Anyone worked with Titanium?

G

guitarguy1

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Apr 14, 2009
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My buddy just hooked me up with scrap titanium from his shop and I’m wanting to use it for scales for my smaller fixed blades and probably a set of grips for my griptilian for giggles. What’s the best way to cut through this material? I’m figuring a sacrificial wheel on my right angle grinder, but I also have a bandsaw and mill. The mill will be used for the pocket on my grippy.

Does bead blasting give a decent look post sanding pre-anodizing, or is it better to polish all the way out and then anodize?

I promise I’ve looked around and talked to him, but his shop does the raw work, no anodizing or prepping besides machine finish. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
It work hardens very easily and it's tuff beyond imagination. Cut slow, lube it and cool if you can. Grind slow with a lot of pressure. Protect yourself and close surrounding from those sparks. They burn white hot and stinks. Teeth on a saw and grains on a belt should byte and remove more than the just hardened layer. I grind it @2-4m/s and cut by hand. Milling should be low rpm, aggressive and cooled significantly. Low power mills can't make it.
Bead blasting can give a decent look but polishing before anodizing look really nice. Flame anodizing has more vivid colors than electro anodizing.
 
guitarguy1 said:
My buddy just hooked me up with scrap titanium from his shop and I’m wanting to use it for scales for my smaller fixed blades and probably a set of grips for my griptilian for giggles. What’s the best way to cut through this material? I’m figuring a sacrificial wheel on my right angle grinder, but I also have a bandsaw and mill. The mill will be used for the pocket on my grippy.

Does bead blasting give a decent look post sanding pre-anodizing, or is it better to polish all the way out and then anodize?

I promise I’ve looked around and talked to him, but his shop does the raw work, no anodizing or prepping besides machine finish. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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- bandsaw woks great (if it is a metal cutting one) run slow with constant high feed pressure

- bead blast for satin or polish, your pre finish determines the look. Ano doesn't cover scratches. Finish to 320 or so before blasting, ano etc.

- Titanium is my default material so I'm used to milling it, everything else is easier to mill lol. Just be easy on the mill. Remember to thread form any tapped holes as opposed to cutting them.
 
I have a knife project where I want to tweak the profile of a titanium knife tang, and rehandle it. Just the tang, I'll leave the blade alone.... Is that going to be difficult to grind the shape I want, or should I not bother?

I don't want to ruin it, nor burn my house down.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
I have a knife project where I want to tweak the profile of a titanium knife tang, and rehandle it. Just the tang, I'll leave the blade alone.... Is that going to be difficult to grind the shape I want, or should I not bother?

I don't want to ruin it, nor burn my house down.
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Easy. Sharp belt, run very slow. Push hard. It grinds best when there is no sparks. Grind offs are large and fall straight down. If no sparking, no work hardening.
 
Please listen to Joe about the sparks. They can be white hot meteors that will ignite everything. They don't burn for long but burn very hot. It ain't no 4th-of-July sparkler.
IIRC, the sparks are well over 2000°F as they burn in the air's oxygen and nitrogen (yes, it is the only element that burns in nitrogen!!!).
Even if you are grinding slow and avoiding sparks, wear a leather apron and leather shoes.
 
Grade 5 can be a real bitch to work with and can work harden fast. Grade 2 is a dream to work with and I prefer it over using stainless.
 
Just in case, I have, when working Ti, on left and right side of the table a 20l bucket filled with water and a fire extinguisher. Never used them but there is a first for anything.
And...wear a cap. :)
 
When grinding Ti do not let any grindings accumulate on skin or clothes. One spark will ignite the grindings.
 
We used to work slow and hope for no sparks. Now we grind and machine fast. There are sparks, but everyone wears the appropriate safety gear and the dust does not accumulate. We do the same with zirconium. Working fast eliminates fires from accumulated dust and chips.

If you work with titanium and/or zirconium, have a Class D fire extinguisher close by.

Chuck
 
fitzo said:
If you have a fire extinguisher handy for this, might want to make certain it is for burning metal (Class D in USA). Not every extinguisher type will work and could make it worse. Do your homework.
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+1 this. And do not put water on burning titanium( or other burning metals for that matter ). It burns hot enough to liberate the H from H2O, which then adds fuel to the fire. I've milled and turned it some, but have never ground it. Speeds/feeds need to be spot on, and when they are, it is a beautiful sight. When they're wrong, it work hardens in the blink of an eye, and is a disaster. Took a pile of swarf outside, and lit it with a propane torch........impressive is an understatement! Very, very bright. Like flash bulb bright. Ti is neat stuff!
 
ak650 said:
+1 this. And do not put water on burning titanium( or other burning metals for that matter ). It burns hot enough to liberate the H from H2O, which then adds fuel to the fire. I've milled and turned it some, but have never ground it. Speeds/feeds need to be spot on, and when they are, it is a beautiful sight. When they're wrong, it work hardens in the blink of an eye, and is a disaster. Took a pile of swarf outside, and lit it with a propane torch........impressive is an understatement! Very, very bright. Like flash bulb bright. Ti is neat stuff!
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I do believe the same pertains to carbon dioxide. Burning metals will do the equivalent and cause the CO2 to "hydrolyze" the same as water, providing an oxygen source to keep burning.
Thus, a CO2 extinguisher becomes part of the fire triangle when metals burn.

Chemistry fun: mix a little potassium permanganate granules, glycerin, and titanium chips. OUTSIDE. You'll have to determine the ratios empirically. Step back and wait a moment. 14 year old chemistry Fun City!
 
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It's really not a big deal. It is a pain to work with. Fire hazard, yes but really no big worry... clean any big piles of swarf like you probably would anyways. Steel is also a fire hazard.
 
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