hey im new here and got a question

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

hello my name is stephan and im a student from holland. this college year we have to come up with a concept for our busniss plan.
of course this plan doesn’t need to be real but i wanted to know if it would be technologically possible.

my concept is a regular swiss army knife but modified to be totally made out of carbon fiber. not just the cover but the knife and tools too.

i hope this is enough information and if somebody thinks it is possible i would love to hear from you!

thank you in advance:)

#2

It’s possible cosmetically, but functionally not really… Depends how far you need to go with it.

#3

thank for very much the reply sir,

well it’s because i’ve seen wrenches and knives out of carbon fiber so i thought why not a swiss army knife. and if not carbon fiber how about fiberglass? or is that just cosmetically aswell?

#4

The carbon fiber knives that have carbon fiber blades are gimmicks, the blades cannot stay sharp. CFRP (any FRP really) doesn’t have the hardness of metallic materials. Cosmetically though I would think a carbon shell on a swiss army knife could do well. There are a lot of weapons enthusiasts who would go for it. That would be an easier business to run as well, since making each specific tool on a Swiss Army Knife would be a real pain :wink:

Edit: HOWEVER!

Something I’ve never seen before: A knife where the entire body, and most of the blade itself, is made from CFRP, but the knife edge of the blade is sheathed in some sort of metallic. You could then sharpen that edge into a actual knife edge that would stay sharp, but have the weight savings benefit of having a knife body, handle, and blade support/backend (sorry - don’t really know the technical terms regarding the anatomy of a knife) made out of CFRP whilst still allowing it actually cut something. This would follow in a similar vein to which GE manufactures its large jet engine blades - most of the blade (indeed, all the load bearing components) are made out of CFRP, but they tip the edge of it with titanium so debris and FOD doesn’t destroy the leading edge of the fan blades. Makes repairs easier too since you can just weld extra titanium to add any lost material.

^There is probably some real commercial value in that, so if you start that business and it takes off, I expect you to buy me a drink :cheers: :slight_smile:

#5

wow thanks alot this will sure help me with my project, if you ever come to visit the neterlands i’ll absolutely buy you a round.

you may bring your friends too if i ace the busniss plan :wink:

yours faithfully,
theproject

#6

it would be hard to build, thats for sure. Maybe mill out of carbon plates and apply a ceramic/metallic coating after. The lack of hardness and stiffness in those thicknesses would not make it suitable for any tool on the knife, but a simple model could work. However I don’t think carbon fibre in this kind of application would be benificial. maybe on cool factor :wink:

#7

I thought about this concept as well… I thought of making the blade all carbon except for the cutting edge as a metallic bond in piece. Not an easy thing to make but, possible. I was thinking more along the lines of a chefs knife though, not a dinky pocket knife.

#8

thank all of you for your reply’s im currently working on making a plastic 3d model so my teacher will get a view of the general idea.

im also looking for a company that might even make just 1 real life concept so that i can score even more points. even if it’s not fuctional it still score high on a cool factor.

yours fathfully,
theproject