yt12 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Good day all-----part of my "mother of all followed me homes" was 2 60 lb blocks of titanium.This was part of an estate sale of a renowned fabricator/machinist/testor metallurgist ---the gentlemans widow confirmed he did a good bit of military and aviation testing decades ago and one of these blocks is marked for Lockheed.My preliminary scan shows ti @ 88.76 fe @ .607 v @4.77-------what are the chances this was destined for the SR71 ?----i have had a devil of a time confirming the specific alloy/alloys used back then----anyone have any insight/guesses ?----all just a curiosity on a quiet Sunday ! Thanks !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Whoa! Mother of all follow me home is right. 60lbs of Ti has got to be worth a LOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Virtually everything about the SR71 is still classified especially the metallurgy. It's unlikely but a maybe what you have there. Good luck finding out though. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Ti is expensive when you buy it new, but worth a lot less as scrap. It has always been that way.. 60# blocks would be pretty good sized.What do you plan to do with them? I have a bunch of .375" round which is a good size for a lot of projects, but a billet like you have is a project and a half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yt12 Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Thank you for the replies,my search continues.As far as use----?!----no idea----yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Do you have a saw you can cut a slice and cut that into bar? You'd have to reduce it to usable size to even find out if it's forgable. Say 1/2" slice into 1/2" bars to play with and see. I wouldn't suggest a hot saw, I'd use my cut off band saw but a dry saw would work fine as well. If you use a dry saw be VERY careful of the chips, they WILL be FLAMMABLE in the extreme. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yt12 Posted May 1, 2016 Author Share Posted May 1, 2016 Frosty----Thanks for that reply,that is part of my plan.On the downside---the shop is over-loaded in ALOT of ways,lacking in others,such as anything able to do this slicing.The blocks are 4" thick !----I will get it done !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 2 hours ago, yt12 said: Frosty----Thanks for that reply,that is part of my plan.On the downside---the shop is over-loaded in ALOT of ways,lacking in others,such as anything able to do this slicing.The blocks are 4" thick !----I will get it done !! 4" isn't a problem for a hack saw, buy as course TPI you can get. Ti isn't particularly hard but it can gum up a saw if the TPI is too fine. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 I have a titanium crowbar (supposed to be Russian surplus) I tried to sharpen it on my grinder. It was next to impossible. Is that a different alloy or should I have used file?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 On 6/13/2016 at 8:19 PM, gote said: I have a titanium crowbar (supposed to be Russian surplus) I tried to sharpen it on my grinder. It was next to impossible. Is that a different alloy or should I have used file?? Ti can alloy in almost as many ways as iron can and what the Russians put in their crow bars is certainly left over from other projects. It may be anything from nearly pure to rocket nozzle alloy or who knows. Did it gall your grinding wheel? What color were the sparks? Does a file cut it? Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gote Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 I will check later about sparks. I assumed that a file would not touch it since it was too "hard" for the grinding wheel but I will check that too. It did not smear in any way. I am very happy with it. It does not rust, it is light and it seems to be stronger than a steel bar of the same thickness. I bought it from the "US Cavlry" site several years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 It could be a ti oxide layer defeating the wheel. Do you have a blue wheel? A diamond grind stone will work. Watch sparks really closely! Ti can burn like magnesium it's hot, Hot, HOT! It should be about 1/2 the weight and something like 2x as strong but that depends on the alloy some are REALLY strong. I LOVE the stuff. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyrode Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 On 5/1/2016 at 11:38 AM, Frosty said: Ti isn't particularly hard but it can gum up a saw if the TPI is too fine. Frosty The Lucky. Would a wax be effective at preventing ti from loading, similar to aluminum cutting and grinding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 Won't matter if the saw is too fine. There must be room between teeth for cuttings to be carried from the kerf. I will touch the sides of the bandsaw blade with paraffin wax it I'm cutting thick steel. Never wax the teeth or the wax can make cuttings stick, gall and jam the blade. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Excellent tip, Frosty! I guess that could apply to any toothed blade? I do that to my hacksaw sometimes...works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 It depends on how much narrower the body of the blade is than the kerf. Bandsaw and hack saw blades don't have much clearance so if the material is very thick it might gain from a little lube. I don't use thick cutting oil to flush on my bandsaw, I run the lightest water soluble oil or plain water. I mostly run it dry unless the stock is thick. It doesn't take much cuttings stuck to the blade to cause it to gall and jam. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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