got crazy idea. making tools of Ti

M

M Wadel

Joined
Sep 11, 2005
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801
has anybody done it? i was thinking 2 flat screwdrivers one mdium sized and one small. and 2 phillips type screwdrivers made of 6al4v. just for fun. in my new job i use them alot, its mostly old crappy screwdrivers, but i want better, homemade preferably. is 6al4v to soft for this? is it strong enough?
 
Wow, I don't know ...

6-4 is stong but pretty malleable. Not exactly what I look for in a screwdriver or wrench.
 
I have made drift pins and small prybars out of Ti and aside from being light in the tool pouch they weren't much use. I do not know exactly what Ti it was, only that they were a LOT less user friendly than steel. They snapped instead of bending and deformed a lot.
Matt Doyle
 
so you guys think a screwdriver would deform? too bad.. it would have been really cool, but as i said it was a crazy idea
 
A Ti screwdriver is not going to work. Try Stellite if you want something different.
If you want to practice your forging take 1095 1/4" square stock and forge it into a set of round shaft screwdrivers with square tangs. Harden them and draw a spring temper around 500F-600F.Make some nice handles (Cocobola or African Blackwood ) on the lathe,and epoxy in the drivers.They should make a great heirloom to pass on to one of your kids or grandkids.
Somewhere in the shop I still have a set of Beryllium tools.Screwdrivers,wrenches,pliers,and a hammer. It cost Virginia Chemicals thousands to buy them for me. I used them exactly once. (Do not try to make your own Beryllium tools,it could prove fatal)
 
bladsmth said:
A Ti screwdriver is not going to work. Try Stellite if you want something different.
If you want to practice your forging take 1095 1/4" square stock and forge it into a set of round shaft screwdrivers with square tangs. Harden them and draw a spring temper around 500F-600F.Make some nice handles (Cocobola or African Blackwood ) on the lathe,and epoxy in the drivers.They should make a great heirloom to pass on to one of your kids or grandkids.
Somewhere in the shop I still have a set of Beryllium tools.Screwdrivers,wrenches,pliers,and a hammer. It cost Virginia Chemicals thousands to buy them for me. I used them exactly once. (Do not try to make your own Beryllium tools,it could prove fatal)
Click to expand...
What is beryllium?

the dental bridges get me :)
Beryllium is a hard, grayish metal naturally found in mineral rocks, coal, soil, and volcanic dust. Beryllium compounds are commercially mined, and the beryllium is purified for use in nuclear weapons and reactors, aircraft and space vehicle structures, instruments, x-ray machines, and mirrors. Beryllium ores are used to make speciality ceramics for electrical and high-technology applications. Beryllium alloys are used in automobiles, computers, sports equipment (golf clubs and bicycle frames), and dental bridges

Stacy what happened to cause the problems? manor in processing?
 
the sevice guy that comes to work on our M.R.I. has some titanium toolsdue to them being non magnetic . he says they dont really feel "right" fwiw
 
bladsmth said:
A Ti screwdriver is not going to work. Try Stellite if you want something different.
If you want to practice your forging take 1095 1/4" square stock and forge it into a set of round shaft screwdrivers with square tangs. Harden them and draw a spring temper around 500F-600F.Make some nice handles (Cocobola or African Blackwood ) on the lathe,and epoxy in the drivers.They should make a great heirloom to pass on to one of your kids or grandkids.
Somewhere in the shop I still have a set of Beryllium tools.Screwdrivers,wrenches,pliers,and a hammer. It cost Virginia Chemicals thousands to buy them for me. I used them exactly once. (Do not try to make your own Beryllium tools,it could prove fatal)
Click to expand...


beryllium sound exotic.. what was their intended purpose? all i know is beryllium is a very light poisonous metal. is it hard enough for tools?
 
Beryllium tools are used in explosive atmospheres because they are non-sparking.Breathing Beryllium dust is extremely dangerous ( hence great care or avoidance of grinding steels with beryllium content),and 1mg per cubic meter of air is enough to do you in.A few micrograms is enough to cause BED (beryllium exposure disease), which slowly rots your lungs out.I was in research at Virginia Chemicals, and they got me beryllium tools to invent and adjust equipment involving explosive gasses.They looked like old bronze.I think the nuclear guys use them ,too.
I only had one time that I really had to avoid any sparking risk,so I never used them again.Heck,Most of the time I was smoking a pipe or cigar while I worked,so it didn't seem particularly important to avoid a spark from the tools.
 
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