tried to machine titanium

onlinemetals was having a sale so I got a foot of 1/2" titanium round in "grade 2", whatever that is.

I tried it out on the Sherline lathe. The stuff makes stainless steel look like brass. Never seen anything work harden as fast, or make such nasty sharp chips that never break off and just make a brillo pad.

Like the folks on the internet say, as long as you don't interrupt your cut and don't back off on cutting pressure, it's not bad at all.

The real struggle is always with parting off as everythings wants to slip out of square on the tiny lathe. I measured the thicknes of the chip that came off with a HSS parting blade at 0.005 when things we running OK.

I cut with "relion" cutting fluid, and got a little smoke as Ti gets hot when cutting as it's apparently a bad conductor of heat.

The stuff takes a decent finish and cleans up real nice with fine sandpaper if you're real forceful.

Can't wait to try to cut some threads on it.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader
Loading thread data ...

Cydrome Leader fired this volley in news:nkrqaf $4dr$ snipped-for-privacy@reader1.panix.com:

As a pyrotechnician, I can also tell you it's HIGHLY flammable. Keep it wet with coolant always. I've seen the aftermath of "dry cutting" on Ti, and it isn't pretty when a large pile of chips ignites!

Well... it IS pretty when it's in a pyro effect, but not so much on your lathe chip pan!

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" on Mon, 27 Jun

2016 17:10:44 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

And do not, should it catch fire, put water on it. No joy: steam explosions and burning underwater.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Gunner Asch fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

C'mon, Gunner! A Sherline IS a "real" lathe. It's not a GOOD lathe, but it's very, very 'real'.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Gunner Asch fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yeah... but you can touch it. It will turn. It will make crude things that look almost round.

It's 'real', just not _desireable_.

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

In Wieberworld a real lathe sits unused because it's a gearbox-busting blanket-magnet. A real truck sits in the shop waiting for repair money to be scrounged. A real wife has multiple boyfriends. A real house arrived on wheels and sits on a rented lot. And a real mind lies to itself and everyone.

Reply to
Isn't Life Strange

Need real space first.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

For small parts, it's the right tool and it works great.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

I agree. I do not have a Sherline lathe, but its reputation is that if you don't try to over work it the work it produces will be good.

Pencils? Why? Pens are the way to go. You make pencils by extruding wood goop around a core.

Its like saying a Taig 2019CR isn't a real mill or that its bad. Its good at being what it is. An inexpensive small mill for making small parts. I made tens of thousnads of dollars worth of parts on my Taig, and it paid for my next couple machines. It didn't make any of those parts very fast though.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

"Bob La Londe" fired this volley in news:nku7hk$igb$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Yeah... I even have a little Unimat on the shelf. I use it only seldom, but I've made some nice "microscopic" parts on it. The only drawback is that I use it so seldom, I often have to replace the O-ring belts before it will work again!

LLoyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

My old mentor at American Machinist, Bob Hatschek, used a Unimat in the only production application I've ever seen for one. He made a little aluminum and brass gadget known as the "Hatschek Hook," a release hook for high-class model gliders. It weighed a fraction of an ounce and it had quite a bit of machining on it, all done on the Unimat.

Bob sold over 1,000 of them, worldwide, to model glider competitors. It wasn't cheap.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

At least it cancels any misconception that metal is infinitely rigid.

At Mitre I acquired a Sherline and a Prazi clone from closed labs (a bad omen). The Prazi was large enough to be useful though I dislike its controls. I couldn't learn to like the Sherline for anything. It fit in a drawer and there it stayed. I can do tiny delicate work in brass better on my 10" South Bend.

--jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Leave the "safety cover" open, and the "O" rings will run cooler and last longer.

Reply to
geraldrmiller

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I guess you didn't read my post. I never run it long enough to wear any out.

Lloyd

Reply to
Lloyd E. Sponenburgh

Which Unimat is this which has a safety cover? I've used the early ones (two models, but the same steel rods for rails) which had the pulleys out in the air -- ready to grab a careless fingertip. :-) Trying to remember those models -- DB-200 and SL-1000 IIRC. Yep -- verified.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Yes. Yes it is. He should at least get an HFT lathe.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Your word is worthless.

You don't have a shop. You have a poorly enclosed carport with a dirt floor and a rollup door that someone threw away. You "engineered" a sad and ugly installation, your trademark.

How many months is that? I had a serious failure of my own truck. Put it on the hoist, diagnosed the problem, picked up the parts. Next day installed them, back on the road. Strange how the people you claim are incompetent can do the things you have to pay others to do for you, eh?

Too bad you couldn't afford to hire someone competent.

How the f*ck would you know?

It could have been decent if it wasn't installed on such a shit lot and didn't have pigs living in it.

Reply to
Isn't Life Strange

I paid $10 for a unimat at a yard sale and a couple of years later sold it for $900 on ebay. Could have knocked me over with a feather, but the guy really wanted it and really paid for it.

Reply to
rangerssuck

Not sure why this sort of becoming a pissing contest.

Call it what you whatever you want, but I've been able to make all sorts of useful stuff I wasn't able to before with the small lathe and mill. Hypothetical machinery you don't have really doesn't get the job done.

One guy I know uses pre WWII looking old leather belt driven machines to make parts for export to Germany. It's an eye opener in what can be made with what might be considered (they're real pretty though) laughable tools.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

That's about right. I already work full time, this is all for fun.

Reply to
Cydrome Leader

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.