Look what showed up today....

[Spots]

So the mailman dropped off some new goodies today. RED333 was nice enough to send me to large pieces of titanium to try my hand at forging out some knives with. At the very least I'll use it for handguards, pommels, etc. But I hope to be able to forge it into a few knives, as it is supposed to be very tough ####. The pieces he sent me are .5" x 7" x 16" and he sent me two of them. They should make some good knives if my abilities are up to par. Thanks for being a great guy RED.

[peejman]

Wow. Do you know the alloy? Ti isn't cheap by any stretch. I work with it all the time (aircraft parts) and yes, its tough stuff.

[xRUSTYx]

Wow. Do you know the alloy? Ti isn't cheap by any stretch. I work with it all the time (aircraft parts) and yes, its tough stuff.

and incredibly flammable

[Spots]

I don't know the alloy, so its gonna be a shoot in the dark. I do know the man he bought it from used it for knife making. I worked with some of it when I was in the USMC as an aircraft mechanic, but forging it should be interesting. It has a narrow forge range, as too cold (1800* and below) and it won't move, and too hot (2300* and above) it will catch fire and burn like a welding rod, and is hard to put out. But if I can make a knife from it, it should be hell on wheels.

and incredibly flammable

Yeah, I have a metal, lidded bucket full of baking soda, a class D extingusher, and if all else fails, a large pond full of water. I'll get it out somehow.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Spots

[Spots]

This is a lil video showing what kind of punishment a forged titanium knife blade can take.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Spots

[Guest Broomhead]

Don't use the water whatever you do! It will combust/explode since the Ti burns hot enough to split the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water, thus creating two highly combustible gases. From what I was reading either stick it in, or pour on some baking soda, or use a dry extinguisher like an A, B, C rated one.

Red333 is a great guy. He is bringing me some of the same stuff to try my hand at making a knife through stock removal. Now I just have to draw up some plans of what I want to do with such large, thick pieces. I'm thinking something cord-wrapped since it's so freaking thick. Maybe something simple at first, like a kiridashi or a wharncliffe neck knife.

[Spots]

Don't use the water whatever you do! It will combust/explode since the Ti burns hot enough to split the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water, thus creating two highly combustible gases. From what I was reading either stick it in, or pour on some baking soda, or use a dry extinguisher like an A, B, C rated one.

Noted. I'll stick with the baking soda approach then. I still can't wait to see what it does.

[Guest The Dude]

That will be interesting.

[Spots]

So test report. This stuff IS workable, so thats the good side. The bad side is its almost to tough to handle. We heated it to yellow heat, and spent 15 minutes working with a cleaver and 12 lb sledge. It cut a line about 4 inches long that varies from an 1/8th to a 1/4 inch deep. So cutting it into useable sizes will be an all day event. Also I hit it with the 7" grinder and cut off wheel. It barely scratched it and took a 1/4 inch of material off the wheel. So abrasive cutting is out. But I will persevere.

[Links2k]

Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished products.

[1morethan8]

Titanium is like no other metal and you got to love to work metal before you ever pickup titanium.. or crazy! Ha!

I first worked titanium 44 years ago and it's still my favorite.

My pick/mattock (I'm a rockhound)

Shovel with removable head, to be used as a walking stick.

Beach scoops for metal detecting the beach.

And you got'a have a knife!

All titanium was 6-4(grade 5), handle for shovel made from 3-2.5(grade 9).

[Spots]

Are you forging or cutting? Or machining?

[1morethan8]

Most of the work I do now is by hand. I don't do any forging and the only machine I have is a small drill press.

When I made the pick I did use a 220 ton press to bend the top sections of the handle, but all the metal was cut by hand using a grinder. The scoops were cut from stock and the bottoms were curved using a vise and hand made dies. The blade for the machete was cut from bar stock(3/6"X2").

The welder I have is an old Miller Thunderbolt ac/dc using a "dry-rig" tig torch.

If you get into titanium metal be sure to read up on the many types because one grade will work different than another.

The characteristics between grades can make it seem that one compared to the other is the same difference between a mild steel and hardened steel. With over 30 different grades things can get confusing!

The grades most common for us to get is Grades1-4, Grade 5, and grade 9.

To give you some idea about how titanium can be different...

Grades 1-4 have a tensile of between 35k and 65k.

Grade 9 is around 90k.

Grade 5 is 130k.

Some special grades will go over 200,000 tensile... but is very hard for us common types to get!

Just a note on putting the nice color anodizing on titanium without using a torch...

Go to YouTube and enter "anodizing titanium", using electric current is a lot easier than heat...

and you can control the colors too!

[RED333]

To honest I payed 10 dollars a piece, have had it for years, I have tried to sell it but not knowning the alloy

makes it a bit hard to put a price on.

At one time there was some numbers on one piece, I think it was this when I looked it up.

Grade 5, also known as Ti6Al4V, Ti-6Al-4V or Ti 6-4, is the most commonly used alloy. It has a chemical composition of 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium, 0.25% (maximum) iron, 0.2% (maximum) oxygen, and the remainder titanium.

Wikipedia is where I found it today, now I could be wrong, yall be very carefull with it.

I have been helped all my life, some strangers, LEO, friends.

Just my way to put something back in the system.

My own guote.

"Give more than you get.

And you will get more than you need,

This is true for the good and bad you do in your life."