First post in this section

[nbp]

Well that answers it! Thanks for that very thorough response.

I'll just be very careful I suppose. I'll let ya know how it works out.

 

[nbp]

Got my Ti rings today. Man are they light! You were right though, it snapped right back after I slid the Ti Pest on it, no problem. oo: I have the Ti Pest and Ti Mako on it now. I am getting the Ti sickness, eek! Other thing I'd like to put on there would be some kind of Ti trit fob. So if you're ever inclined to whip up a little bauble made of scrap Ti and mill some slots in it, I'd be happy to be your beta tester Barry. :naughty:

 

[precisionworks]

... if you're ever inclined to whip up a little bauble made of scrap Ti and mill some slots in it, I'd be happy to be your beta tester Barry.

It should come as no surprise that I've been thinking about a trit fob (or cord pull) design

The only Ti bar in the shop is 1" (25.4mm) diameter & that's for a special project that uses no batteries. My though is to find some .375" (9.5mm) solid bar stock - that would be useful for a solid Ti fob & it could also be drilled through to allow use as a cord pull with 550 (or smaller) Paracord. A short version would have trits about 6-8mm in length, medium version with 12mm vials, longest would have 24mm trits.

One lesson that the ROTOR project has beaten into me is that most CNC shops don't want to do small dollar runs. If a shop can make a profit of $10,000 USD they fight to see who gets the job. If the profit is $1000 they are less than eager to run anything. To make a fob or pull cost effective in titanium is tough without automated machinery .

 

[nbp]

Simple, elegant, classy Ti fobs are always in demand around here. If you have any one off protos...

 

[fyrstormer]

Regarding the Ti split rings, there is another approach that might work. First roll the wire around so the split ring gets turned inside-out, then install your keys, then roll the wire around again so the ring is turned right-side-out again. Installing your keys while the ring is inside-out will cause any deformation to pull the wires together once the ring has been turned right-side-out.

 

[nbp]

These things are pretty heavy duty. I don't see how that would be possible. Nor have I ever turned a split ring inside out before, so it's hard to picture. Either way, there was no real deformation after installing the tool anyways so it's all good.

 

[fyrstormer]

I'm not really sure how to describe it. You take one loose end of the split ring wire, and roll it around the other wire so it ends up on the other side, as if the split ring had been assembled in mirror-image. Then you install your keys, then you reverse the first step of the process.

 

[nbp]

I think I see what you mean now. It would be challenging I think, as these rings are big and strong, but a possibility. Fortunately it seems you need to spread the coils pretty far to cause any measureable deformation.

 

[precisionworks]

I think I see what you mean now. It would be challenging I think, as these rings are big and strong, but a possibility. Fortunately it seems you need to spread the coils pretty far to cause any measurable deformation.

+1

Titanium has long been used for extreme service springs & a split ring is essentially a flattened spring (or a spring that's already compressed to its limit). Ti springs are seeing more use in automobile racing motors, high end mountain bikes, etc.

 

[fyrstormer]

I think I see what you mean now. It would be challenging I think, as these rings are big and strong, but a possibility. Fortunately it seems you need to spread the coils pretty far to cause any measureable deformation.

Ah. Well, that's good to know. My only experience with non-steel split rings is with brass ones, which stretch very easily.

 

[nbp]

I have a Ti Keyton on the way from Griff now, so I will be taking the Pest off and putting the Keyton on in a couple days, so we'll get another opportunity to test its springiness.

Already the Mako is eating the anodizing off the Ti Pest in my pocket. That Mako is a tough little guy. The Keyton is stonewashed, so they should play better.

 

[precisionworks]

... the Mako is eating the anodizing off the Ti Pest in my pocket. That Mako is a tough little guy. The Keyton is stonewashed, so they should play better.

The Ti Pest is heat anodized & the resultant oxide layer is less than 0.00040" (0.010mm). The HAIII hard ano on the Mako, like that on other hard ano lights, is often 10X thicker & is much more durable. The stonewashed Keyton should do well on your key ring.

My Flat Ti Keyton is bead blasted & rubbing against the other items on the ring has caused a burnished look.

 

[nbp]

Actually the Mako is light polish blasted Ti. The Pest never stood a chance. That's ok, my Atwoods are users, like all my gadgets. No point in having nice things if I never get to enjoy them. Interesting though that the heat anodizing is so thin, I didn't realize that. Is the electric/acid bath anodizing (whatever it's called) thicker or the same as heat ano?

 

[precisionworks]

Actually the Mako is light polish blasted Ti.

My bad

Interesting though that the heat anodizing is so thin, I didn't realize that. Is the electric/acid bath anodizing (whatever it's called) thicker or the same as heat ano?

TFC (Titanium Finishing Co.) has more experience in Ti anodizing than anyone else I've spoken with. The Ti Fin 200 is Type II & Ti Fin 400 (lower right in photo) are the thickest & most durable.

Anodic film thickness varies based on the solution being used. Strongly alkaline solutions can produce thickness up to several microns, while acidic/neutral/mildly basic solutions produce a nano-coating that's between 0-200 nano meters. The best short read I've found is from Metalast: http://www.metalast.com/documents/Technical_Bulletins/Processes/Ti.pdf

If you want to try this in your shop, look at the supplies from Reactive Metals Studio.

 

[fyrstormer]

"Fluffy" is not a term I would think to associate with anodizing. :duh2: