best blade material, hi carbon steel or titanium?

OK, here's the thing with titanium.

Forget everything you've seen in movies

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regarding titanium as knife/sword material.

If we're talking about quality alloys, titanium is not stronger than steel. Some steel, surely yes, but that's like saying something is stronger than wood, when we're talking about balsa. If you take equal sized (volume) bars of titanium and steel, the steel will be stronger.

The advantage titanium has over steel in strength comes in it's volume vs. weight. Take equal weights of steel and titanium, and titanium is the stronger. But of course, it'll have more volume. This is why Ti is such a good material for handles. At the thicknesses our knive handles and liners have, titanium is more than strong enough. Steel would be unnecessarily stronger and heavier. Titanium also doesn't corrode. It's not as light as aluminum of course, but it's signifcantly stronger and more durable.

Titanium does not make good blades.

When compared to cutlery grade stainless or carbon steel, titanium is way softer. The lowest you'll see "quality" steel at is about 55-56Rc (Rockwell hardness). This would be on knives like Swiss Army Knives (stainless) or Opinels (carbon). The standard for modern high quality steels (154CM/ATS34, S30V, VG-10) is 59-60Rc. Carbon steels can be taken upwards of 62Rc. Keep in mind that the harder a steel is, the more brittle it is (compared to a softer treat of the same steel). The harder a steel is, the longer it will hold an edge...up to a point. If it's too hard, it'll be too brittle, and instead of simply dulling (or rolling) the edge, it'll chip, and that's much worse. Plus, it'll break easier from impacts like chopping, stabbing, or dropping accidentally. With hard-use knives you'll often see softer heat treats to improve impact resistance, but even then you won't see the hardness below 55Rc.

Titanium though cannot get much above 50Rc without becoming too brittle. Titanium is difficult to get a sharp edge on because of its composition and softness. But even that that hardness, it's far softer than steel, and won't hold an edge very well.

This is why the only time you see titanium bladed knives is for very specific situations. They're sometimes used as dive knives because they won't rust/corrode (although the new H1 steel being used by Benchmade and Spyderco may eliminate Ti in this application entirely, as well might Talonite, a cobalt-based metal, in the future). "SPEC-OPs" types like Navy SEALs might use a titanium knife because some mines are triggered by magnetic signatures, and Ti is non-magnetic. The other application you'll see titanium bladed knvies is for last-ditch self defense blades, like the Hideaway. In this sort of situation, edge holding ability isn't really a priority, but it's other properties (corrosion resistance and light weight) are.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of titanium forgings. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.