Need help with titanium! and i need it quick!

O

omegaman111

Guest
hey everyone! this sunday is my fathers birthday and i am planning on making him a titanium money clip. i have everything drawn and measured out and im already almost done cutting it out of the Ti sheet. the sheet is .060" thick. in order to make the clip i have to fold it in 3 places. 2 (or 1 big one depending on how it turns out) at the backbone where the main bend is, and near the tip where you can slide the bills in. i tried out bending on a smaller piece and it cracked & broke off. if anyone can help please post! thank you!
 
It's going to depend on the grade of Titanium your using. CP (Commercially pure) is fairly soft, and will generally be capable of a great deal of bending without breaking. 6AL4V (the type most commonly used by knifemakers) is less forgiving to bending, but should not break unless you "crease" it. If you have to make tight bends, place a small diameter rod on the inside of the bend so the material doesn't crease and it should work. (like a piece of 1/8" or 3/32" pin material). However you do it, try to avoid a situation where you crease the material....like trying to fold it.
 
Its 6Al4V and okay thank you ill try using the rod method.
 
I do most of my Ti bending in a small vise that has micarta jaws. For those tighter bends, I have a poly cutting board (the material you see grocery store meat counters made of) and I use a hard plastic/rubber faced hammer. I'll start the bend(s) in the vice, and then finish them up with the poly board/hammer. Most breaks occur when you use something harder than the titanium to bend it.....steel vise jaws, or steel hammers.
 
Ti will bend easily with heat (to nearly to dull red) and take the set and hold it. I have bent thousands of Ti pocket clips and had to learn this the hard way. You will have some surface discoloration to clean up. A cold bend past 90degree is probably going to crack or be so stressed it will crack much sooner than it would otherwise with any additional flexing.
 
My Ti money clip is .040. .060 might be a bit too stiff to get bills into.
I agree with Tracy on heating the Ti when bending, else it will crack.
 
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