Beta Titanium

GTAsteel

GTAsteel

Joined
Oct 24, 1999
Messages
782
Hey can any one point me to some Beta Titanium? I didn't think this stuff would be this hard to find....

Does anyone know if it happens to be know by another name?
 
Beta C-2 is forgable, but I would rather grind Basalt. Chuck Bybee is the guy when it comes to titanium. Beta Ti is heat treatable, it is precipitation hardening...Ed
 
Just be prepared to grind for hours on end. :barf:
 
Thanks guys, Chuck doesn't have anything right now but as usual he has been more than helpfull!

Maybe I will have to talk to Mission....
 
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it right?
I personally saw the knife, and would like to know how it was taken to that blade shape? What tools were used and how hot was the titanium when it was worked.
 
Hey Nick,
Yeah Chuck told me about that knife. I just want to give it a go. I'm a chump like that.......
 
The material seemed like 6-4 but even more red short. Moves easily at temp. The shape I forged was fairly rough as pointy tips and thin edges are quite a challenge with this material; never the less it is much faster to rough forge than grind from bar stock. I'm forging mainly prybars out of the material so my experience is limited with forging blades out of Ti...Ed
 
Here is a picture of the knife.

Wheeler-BetaC-s.jpg


Nick made the handle long enough to fit my hand so the blade looks smaller than it really is. It is Nick's usual handle which means it is sculpted and shaped so it fits my hand wonderfully The tang is mortised between two pieces of carbon fiber. The guard is 416 stainless. Nick textured the surface of the blade. I like the way it looks. The dark spot on the blade is the reflection of the camera in the blade.

Nick ground the edge really thin. When he delivered the knife it was hair popping sharp. It quickly lost that edge when cutting cardboard. However the edge feels "sticky". I checked the edge on my arm and it would not shave. I then ran the edge against my beard and a bunch of whiskers fell off. When cutting cardboard it glides through and has no problem cutting. I whittled a stick and it sliced cleanly. We cut more cardboard and it still cuts well. We haven't sharpened then knife and it still cuts. The edge still feels sticky.

I'm impressed enough with the blade I thinking seriously about buying a sheet of beta titanium and selling it as blade material. The downside will be the number of knifemakers who will be mad at me for offering the material after trying to grind it! It is horrible to grind. If you grind it really really slow you can make slow progress. Grinding it fast just makes sparks and wears out your belts.

A special Thank You to Ed Schempp and Nick Wheeler for making the knife. I know it was a pain in the butt. I owe both of you. :thumbup:
 
Chuck, would initial rough grinding be better using a big 12" 36 grit stone? Just to hog off a lot of unwanted stuff, then start attacking with 40 grit belts or so. I'll try a piece of beta if you end up selling it. You'll have to explain the HT and temper though.
 
I've use rounds and flats to forge. It depends on what Chuck can get; rounds are generally more availible. Fairly high speed flycutting is the quickest way to cut away the material. Grinding with low pressure and a 180-220 grit belt seemed to be the way to grind. This material has a very high temp spark and will start a fire in the residue in your grinder. Nick has ground a fair amount of the material and probably has an efficient method. When the surface gets hot itis very gummy and the material drags rather than cuts...Ed
 
Man that handle looks long! But if any of you have ever shook Chuck's hand (aka ball-park frank fingers) you'd know why I made it so long :D

Jeff and Robert, funny you should ask! Chuck initially handed me the forged blade at the ABS hammer-in, where Bruce Brump had brought a monster of a grinder with 10" or 12" stones. I'm sure it would eat through anything, but after about 10 minutes it just made a few scuff marks on this blade.

Part of the problem, anytime you're working with forged titanium, is the scale. It gets REALLY nasty scale.

I ended up having the best luck with a worn 60X and then 120X belt, going VERY VERY slow. I don't know of actual SFPM, but I swear I could nearly count the revolutions of the belt splice.

Like Ed mentioned, it will only spark and cause fires if you grind it fast.

This material, while ground on a worn 60X running super slow, is almost like sawing through steel with a horizontal band-saw. I could see tiny flakes of material gently falling away. Weird stuff! :)

To be brutally honest, I would be pretty hard pressed to do it again.

That'll teach me for quickly saying "Sure!" the next time Chuck hands me something and asks if I want to grind on it! :D :D :D

BTW- I hand sanded the blade to 320X, and then lightly buffed it with 400X compound to get a light orange peel surface. Then buffed again with 700X rouge to polish it up a bit more. :)

-Nick-
http://www.wheelerknives.com
 
Thanks for all the info gents. I appreciate it a lot! Hearing how hard it is just makes me want to build a Beta Bali that much more :)

Nick that knife looks great. How was hand sanding that stuff?
 
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