- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
I thought I'd just take care of all my business in one message!
I wanted to publicly thank our buddy Neil Blackwood for all he's done for me in the last several months. He first contacted me to help me with a ring project...I wanted a ring made out of titanium which would serve as my wedding band. Well, as luck would have it, Neil busted his foot playing around with motorcycles in his flip-flops (the air in Florida must rot your brain!) and he isn't allowed back to work, where his machining stuff is, to turn the ring until, of course, the wedding is over. Well, also as luck would have it, I found another talented machinist, Bruce Boone, to do the work for me, so no worries. Anyway, Neil has done a lot of other things for me this last year, so I just thought you guys should know what a great person he is to deal with.
Now, Bruce has his own CNC machinery at home (must be nice) and he used to machine aftermarket parts for the bicycle racing industry until that market dried up a little. He still makes titanium rings and wedding bands, and at an EXCELLENT price (if you've seen prices, you'll know what I mean). Anyway, he does a mirror polish on titanium that is unbelievable, so I asked him what his secret is. I remember a lot of you guys saying you get that "orange peel" texture when you try to buffy Ti. Anyway, he says the trick is the prep work. He said that you HAVE to get as many scratches out of the material as possible. He hand sands to 600 grit, removing ALL the scratche...oh, and he wet sands with WD40. He then uses a cloth wheel on his buffer with white stainless compound, and he uses LOTS of heavy pressure. He said the metal heats up pretty quick this way. He turns the work 45 degrees and buffs again, using as heavy pressure as possible. Using that, he says he gets an absolutely perfect mirror finish that looks like platinum. I'll let you klnow when I get the ring, which should be early next week! Just thought I'd share...
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My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
I wanted to publicly thank our buddy Neil Blackwood for all he's done for me in the last several months. He first contacted me to help me with a ring project...I wanted a ring made out of titanium which would serve as my wedding band. Well, as luck would have it, Neil busted his foot playing around with motorcycles in his flip-flops (the air in Florida must rot your brain!) and he isn't allowed back to work, where his machining stuff is, to turn the ring until, of course, the wedding is over. Well, also as luck would have it, I found another talented machinist, Bruce Boone, to do the work for me, so no worries. Anyway, Neil has done a lot of other things for me this last year, so I just thought you guys should know what a great person he is to deal with.
Now, Bruce has his own CNC machinery at home (must be nice) and he used to machine aftermarket parts for the bicycle racing industry until that market dried up a little. He still makes titanium rings and wedding bands, and at an EXCELLENT price (if you've seen prices, you'll know what I mean). Anyway, he does a mirror polish on titanium that is unbelievable, so I asked him what his secret is. I remember a lot of you guys saying you get that "orange peel" texture when you try to buffy Ti. Anyway, he says the trick is the prep work. He said that you HAVE to get as many scratches out of the material as possible. He hand sands to 600 grit, removing ALL the scratche...oh, and he wet sands with WD40. He then uses a cloth wheel on his buffer with white stainless compound, and he uses LOTS of heavy pressure. He said the metal heats up pretty quick this way. He turns the work 45 degrees and buffs again, using as heavy pressure as possible. Using that, he says he gets an absolutely perfect mirror finish that looks like platinum. I'll let you klnow when I get the ring, which should be early next week! Just thought I'd share...
------------------
My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
agocs_s@dd.palmer.edu
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
