Working With Titanium

[pkdmslf]

I am thinking of attempting to mimic the "FIZZ" pattern on some Ti knife handles. Has anyone besides Matt C done this and if so how did it turn out? My question is would a Dremel tool mounted in a Dremel Drill press suffice or would a regular drill press be the way to go? Also would I need to use carbide bits to drill the Ti? Thanks in advance.

 

[M Wadel]

can you link to a pic?

 

[pkdmslf]

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325851&page=2&highlight=Unique
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=456606&highlight=Cucchiara
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=417998&highlight=Cucchiara
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303542&highlight=Cucchiara
http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=7341

 

[M Wadel]

i would go for a drill press, with one of those tables you can adjust (x and y dimension), you can use regular hss drillbits, just go very slow (low rpm), peripheralspeed of the drillbit somewhere around 5-12m/s or so. i dont think you will need any cuttingfluid, just resharpen the drillbit every 10th hole or so, do not stay "static" because the drill will overheat and melt, all the heat will remain in the hole. keeping the drillbit/tool sharp is essential to all titanium machining.

 

[knarfeng]

Try reading this:

http://www.titanium.com/titanium/tech_manual/tech2.cfm

That should give you some basic info on tools, tips, and feed rates.

 

[pkdmslf]

Thanks. Pretty informative and may have save me some grief.