is it possible to chrome plate titanium? also, is it hard to bend/drill/cut titanium? even if it is pretty thin?
now that i think of it, can someone also post some standard case material thicknesses? i'm not sure if this can be done, titanium seems like a tough material, so if it has to be too thin to be able to cut it, this idea won't work
Titanium is also known as 6AL4V(60%Aluminum, 40% vanadium): aircraft grade titanium. It cannot be mirror polished (it actually turns into an orange haze), but if used correctly you can get a titanium nitride (basically it's titanium that's baked onto a material. And no, the Easy Bake oven just doesn't cut it) . Titanium itself is a hard, hard material to work with (one of the reasons it's so darned expensive), and is best cut with diamond encrusted material. I haven't had the opportunity to work on it, but I have seen what people can do with it. Whatever you're thinking of using Titanium for, there aren't many practical uses other than it being non-corrosive. It's kind of ugly looking, but it doesn't rust, is considered hypoallergenic and is found in a lot of body piercings. Ah the useless tidbits of info you obtain while working at a knife shop.
Titanium - element no 22, atomic weight 47.9, according to my periodic table, doesn't contain alumin(i)um or vanadium.....
Useless indeed! Titanium is an Element, not an alloy. Maybe "Aircraft-grade titanium" is some american gobbledegook for an alloy they use that they feel is EQUAL to titanium. But titanium is a metal in itself. Also, whilst I don't know about MIRROR finishes, places round here sell titanium jewelry which comes up a very nice matt. I see no real reason why you shouldn't be able to polish titanium, with the right abbrasive. Whether it oxidises virtually instantaneoiusly or not is another matter..... Stop listening to idiots at the knife shop. Just noticed you said this. Are you MAD? One of the lightest, STRONGEST metals known to man? They make high quality drill bits out of it, aswell as a whole plethora of aircraft (Aircraft-grade) and heavy machinery parts. Piercings?! They used Medical-grade stainless steel for piercings. My goodness, Where do you people get this stuff from? No uses indeed...... EDIT: Google is your friend. H E R E are some interesting facts. It IS a common alloy with Aluminium for aircraft. But Ti is a pure metal.
I happen to know that Ti is used for peircings, (as an alternative for Surgical Stainless) It is also BLOODY hard stuff... very corrosion resistant etc. etc. you can get a brilliant luster on Ti, with a lot of work because... It is extremely hard to bend, drill or cut Titanium. (from what I hear) (kinda why they make dill bits out of the stuff, its bloody indestructable) its also why they use Ti alloys for nearly everything because the pure stuff is hard as holy hell to machine. Ti6Al4V (you appear to have missed off the Ti bit (fairly important)) is one of the most commonly used Titanium alloys btw. (suitable for medical implant)
It can come up quite shiny with PVD coating. This is used in the medical and piercing world a lot (the bar in my avatar). It is basically coating the titanium in such a way that it retains all the properties of the raw metal yet becomes non stick (and as a side effect shiny).
You people are getting ridiculous when it comes to trying to sound smart. 6Al/4V is an industry term for Ti6Al4V. The titanium is dropped from the name for colloquial reference. It's not unlike calling the Intel 82915G chipset the 915G in the computer enthusiast world. Obviously, titanium is an element, but like many things, obvious things are left out when smart people converse with other smart people. And deconiv is also right about titanium being an impractical metal to work with. Titanium's strength is pretty much tossed out the window when you consider the utter impracticality of working with it. Considering that titanium is often used in high-quality cutting surfaces, it stands to reason that your average cutting tools can't make much of an impression on a piece of titanium.
Obviously the Ti bit is required on a computer modding forum as proven by deconiv (who you seem to be agreeing with, who thought it was a Al/V alloy, rather then an element in it own right.) To be honest I wouldn't assume a quantum physicist would know what the hell a 915G was either, however they would stand a good chance with 'Intel 82915G chipset'. As usual its horses for courses, and when this turns into a metallurgy forum we may know what the hell 6Al4V is, till then the Ti bit is a required peice of information. Nothing like making yourself look foolish whilst trying to belittle others is there?
Not so- Medical grade stainless can be used (and is regularly on the other side of the pond) but in the EU is *almost* outlawed- i.e there are strict guidelines on it's use. Most piercers will do a fresh piercing with titanium because it is chemically inert and as stated before- hypoallergenic.
