November 8, 20178 yr Im rather new to Titanium work but I wish to create a black Titanium sword. Now mind you it is mostly for aesthetic reasons but I still want it to be functional. What I ask of you, is this feasible and how I might go about it?
November 8, 20178 yr Don't know about the black but theres a good discussion and demonstration of working titanium in this episode of Man at Arms. I found it quite interesting and also impressive Mod Note: Extremely graphic images and advertising
November 8, 20178 yr Titanium is a quite bad sword material. I have a hand forged Titanium, (CP1 or 2) knife that I use as a camp eating knife. I've met many people all excited about it until I show them the mark where I carved a slice off it with a belt knife with the edge made from a nicholson file. Titanium is the wrong weight for a sword---for over 1000 years the average weight for a good using sword was about 2.5 pounds; so go lighter and you find that it's easy to ignore attacks from it or to block or brush them aside. Ever get a paper cut? why don't they make swords from paper? Why do you think Titanium would make a good sword? "Commercially pure (99.2% pure) grades of titanium have ultimate tensile strength of about 434 MPa (63,000 psi), equal to that of common, low-grade steel alloys, but are less dense." wikipedia So you can spend a LOT more money (cost of stock and cost of working it and cost of materials to work it), and end up with a much less functional sword---of course you will impress the fanboys... Watch the video linked above at about 1:45 where he says titanium is suboptimal for the purpose!
November 8, 20178 yr Yeah. The video I linked has quite a good little discussion of the properties of Ti and why its really a bad choice for blade material, then they go ahead and do it anyway!
November 8, 20178 yr I'm amused that anyone would expect different for a TV show.... I made my camp knife out of Ti so I could throw it in the trunk after a campout, forget about it for 6 months and then put it in the dishwasher for 10 cycles of "double over kill wash" and have it just the same as before the trip....(its self hilted too!)
November 8, 20178 yr If you are dead set on making a Ti sword go here... and leave a large hole in your wallet. https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/47648-titanium-gold-alloy-4-times-stronger-than-titanium/?tab=comments#comment-560581
November 8, 20178 yr you really should read the 2 pinned posts at the top of the section before digging that hole any deeper
November 8, 20178 yr Author Since ti isn't a good option what shalst i use instead that can be made black
November 8, 20178 yr Ti is also a flammable metal similar to magnesium. When drilling you have to use 600 rpm or less for a 3/16"drill bit or you will ignite the chips. I've done that, just like a mag fire starter. It's not something I would consider forging without safety research.
November 8, 20178 yr Hot blued like a gunsmith would use. I saw a blade at the guild show about 34 years ago called soul seeker that was shiney dead black that was done that way. ahh yes http://paulehlers.com/gallery/ click on the pic of soul seeker and look at the other pics of it as well
November 8, 20178 yr 13 hours ago, Wyatt Lavallee said: Since ti isn't a good option what shalst i use instead that can be made black If you would have actually read the pinned posts you would already know the answer
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