Is turning Titanium doable

[Fish30114]

I have a background in the knifemaking arena, and many accomplished knifemakers offer pens in variations of titanium. So...I was naturally wondering if it is doable to turn pens with titanium bodies?

Would love any tips/info sources you folks may have.

 

[lorbay]

Here is one turned by Skiprat. It's titainium and stainless.
Skiprat Pens - Gallery [Page 4]
Lin

 

[Fish30114]

Well, that's a little encouraging--anybody else??
Where would you look for those components?

 

[nativewooder]

You will probably have to purchase a metal lathe and make your own.

 

[panamag8or]

Parker didn't think so, they gave up on their T-1 after a year.

 

[raar25]

We do it everyday in the aerospace industry with CNC lathes. I would not waste your time trying to do it on a wood lathe manually. On a metal lathe carbide, ceramic or CBN are the best tools, HSS will dull very fast.

 

[Fish30114]

We do it everyday in the aerospace industry with CNC lathes. I would not waste your time trying to do it on a wood lathe manually. On a metal lathe carbide, ceramic or CBN are the best tools, HSS will dull very fast.

Raar25, thanks for that feedback, I think some of the knifemakers I am referring to have high end machining tools including metal lathes, but I am also sure not all do. I think tooling is obtainable, but I'm not sure if the precision of a manual turner is sufficient for these type of pens.

Regardless--Thanks for the feedback--That sounds very interesting to me about the 'aerospace' industry work, perhaps I could discuss with you obtaining several titanium pen kits.....

 

[Dalecamino]

I have a 7x16 Microlux metal lathe. I tried to turn stainless on it 1 time. The tool post had so much flex in it, I had to abandon the idea. Bluwolf has a Pierce Mathews monster lathe and, turned Ti with no problem. So, if you plan to buy a lathe, make it a good sized one. I don't know if a 9x20 would be rigid enough to handle it. It's possible if, it had a 4 bolt plate.

 

[Fish30114]

Thanks for the feedback dalecamino, I appreciate it.