Polishing Titanium?

I did some searching around in CPF but i couldn't find any helpful posts on how to polish aluminum. Say i purchase a like like the 4Sevens Preon I Titanium which has a polished finished. If it gets scratched up down the road, how would i go about removing these scratches?

I would use Flitz Metal Polish. It is mild and works well on stainless, aluminum and titanium.

Ah, so i'm guessing that and a microfiber cloth would do? Also... completely irrelevant question... think an R2 WH emitter is worth the extra $15 compared to a Q4 4C emitter? Is the difference in brightness even noticeable? Thanks

Back to your polishing, I would say a good tube of polishing compound and soft cloth accompanied with good 'ol elbow grease (literally, heat and friction will burn out the scratches with/from enough pressure) will polish it after some good work. With a deep enough scratch, it may be necessary to use some different kinds of sandpaper, working up in grit numbers to a very fine smoothness and then do the mirror (or whatever finish you prefer) polishing with your compound. I have successfully polished titanium in this way, but I did have a lathe turning it at very high RPMs to make it that much easier. I can't say that its the easiest metal to polish, especially by hand, but it is very doable. :thumbsup:

Would this be easier with a dremel and a polishing wheel? Ive been wondering the same thing for a while now. I might have to refinish my QTi every couple months. And is it necessary to use the sandpaper or can it be done with just a polishing wheel?

Ahh thats very similar to removing scratches from a car's paint job. Thanks so much for the information! (Gonna post that irrelevant question from my last post in another thread)

Diamond paste 3 micron
+ cloth or q-tip ... less elbow grease

gsxrac said:

Would this be easier with a dremel and a polishing wheel? Ive been wondering the same thing for a while now. I might have to refinish my QTi every couple months. And is it necessary to use the sandpaper or can it be done with just a polishing wheel?

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That sounds like a bit of a hassle, but It'd work, after a while. Sandpaper isn't completely necessary but it can be worthwhile if your scratch is deep enough to cause countless hours of buffing. Just using heat and friction can be both a friend and an enemy (especially on softer metals, such as aluminum). It works to your advantage that with enough, you can "burn" out or "melt" away deeper scratches and other imperfections. It works to a disadvantage in that, near any engraving (be it laser or milled) can also be burned out. Now, on titanium, this isn't as big as a problem as it is for aluminum, due to the fact that its a lot harder. It takes some serious heat to burn out an engraving on Ti.

BT132435 said:

Ahh thats very similar to removing scratches from a car's paint job. Thanks so much for the information!

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Glad to be of help! :thumbsup:

Jvalera said:

Diamond paste 3 micron
+ cloth or q-tip ... less elbow grease

Click to expand...

That oughta do the trick faster than some other regular polishing compounds. Personally, Ive never used that stuff, but I've heard plenty about it. I'll have to get ahold of some for my polishing needs.

An alternative to polishing is burnishing. Polishing removes metal; burning moves it around (assuming it's not to hard or brittle). I did a lot of burnishing when I was trying to learn hand engraving -- which I never quite got the hang of. The graver would slip and I'd have to repair it while avoiding losing metal.

A very hard highly polished burnisher is used -- some at http://www.ottofrei.com/store/produ...JS=Y&send_browser=YNY|MSIE|6|Win32|Y|1024|768| and http://www.johnnealbooks.com/prod_detail_list/239 but I've made my own which is just a rod of hardened steel rounded some on the end. You have to use a lubricant with it, and fairly high pressure to work out the scratch or groove (moving it along the scratch). Try it on some scrap first to get the feel of it.

On some art metal I've made when I repaired a scratch it was so much shinier thatn the rest I'de have to use fine abrasive to dull it down. A pointy burnisher can be used to texture, or make a line instead of smoothing one out.

Jvalera said:

Diamond paste 3 micron
+ cloth or q-tip ... less elbow grease

Click to expand...

is this what you're talking about or can anyone else confirm?: amazon.com/DMT-DP3-Dia-Paste-Diamond-Compound/dp/B000MF7JRU

I'm looking at getting that if that's what works well

edit: I realize this thread is a few years old, but it was most relevant on CPF google searching and has everything i need in it

Dremel with a cloth polishing wheel and some buffing compound.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Enkay-149-C...Parts_Accessories&hash=item564f303e70&vxp=mtr

A few minutes bought me this!

Jvalera said:

Diamond paste 3 micron
+ cloth or q-tip ... less elbow grease

Click to expand...

This sounds reasonable. Also, I have used Ace Hardware's fine grit (forget exact grit # but finest they have) jeweler's rouge and a Dremel buffing wheel many times, and can make any brushed Ti finish extremely shiny in no time.

Most people mistakenly think Ti finishes are hard to alter since it is difficult to machine due to it's high tinsel strength (stretches away from the tool). But it is actually a soft metal and can be sawed, cut, sanded, and polished very easily w/common tools.

We were just discussing this on a similar thread....

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...y-quot-or-bead-blast-look-on-a-new-flashlight

Oops...sorry tobrien...just commented before realizing it was you resurecting this thread and commenting on the other, etc, etc...I need some sleep!