Shaping titanium

[Seraphim_combat]

I made a few bolsters for my emerson pocket knives, how ever once I bought some titanium I tried it and man is it tough, I mostly use a dremel and a belt sander any other ideas on how to do it quicker ?

 

[Frank Niro]

Yes , but maybe the belt sander first.
Frank

 

[navman]

Believe it or not I found good quality mill bastard files to be pretty quick on 6AL4V Ti. Followed up with sand paper.

 

[Frank Niro]

I'm too old for that but for someone younger ---? .
Frank

 

[Geoff Flato]

Whatever you use (either abrasives or cutting tools) it needs to be SHARP. Dull anything and titanium makes for a bad day. Titanium is actually fairly soft, and files much better than you'd expect it to based on how it grinds and machines.

 

[navman]

After my first mini shop fire on the bed of my mill (counterboring Ti handle scales with dull HSS) I realized that Sharp Carbide + Cutting fluid + Speed Control = no white hot fires.

 

[Josh Rider]

The yellow 3m 967 belts worked well for me. The key was to go slow, just fast enough so it’s not sparking.

I found that tip on here somewhere years ago and it worked for me. Granted I was doing stuff .07 thin.

ETA: here’s the thread I was referring to. https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/preferred-belts-for-ti.353820/

 

[Seraphim_combat]

Thanks all for the heads up and the tips