Working with titanium

[awptickes]

Anyone work with titanium before?

I have a bar/cylinder of titanium that I need to drill a hole down the length of, then need to mill out perpendicular cavities.

Any special tools I should be using aside from carbide end mills and drill bits?

Any operational considerations?

 

[BodyDroppedNikes]

titanium makes pretty white sparks

 

[Celerity]

I've only toured machine shops that work in Titanium. Lots of expensive, expensive gear in there.

 

[|Chaz|]

Titanium chips can "spontaneously" catch fire. Titanium drilling speeds are also significantly lower than most other metals. Also check your drill bit sharpness more frequently, it will dull faster.

 

[invisibledemon]

what exactly are you making?

and will this one day make us say "hey, i know that name" when its read on the news?

 

[awptickes]

Titanium chips can "spontaneously" catch fire. Titanium drilling speeds are also significantly lower than most other metals. Also check your drill bit sharpness more frequently, it will dull faster.

Good to know. I guess I'll do the machining outside then.

what exactly are you making?

and will this one day make us say "hey, i know that name" when its read on the news?

Nah, nothing crazy or illegal.

 

[phunky.buddha]

I've "worked" with titanium before, but the extent was to just say "Go drill this work order in titanium, double overtime approved for this weekend."

 

[|Chaz|]

You're fine inside, they're not highly combustible. Just keep an eye out for them getting hot. Sorta like don't leave lacquer soaked rags lay around in a pile.

 

[civicious]

Make sure you keep your bits/blades/whatever you're using to cut/drill/hack it sharp.

 

[newb]

What length are you talking about boring? I believe Im the only machinist in this thread so far, and what you described makes me cringe.

Why do you have to use titanium?

Also, Ive never heard of chips spontaneously combusting. My mentor use to hot form Ti at like 3k degrees, and he never had problems.

 

[awptickes]

It's a 1.5"x20" piece of Grade 5 titanium.

I need to drill a 0.355 hole (maybe a little bigger, like 0.010 bigger) in exactly the center of one 7" piece and machine out some channels. I'll then be slipping it into a stainless steel 1.5" ID sleeve. I have to turn down the Ti a little bit, maybe 0.010 to get it to fit. So, it'll be started on a lathe, the boring/drilling and turning down, and then once I make the end-caps out of a separate piece of SS and thread them. Once I get it turned down, I'll mill out the 8 channels/cavities.

Piece number two is going to be a 1.5" x 6.5" and have approximately a .230 hole in it. This one will have a five channels/cavities in it, and maybe a titanium tube covering it, with SS end caps. It all depends on how hard the Ti is on my tools.

I think you've figured out what I'm making, but remember, keep it off this board.

 

[efhondakid]

Why Ti?

Chaz is it magnesium youre thinking of?

 

[awptickes]

Lightweight and strong.

 

[newb]

So you want to drill an 0.355 hole through a 7" long bar, and a 0.230 hole in a 6.5" long bar?

If I understood that part correctly, your in for a challenge.

 

[invisibledemon]

can somebody fill me in through pm what he's making?
im very curious but completely lost. have a theory as to what it may go to, but thats about it.

 

[newb]

So you want to drill an 0.355 hole through a 7" long bar, and a 0.230 hole in a 6.5" long bar?

If I understood that part correctly, your in for a challenge.

Lil more explanation...

If your drilling through 6+ inches of material, you need specialized tools. For what your making, you need the bores to be highly accurate. In diameter, roundness and straightness. A standard twist drill wont work. You have no options for boring bars with the given hole size and length.

Workin with Ti multiplies your problems. If your tryin to do this on a lathe in the basement, Id advise against it. Your gunna need something with a quality chuck, very sturdy tail stock and a quality chuck in the dead center.

 

[awptickes]

So, I should I send it out to have it drilled?

That's what I was thinking. Damn. I was hoping I could do it all myself. :/

 

[DarkHand]

Why Ti?

Chaz is it magnesium youre thinking of?

I was thinking this as I was reading as well. Magnesium is what makes up those rectangular silver fire starters and burns white. Ti won't burn but I'd definitely send this job out to a shop that specializes in Ti.

 

[klyph]

Cut the Ti into slices and stack them in the steel sleeve. If the ID of the sleeve is even and straight it will align the Ti sections. There's no reason to have the core one piece, I mean if it didn't require special tools, then yeah leave it one piece, but plenty of designs use stacked baffles.

 

[|Chaz|]

No titanium does pose a fire hazard. Not as great as magnesium. Google it bitches