Re: Topic:Working Titanium

Posted by Rick Monteverde on September 12, 1998 at 18:35:29:

In Reply to: Topic:Working Titanium posted by Erik on September 11, 1998 at 18:57:12:

Erik -

I'm probably right about where you are on this, trying to start out on some jewelry and leading into some sculpture. Ti isn't too hard to cut & drill, and can be die formed. Think stainless steel and you have the idea. Cut or drill slow and use lotsa lube. It can't be easily annealed (inert gas enclosure furnace needed) and can't be soldered or brazed at all as far as I have been able to find out. It can be welded very nicely with TIG (GTAW) welding equipment like the Lincoln Squarewave 175 or the Miller Econotig. These rigs cost about $1500 for the basic power unit, but expect to spend $2500-$3000 or more for the full outfit & accessories. For thin sheet, the Miller has the lower amperage rating. You should be able to weld down to 22 ga sheet pretty well, IOW, invisibly with some practice - so they say. (My milage *will* vary!) There is a little capacitave spark discharge welder for attaching earring findings and so forth to Ti sheet for a few hundred dollars. See the Reactive Metals URL below.

I've made some progress die forming small pieces of 26 ga Ti sheet in a small hard-urethane molded matched die by just squeezing in a bench vise. I can trim the excess off with a cheap hand held sheet metal nibbler. The better method is to use a press and rubber blocks on single faced or cutout dies. These can be engineered to both form and cut out a part at the same time. A press is needed for this. A floor jack and some creativity can make a press, or see the links.

As for the type of metal, the pure grades have the greatest malleability for forming. The aerospace scrap is pretty hard stuff, and doesn't anodize as brightly. Good luck.

http://www.reactivemetals.com/ .....metals, books, findings, & equipment ......

http://members.aol.com/T2945/page1.html ....artist - how-to anodizing video .......

http://www.bonnydoonengineering.com/ .....dies and press equipment....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/DisplayItem.taf?ItemNumber=32879 ....a $200 20-ton shop press....

- Rick Monteverde

Honolulu, HI

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