Flaming the handles of a bm42

G

ganjakid

Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
284
I just got my very own 42 the other day
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, heck I even slept with it under my pillow. I've heard of flaming tht Ti handles to bring out some color. Anybody know the tech?
 
There was another guy in this forum by the name of MMTMatrix. I recently just bought a rainbow anodized BM42 he customized. He's a real cool guy and might be able to help you on how to do that. That and there was a post about that somewhere.

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I have a sword in my pocket!
 
Here is the thread on the heat coloration that mmatrix did:

http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum47/HTML/000721.html

There was a thread on file work too. Was it Chuck who totally file worked a 42? It was nicely.

I did a little file work - traction grooves - on the latchless 42 project. The Ti cuts pretty nicely with files.

[This message has been edited by Steve Harvey (edited 05-04-2001).]
 
I thermally oxidized mine but didn't like it after a couple of months, I liked the original silver so I sanded the color off:

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Cameron

"And shepards we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command, so we shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be, En Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti"
A few of my balisongs
My ClubPhoto albums
 
I've taken a handfile to my 42.
I've contoured the latch and the bottom of both handles, and eased down the spine to hit my hand a little less hard.
the Ti was almost easier to file than the steel blade.
There is a guy that says he can give it a "flame" filework job, but I can't part with it for that long...

I haven't tried to flame it into annodization.
It kinda looks cool, though...
 
good thing thats titanium and not magnesium
heh I was at the drag races and saw a vintage spoked racing wheel catch fire after a wreck it was rather interesting.

Nate
 
Nice pictures Cam, but really -- they don't do it any justice. They really don't bring out the sparkle and light that they can reflect (at least it looks nothing like mine).

Ganjakid: I really enjoyed working on my 42, it was a lot of fun and a good experience to do. It also turned out very nicely!!!

Please let me know if there is anything that I can help you with. Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask, I am willing to help.

Thanks,
mmtmatrix

 
I love to watch magnesium ribbon burn, that gets super bright (too bright to look at sometimes). Here are some pictures I just took of my 42's handles, as you can see they are no longer colored (I have only 1 BM 42):

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Cameron

"And shepards we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command, so we shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be, En Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti"
A few of my balisongs
My ClubPhoto albums
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">good thing thats titanium and not magnesium. I was at the drag races and saw a vintage spoked racing wheel catch fire after a wreck it was rather interesting.</font>
Click to expand...

Ti burns hotter than Mg. Fortunately, though, it's not self-sustaining as Mg is. Furthermore, it's a lot harder to set Ti on fire. You're not gonna get there with a propane torch. The big risk with Ti is grinding in on high-speed equipment or dust from grinding, machining, cutting, or other similar operations.

A lot of folks worry about destroying the temper of their blade by flaming the handles. Well, to affect temper, you have to raise the temperature above the last heat treat cycle. I don't know what that temperature is, but the lowest heat treatment protocols in use are still well above 300, and those are exotic. I'd guess that the final heat treat for the 42's blade is in the 400-450 range. But, even if it's just a bit above 300, well, water boils just a bit above 200 (depending on altitude). So, as long as you don't get the blade hot enough to boil water, you've got at least a hundred degrees of margin.

Start at the latch end and work up. Just keep flaming until you get colors you like. Obviously, keep away from the blade. Then, quickly cool it by dunking it in water.
The colors you'll get will be completely random and will probably not be solid. Reds and oranges and yellows, and even some great blues tend to show up a lot. The colors tend to be very irridecent and change with light.
Mine have proven quite durable.


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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Thanks Chuck, I am really trying with these pictures. I guess I should buy a digital camera that I can just carry around with me, the camera I use is a PC camera and it is extremely hard to keep the camera steady, focused, and to click on my mouse while trying to peek around a corner at my monitor about 5 feet away (camera window is pretty small). I hope to get some really good pictures of my first custom Bali-Song when it comes later this week
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Cameron

"And shepards we shall be, for thee my Lord for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command, so we shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be, En Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti"
A few of my balisongs
My ClubPhoto albums

[This message has been edited by BalisongMan (edited 05-07-2001).]
 
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