Dont fear the Titanium

[Cavalry]

I have a few jobs to do that require titanium. I asked advice here as I had never worked with it before. I was expecting a tough job...I was in for a surprise.

I picked up some 6al-4v off ebay. I have a baby 10" lathe that is WWII vintage so I was a little worried about that. My insert selection is limited so I decided to just give the coated TCMT's I have a shot.
I plowed off into it with a fast feed as suggested. It cut beautiful with a good finish. I had some stringy chips that I am sure the correct insert would have taken care of. My coolant setup was a mess so I decided to give it a shot dry. That really was no problem at all! As long as I fed hard I could take pretty decent cuts for my machine without bogging at all.

So far it has been a very painless experience. If you can turn stainless then dont be afraid of titanium at all.

[pumpertruck]

Just don't get a fire started. Worse than magnesium.

[markct]

yea that was my first thought when i read his post! thats my big fear of titanium, had it catch fire once in the chip pan, basicly just let it burn out, fire extinguisher, co2 then dry chemical, didnt help much

[Cavalry]

I played with the chips a little, after I was done. It took quite a bit of O/A to get them going. IMO Mg puts out a hotter fire? good times regardless!

[precisionworks]

If you operations are external (OD turning, facing, threading, surface milling, etc.) air coolant, or even just an air pipe, will help. Internal ops (like drilling deep holes) are a bear - that's where liquid coolant shines. A machinist who turns Ti posted on the CPF forum, showing how he set up a liquid coolant system for his SB Heavy Ten. Says that drills that used to get so hot that they'd turn blue, now last & last with the liquid cool.

[Cavalry]

I have the coolant. My lathe was just never set up for such a thing. I plan on getting a better setup. should help tool life in general

[precisionworks]

Here's the link to the CPF thread, although you may have to sign up to read it:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199220

He said "put the whole system together for like $80. A submersible pump from Wholesale Tool, magnetic base from Harbor Freight and various brass fittings and tubing from a local Goodyear hose and fitting dealer."

Nice setup. Loc-Line hose on a mag base, submersible pump sits in a bucket of coolant that rests on the floor. One hole tapped into the lathe chip tray so coolant can drain back to the bucket.

[Cavalry]

good reading. that about what I put together. Except mine had some real crappy scrounged up fittings that leaked a LOT

[precisionworks]

One way to liquid cool is with a pump-spray bottle:



Works well on the lathe & great on the mill. When you aren't set up for flood, the spray bottle filled with water soluble coolant is a real tool saver. For whatever reason, the coolant attacks the plastic in every bottle I've ever used, and the bottles last only a month or so. But they are cheap enough (maybe $5 or a little less) that I order a dozen at a time.

A micro-mister, or MQL mister, is another option - but you'll want to find one on eBay. Retail is around a grand, but some have gone in the $100 range on eBay. These are not your grandfather's foggers that fill the shop up, they are engineered units that disperse one drop at a time into the airstream so the drop becomes atomized:



Unist sells more than anyone else, but others are also available. Here's a U-Tube video on MQL (aka Near Dry Machining): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djcPbdXFnII

Like air cooling, it is most effective for OD turning, threading, facing, profiling, surface milling, etc. For deep hole drilling or deep hole milling, flood still rules.