Erm... we've a very long series of mistakes in this thread. Titanium is no harder to work than a low-alloy steel and much easier than stainless steels. I've drilled and cut it, shears and hacksaw, no problem. The solid metal isn't used for drill bits or cutting tools, it's a very thin coating over tool steel, electro-chemically treated (very similar to anodising) to give the gold colour, and like anodised aluminium has a high surface hardness and high wear resistance. But only on the surface. Main advantage over steel is the similar strength coupled with a low density and good corrosion resistance, but unless you electro-chemically treat the surface to give a better colour it's nothing to get excited about appearance-wise. With the electro-chemical treatment though, you can get "oil-slick" rainbow colours, so makes unusual jewellery. Other snag is it's rather expensive.
I thought it was Ti alloy that had those properties..... I may, as always, be wrong.. but I rememeber that the machining required for a SR-71 Blackbird had to be rethought several times as they used pure Ti
you know what...forget it. i thought about it mostly because i saw titanium sheet metal on ebay that wasn't too expensive, and it would be cool to say my computer case is made from titanium, but ease of metalwork and appearance are above that.
ok, moving on then, i would really like to use decorative black chrome, NOT the nonreflective kind. are there any restrictions on what kind of materials i can use if i plan to get it coated with this kind of finish?
Puts chemistry hat on..... Kay, The first bit of confusion on this topic comes from the fact that Ti metal is diamorphic: The hexagonal alpha phase transforms to the cubic beta phase at about 900 C. 6Al 4V titanium alloys are not 60% Aluminium 40% Vanadium. They are an alloy of titanium using a 6:4 ratio of the alpha and beta phases of titanium, with aluminium and vanadium as the stabilising elements for said phases. You have to do this to equalise the different phase transition temperatures of the two Ti components, otherwise the alloy would segregate on heating/forming - large grain sizes giving it properties roughly similar to glass. (Not what is wanted!) The material properties of Ti alloys are often improved with processes known as plasma nitride or carbide treatments which improves the Vickers toughness of the surface of the alloy to a point which it can be considered for uses joint replacement, or high impact materials applications. (i.e. inside F1 engines - 6404 nitrided Ti alloys I think) This treatment is often carried out after fabrication to save on tool wear. Ti, as far as I'm aware does not galvanise. That is, it does not (rapidly) form an oxide coating like aluminium and when pure is a lustrous white metal. It has similar mechanical properties to steel - excepting that it is about 50% lighter (thus the aeroplane applications) and is therefore about as easy as steel to fabricate stuff from. SoylentGreen: you need to be a bit careful because Ti is only ductile (bendy) when it is free of oxygen so check with the retailer for details of just what it is that they are selling (you don't want an applied oxide coating). Other than that mate go for it - especially if it is Ti metal and not an alloy. You will be able to shape it just like steel (do not heat it to red hot or it will react with the oxygen in the air and become brittle) and it should polish to a cool shiny white ish colour. Please go for the Ti Metal! Everyone else - sorry I put my chemistry hat on there for a bit. I hope this is of some use to some of you. Cheers - Pete
I have titanium pins and a titanium plate in my knee cap in my leg (I had my knee smashed in a martial arts competition Still bloody hurts when its cold and damp though, but at least I can walk/run/swim/and *ahem* (well you do it in some positions on your knees ). From what I know though thats not pure, but an alloy. If memory serves (from science at school) Ti in pure form is a bitch to cut so they melded it with Aluminium so it would still have the tactile strength, but the adaptablity of aluminium with no extra weight. On a more useless note though....... If you live in America, when you buy Ti, the seller must declare to the Government, whom they are selling to, the amount sold, (and useage I think, but not sure on last point). This is a lot to do with US embargoes to certain countries. Oh the rubbish you pick up while working for British Army
so it has the same properties as steel (except lighter, and helluva more expencive.) in elemental or alloy form, except when it has an oxide coating at which point it becomes hard as hell? No need to appoligise for putting the chemistry hat on... I for one enjoy learning about this sort of thing, that and a Ti case would look nice, if a little expencive, whilst being light and strong. I know Ti can be given a coloured coating (I assume its an oxide), anybody have any idea how this applied? Is it just annodised? Any idea if we have any Ti trade embargos or anything like that, I have a head with a fair bit of Ti in it, and I don't remember giving any Name or anything whilst purchasing it.
Nope the UK doesnt have to declare anything like Ti. The cool thing is the Titanium Oxide is a veeeeeeeeeery cool colour (like a pale cobalt blue), but thats TiO3 (I think its O3 - couldnt be arsed to work out the isotopes!) But Titanium Oxide is not Titanium (obs) Titanium looks horrible, like a mottled grey, and it doesnt polish well, Titanium Oxide does polish, but why would you want to its such a cool colour!
Oh sorry, forgot the reason we don't have to declare anything, is because the UK doesnt make/refine much Ti, most of it comes from USA.
