I have a Honda stone-flinger with a cutting blade and a mulching blade, both steel of some flavor. I remove the blades about every other time I mow, and touch up the edges with a file, or the angle-grinder if needed.
Every season, about the 2nd time I do this I gets to thinkin' (as is my wont when faced with hard work) that a blade of a different material might be more resilient to the stones and tree-carcasses I often excavate with the derned thing.
a) How much more brittle than a typical blade would a titanium blade be?
b) How much longer than a typical blade would a titanium blade keep an edge?
I don't know anything about the different grades of titanium billet, or titanium alloys, but that might have an effect on performance.
Yes, I know that titanium is super expensive. Price is not a consideration, for this question.
Best Answer
I assume you want longer blade life ? As a metallurgist I can't think of any advantage for Ti. I have weld hard-faced steel blades ( 5% Cr+ C ).They cut well but it was very difficult to grind a sharp edge on the rounded weld deposit. My current cheap mower blade is doing very well and I realized all that is needed is to harden it - quench and temper ( Q & T ). The large majority of blades are just cold rolled steel , not hard. They are relatively low carbon like nearly all ordinary steels , that can make Q & T difficult. But it can be done with high austenitizing temperature ,like 1650F, and quenching into salt water. There are other more expensive things that can be done.