My hardest pen to date

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Carl Fisher

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By hardest I mean Titanium.

I received a few titanium blanks partly drilled as part of a bulk purchase. Since I don't have tap and die sets yet, I had to go with a kit.

Drilling out 2 sides of one blank to about 1/4" deep ate 2 of my drill bits. I was able to open up the titanium just enough to press the coupling right into the metal blank (no tubes needed obviously). I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to turn the cap since it needed a tenon but eventually shelved that idea and went to some nice acrylic.

The edges of the blank have been softened with a file to give a nice radius that is smooth to the touch.

I learned a really would like to have a metal lathe in the shop and that titanium is HARD STUFF!
 

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Carl Fisher

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Honestly I'm just lucky that I could get away without adjusting the outer diameter beyond what it was when I got it. I took one of the 4 that I have and found that I really have NOTHING in my arsenal that can turn this stuff. At best I can scratch it and ruin the blank. Luckily the file was able to round off the corners nicely or this wouldn't have worked at all.

Now I need to go buy myself a new 23/64 bit since I killed 2 of them :(
 

76winger

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Very nice Carl! I don't know that I'll ever take on metal to that level, I just have too much fun with the woods & acrylics.
 

jd99

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Dec 14, 2010
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Ontario, CA United States
Looks Great!! I didn't know there were blanks like that.

The tip for cutting Titanium go slow real slow, the cutter speed has to be slow, and the feed rate has to be slow.

I machined hundreds of black boxes for planes years ago it's not fun stuff it will work harden at the blink of an eye.
 

Jgrden

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Carl:
I made three pens out of Titanium. I lost three chisels to the event. Wound up putting my chisels into an ice bucket to keep them cold. Then I saddled an ice cube under the blank while turning to keep it cool enough to turn. After this I took a butane torch to it to bring out the colors. People have no idea what this stuff is like to turn. The hotter it becomes, the harder it gets and then starts to spark and then flame. I have allot of respect for our accomplishment. Bravo !!!
 

Carl Fisher

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There were 4 in a bulk purchase of older Berea flat tops from another member. They've been sitting in the shop for the last few months while I contemplated how to use them.

As I read more about how to work titanium, I see lots that I did wrong. I think one blank of the remaining 3 might be ruined from playing around until I have a metal lathe to get it back into usable condition.
 

ghostrider

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Feb 3, 2011
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Hat's off to you for even trying.

I've seen lots of people use titanium and every one of them talked about how they just eat up carbide bits and blades. Doing it without a metal lathe must have taken some grit and determination.

Nice looking results though.
 
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