Zirconium

TK Steingass

TK Steingass

Knifemaker - Buckeye
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 16, 2010
Messages
5,639
Fellas:

One of my clients asked if I could make a fixed fighter with a zirconium guard. I know nothing about this material - I have seen it being used in folders. Would any of you care to discuss how it works and what product forms/suppliers you have experience with?

Many thanks,

TK
 
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I use a lot of zirconium in my folders. It is very expensive. It machines well and cools quickly. It will take on an orange peel surface effect under the same conditions as titanium. It polishes nicely if you take the time to sand to high grit. It does not have a lot of flexibility like Ti. The dust is extremely flammable and grinding produces white hot sparks. My workflow is grind, dunk, wipe the dust away, repeat. I think it would make a very nice guard but, I would design it so no pinning is necessary. I color all my Zr with a propane torch by heating to red hot and allowing it to air cool. I've never had warping but I know others have. I try to suspend all my parts while heating so they cool evenly. There is nothing out there like a high polished, heat blackened piece of zirc; it can be quite spectacular. You can also mix surface textures before coloring to get some cool effects.

Bob

ETA- I get all my Zirc from George Palagonia at American Metal Xchange
 
Most similar to Ti .In fact there are alloys of Ti that contain significant amounts of Zr. Both have hexagonal crystal structure and are light and strong.
 
RangerBobTX said:
I use a lot of zirconium in my folders. It is very expensive. It machines well and cools quickly. It will take on an orange peel surface effect under the same conditions as titanium. It polishes nicely if you take the time to sand to high grit. It does not have a lot of flexibility like Ti. The dust is extremely flammable and grinding produces white hot sparks. My workflow is grind, dunk, wipe the dust away, repeat. I think it would make a very nice guard but, I would design it so no pinning is necessary. I color all my Zr with a propane torch by heating to red hot and allowing it to air cool. I've never had warping but I know others have. I try to suspend all my parts while heating so they cool evenly. There is nothing out there like a high polished, heat blackened piece of zirc; it can be quite spectacular. You can also mix surface textures before coloring to get some cool effects.

Bob

ETA- I get all my Zirc from George Palagonia at American Metal Xchange
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Bob:

I really appreciate the in-depth response - tell your boss I said you deserve a raise!! :D
 
We introduced zirconium to the knife community in 2007.

Zirconium works well for some things and not so good for others. It is soft and bends easy. You can easily bend .125" thick sheet with your hands. It makes poor pocket clips and locks.

It is good for knife furniture i.e., guards, bolsters, backspaces, inlays, etc. When correctly heat colored, zirconium is almost black. The dark oxide is very scratch resistant. However, the oxide is surface only and the zirc beneath is still soft.

The sale of zirc is monitored by the Department of Defense. It is used in military weapons and nuclear reactors. We had to sign DOD paperwork before we were able to purchase the material.

There are several hazards working zirconium. When it burns, it is very very hot. The sparks burn for a long time, much longer than titanium. The best way to to put out a zirc fire is a Class D extinguisher. One big problem is spontaneous combustion. When a chip or dust is .020" or less in cross section, it can spontaneous combust in temperatures over 70°F. We've had a few fires and the amount of heat generated is amazing. The fires were much worse than a titanium fire.

We use zirconium as the black layer in our Black Timascus™.

Chuck
 
Alpha Knife Supply said:
You can easily bend .125" thick sheet with your hands. It makes poor pocket clips and locks.

Chuck
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Chuck, you must have some really strong hands! I can't even begin to bend a piece of 6"x12"x.125". I will say I was skeptical on pocket clips but after talking with some other well respected makers, I tried a couple sculpted clips and they worked out fine. Probably not as durable as Ti but plenty serviceable. It certainly does not have memory like titanium so doesn't make a great spring.

Bob
 
Can anyone here give me any advice on how to sand balckened zirc back down to the bare metal surface and then polish? What grit of sandpaper would I need to start with and what grit do I want to stop with? Would I be able to use mothers mag polish with a felt polishing head on my dremel on low speed? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Thank you!
 
What grit you start with depends on its current finish. The few times I've used it I sanded it to 1200 grit and then buffed with pink scratchless compound.
 
kuraki said:
What grit you start with depends on its current finish. The few times I've used it I sanded it to 1200 grit and then buffed with pink scratchless compound.
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I recived the item already blackened and I believe it came right off the CNC, had the machine marks removed, and then flamed. So its a matte black right now. So what grit should I start adn end with and should I wet sand only or do a combo of both wet and dry? Also whats the name of that pink polish your talking about?
 
Spalted said:
Never worked with Zirconium so nothing to add on sanding but this made me laugh -
pink scratchless compound
google it
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Googled it and sure enough it popped up under that name. I've personally never heard of it and didn't think the name of the product would actually be "pink scratchless compound" lol. Definitely going to order some now though as it looks like some pretty good stuff. It comes in a "peel-away" tube so I imagine its a clay-like substance?
 
I would probably start with 400 grit then. I've never tried to get through the oxidized layer but it's likely pretty hard stuff. Yes that buffing compound is suspended in a waxy/clay like solid that heats up to coat a buffing wheel when spinning. It will work with a dremel and a felt bob as well.
 
What tools will you use to remove the oxide (belt sander, hand sanding blocks)?

Chuck
 
Good luck! The oxide coating on zirconium is incredibly tough. You can take it off with a belt grinder and ceramic belt but you will not get it off by hand sanding. You will also significantly change the dimensions of the part while trying to grind the oxides off. It will take a lot of pressure to cut through the layer but as soon as you break through, the material underneath will hog off quickly. You have to get it all off if you want to refinish the part because any oxide layer that remains when you recolor it will look like crap.

If you get the part completely cleaned up and want to put a high polish on it, you will need to sand the part to at least 3000grit with sharp, clean paper. If the sandpaper is not sharp, the zirc will smear. Once it is sanded to 3000grit, buff without pressure using green compound on a sewn muslin wheel and then pink compound on a loose muslin wheel.

If you can't tell, I've been down this road and learned that refinishing zirconium is not worth the effort. I make absolutely certain that everything is perfectly finished before heat coloring. You would be better off trying to secure a replacement part that has not been colored so you can finish it yourself.

Bob
 
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