advice on flame colouring titanium bezels/clips etc

Hi everyone, I heard that you can colour your titanium using heat.

I have a Ti bezel on its way for my Novatac, which is on its way (planning ahead here)

I want to know how I would go about doing this, waht risk is involved eg. deterioating metal structure, warping metal, over heating and how much heat to use.

It looks like at certain temperatures it turns differrent colours, is this so.

Thanks for listening and im sure there are a few here that know what they are talking about.

abarth_1200 said:

Hi everyone, I heard that you can colour your titanium using heat.

I have a Ti bezel on its way for my Novatac, which is on its way (planning ahead here)

I want to know how I would go about doing this, waht risk is involved eg. deterioating metal structure, warping metal, over heating and how much heat to use.

It looks like at certain temperatures it turns differrent colours, is this so.

Thanks for listening and im sure there are a few here that know what they are talking about.

Click to expand...

its pretty basic to do, just make sure the titanium is clean (wash with soap and water, then wipe with Methylated spirits, then dont touch it with your fingers.

I used our gas stove to heat the stuff i have done, just watching the colour as it warmed up, and dunking it in cold water when the colour was achieved.
here is a couple of things i have done.
Spyderco Salt clips (only the salt models have TI Clips)

TI Spork (the bead blast finish doesnt look as nice as a polished finish)


and if you stuff it up, Mothers mag polish (for polishing mag wheels) will very easily polish the colour off, then just wash it again, and have another go.

Yeah getting it real clean and then not touching it with your fingers is the best way to start. Some people then give it a light coat of wd40 before torching. I usually use windex, and then rinse it in water, windex again, make sure it's dry, and then the wd40 to really insure that any liquids that might still be in the surface of the titanium have been purged out of the metal.

Are you looking for it to be somewhat even? Or are you going for the multicolored look? Colors start at a faint gold, and then get deeper and deeper into orange, which then starts turning into a deep fuscia/purple, then deep blue, then light, and that's about it...then it sort of starts getting into the same spectrum again, but very light and not as cool looking at all.

Warping should not be an issue unless you park it under a flame for extended periods of time. Should be fine structurally. Keep in mind, you will more likely than not get the metal red hot, don't worry.

Example of my torching (yes the colors look like that in person):



Part of the reason for the colors being so deep is that after torching, I gave it a little oxygen bath (also the reason for those stylized lighter stripes on the handle).

hey stillphoto i saw a pic of your HDS with a green tinted Ti bezel and clip on the post I am buying my bezel from, looks cool, how did you get it even. Im convinced its photoshop magic lol.

So to get an even colour would be pretty hard to do, how quick does it turn from shade to shade and can you reverse the process if I mess up or dont like it.

And how durable is this finish, does it wear off.

And any tips on holding a small bezel without touching it with my fingers, bend a paperclip around it.

EDIT just read first reply. If I dont have whatever Mags polish is, will metal polish work

Thanks

abarth_1200 said:

hey stillphoto i saw a pic of your HDS with a green tinted Ti bezel and clip on the post I am buying my bezel from, looks cool, how did you get it even. Im convinced its photoshop magic lol.

So to get an even colour would be pretty hard to do, how quick does it turn from shade to shade and can you reverse the process if I mess up or dont like it.

Click to expand...

surprisingly quickly (seconds), even with one of those little butane pen-torches, once it's up to the general temperature you need.
You can't reverse the process, it just goes to blue and stays there (my spork, and first attempt)

abarth_1200 said:

And how durable is this finish, does it wear off.

Click to expand...

It can be abraded, but its a hard coating (I think it's technically a sapphire?) formed from the outer layer of the metal, albeit nanometers thick.

abarth_1200 said:

And any tips on holding a small bezel without touching it with my fingers, bend a paperclip around it.

Click to expand...

that, or forceps, as it's a very good thermal conductor (me, being an example)

abarth_1200 said:

EDIT just read first reply. If I dont have whatever Mags polish is, will metal polish work

Thanks

Click to expand...

It should work fine.

ouch lol, thanks for the replies everyone cant wait to give it a try when I get my bezel.

Cheers,

Dave.

The HDS in question was sent to a cpf member for coloring using the other (and more consistent) way to color ti - electrifying it in a bath of chemicals. That's what he did. Green like that is a particularly hard color to acheive, and it appears at around 117 volts. Go to the McGizmo section of the forum, he's got a thread and video there.

Agreed that any metal polish will be enough to remove the colors from the bezel. Don't worry about trying to remove the colors from the threaded area, far too small, and the layer is so thin, it wont make a difference.

As for toughness...It depends on the finish of the item. Keep in mind it's just a layer of oxides that are a few microns thick. My bezel has certainly gotten the color worn away on the front edge and also on the second edge going back towards the body. The clip on the other hand still looks new. The spork has some abrasions on it here and there, but more or less has held up.

Ahh i see.

I think I will only manage to make it more multi coloured, so any wear will look like part of the whole effect, also I suppose I could give it a little touch up and add a little more colour.

This looks cool I cant wait to give it a shot.

When I get it ill post up some pics

Would heating Titanium 6AL-4V work as well? It's an alloy mixed with aluminum (6%) and vanadium (4%). It's heat treatable so I suppose? I have a knife that the handle and clip are this composition, if anything I could heat the clip separate then that would tell me.

Duh, of course it would work, the lettering is multi-coloured...I guess they burn it in somehow. I'll give it a go soon and post pics. Next to a flashlight of course! :nana:

6AL4V is the majority of the titanium I've messed with, so no worries there. Pretty sure that's what McGizmo uses on most occasions.

abarth_1200 said:

If I dont have whatever Mags polish is, will metal polish work

Thanks

Click to expand...

it should do, the "mothers mag polish" is a metal polish, and is just what i had laying around, and that seemed to take the colour off really really easily.
it is a polish for alloy "mag" wheels, i use it to buff knife blades too.