[TheForge] Heat treat for Titanium

[David E. Smucker]

My guess Bob, is that you have an unalloyed titanium.  Not a bad thing, just 
what you have.

Dave Smucker
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Ehrenberger" <eforge at centurytel.net>
To: "theforge" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 8:38 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Heat treat for Titanium


> Cameron,
>
> The chances of me setting up a pot of hot borax is just about 0.  I get
> enough burns from scale and borax when doing regular work.  Hot borax
> forging would be almost a death wish.
>
> I was wondering about surface scale (oxide) interfering with the flint.  I
> may try grinding the surface to get down to clean metal.
>
> I did try heating to orange and quenching today, no apparent difference.
>
> I then heated to dull red and let air cool, still no difference.
>
> I guess tomorrow I'll grind the surface and see if that helps.  So far the
> only thing that has helped is using a better flint and hitting it real 
> hard.
>
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
>
> Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 13:30:36 -0600
> From: Cameron Stoker <cameron at stoker.net>
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Heat treat for Titanium
>
> Here's my little bit of Ti related info:
>
> I think the most common forms of Ti encountered are either cp
> (chemically pure) or 6al4v (6% aluminium, 4% vanadium). The cp won't
> harden at all. The fancier stuff will solution harden as described, but
> unlike steel the hardening process doesn't increase it's hardness
> properties by an order of magnitude, it's more like a 30% gain. So all
> the work of holding at temp. in a controlled atmosphere probably won't
> make much difference in it's behavior with the flint.
> The blacksmitherly approach to keeping hydrogen & oxygen away from the
> surface is to drown the thing in molten borax.  I recall that it starts
> reacting with the atmosphere anywhere above 700*f. You make up a pot and
> fill it with borax to get it nice and melty, then dip you piece after a
> little pre heat. Keep it covered all the time it's above 700*f. Be
> carefull, it's really slippery. And I'd guess a piece as small as a
> striker would only permit a few blows before it lost it's heat. When you
> quench it, some of the borax may pop off, but most of it will be there
> for a long time. Usually easiest to just grind it all off.
> The borax coating keeps the elephant-skin like texture from forming.
> This oxide layer is amazingly hard and cracks in it's surface will start
> stress risers in the parent metal. I'd also bet that the oxide is strong
> enough to keep the flint from scraping any base metal slivers off.
>
>
>
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