up side of the shield, to help with the moviment of the hand, would be a bad thing our reliable thing?

[traviskrebs]

This seems like a nice plot weapon: A grand warrior took an oath that he shall not kill for his own benefit, so he uses a sword that won’t hold an edge and only sharpens it when he is fighting for others

[kreyperez]

The "opens door and walks in with question" style Q&A is ideal and I want you to know that

[justanotherhumanperson]

So if titanium is lighter then metal, would that mean that an over-the-top anime sword, like the buster sword, made out of titanium be somewhat useable?

[iJakku]

What about a sword with a titanium core with high carbon steel edge? I'd imagine it would allow one to craft a longer sword that weights just as much as a shorter standard sword.

[horvathbenedek]

One more thing.

Steel is great for swords because it "flexes". Flexing in engineering term is elastic deformation - i.e. temporary shape change. Steel has a range of stress under which it behaves this way, before it starts to permanently deform. This range is denoted by a sharp spike in the stress needed to deform the steel - essentially it has a barrier before it permanently deforms.

Well, the thing is, titanium doesn't. It gradually deforms, and it starts deforming at lower stresses.

To give you a rough idea of this - yield strength is the value that shows where the metal starts to permanently deform. For 5160 - a very common swors steel - it is 275 MPa (and god knows how many PSI, i'm not american). For 1075 steel it is 345 MPa. For O1 tool steel typically used for knives it is as high as 1800 MPa.

For titanium it's 240 MPa.

You can see that even the most basic blade materials beat titanium.

This is relevant because when sword chashes against sword, parts of the blade will suffer insane stress. This is why edges roll, and why low carbon blades bend from simple strikes. That is about how titanium would go - massive edge rolls and bent blades.

*EDIT: I blindly trusted Google, so I found UNHARDENED results for steel. To correct this:*

5160 yield strength (quenched and tempered) - 1700-1790 MPa.

O1 yield strength (hardened, same way) - 1800-2200 MPa, depending on how hard you want it. Probably 1800 is realistic for swords (55 HRC)

Couldn't find into for 1075.

As for Titanium, apparently Titanium alloyed with vanadium and aluminium is quite strong. Alpha phase Titanium is the stronger, beta is the harder. I've found a source saying heat treated alpha-beta mix Titanium can clock in at 1100 MPa. That's impressive, but still below regular 5160. That says nothing about hardness, which I will assume is bad. Apparently a typical HRC value for alloyed Titanium is in the low 40s.

[sirdrakey]

Also the crystalline structure of titanium makes it oddly brittle they used titanium Swords vs steel Swords in the highland! The sparks in the fights where the pieces of the titanium being chipped away. An easier practical effect when computer effects where harder to do then today.. While titanium is "stronger" when it reaches it's braking strength it snaps unlike steel that bends first.

[syloxgaming]

I feel like a Titanium sword would be deadly in a person's hands who knows how to flick and move their wrists and body with the sword like a Witcher, I think a Titanium Sword would be like a Silver Sword and the person who knows how to use the Titanium light sword would A. Fast asf boii, B. Basically Real Life Geralt Of Rivia, C. The Titanium Sword in the Right Hands will change Destiny.

[Hal_bowman]

Could argue that geometry cuts, so being lighter with proper geometry could be better since you can swing it faster.

[zichithefox]

It's almost perfect for piercing style weapons. And if there was a way for it to hold an edge, we could make slicing weapons longer with little drawback.

[nobandfan]

And it’s very abrasion resistant. Just shreds sanding belts.

[Shy__Idiot]

Iv always wondered can you make a sword out of any radioactive metal? They are metals

[_Seen_]

Love the vids, I really enjoy seeing your videos improve I can see your channel really growing

[Kromosios]

At that point, I'm just wondering if anything can make a better sharp sword than steel (unless it's glass, diamond or obsidian, but glass and obsi are so brittle you might as well use stone, and diamond will just break because it can't bend lol)

[waterierStone]

"Of course it can, it's metal."
Tell that to my francium and cesium "swords". After 30 minutes you'll only have half a sword. The other one just melts against flesh.