Melt X Metals???

[digi7alph0enix]

ok I know absolutly nothing about this topic, but just wondering if a blacksmith would be a good person to consult with???

If I'm not mistaken I think most blacksmith forges run in the range of 1200-1500F which is well short of what you'd need to melt Ti and even iron/steel. I'm sure at that temp you'd be able to manipulate it but as far as any kind of casting I think it's past the normal levels of their equipment. When you start talking about temps over 2000F and needing a vacuum chamber of some kind to keep impurities out you are probably more in the realm of a metallurgist than a blacksmith.

I'm no expert but there's a reason that no one copied the Ti frames Oakley was making. It's just plain hard to do. Even the fakes are made of aluminum rather than Ti, which has a much lower melting point. Ti is just a hard material to work with on a small "shop" scale like a business you'd see on main street. Consider metals like silver and gold that have melting points around 1700F and 1900F respectively. A jeweler may be able to melt and repair these metals or even do some small scale casting, but the jump up to the 3000F range that Ti needs isn't a small one and not something you'd be able to do safely without some serious equipment I'd imagine.

 

[kronin323]

without some serious equipment I'd imagine.

Such as this:
Carbolite Gero: High temperature & vacuum furnaces up to 3000°C

 

[greg]

Damn how much is that furnace???

 

[kronin323]

Dunno.

 

[digi7alph0enix]

Such as this:
Carbolite Gero: High temperature & vacuum furnaces up to 3000°C

Something like that I'm sure lol. To offer a little more personal perspective, the lab at work does all the engineering testing for automakers around the world. From ambient heat to direct heat, corrosion testing and more. They've got over 50 industrial furnaces to test copper, tin, and jacket compounds that I'm not even allowed to talk about. The hottest temps they can generate are in the 2200° F range, and it takes some SERIOUS power and exhaust setups to do it safely. That's not even considering all the extra steps that would be involved in actually pouring and casting metal, that's just getting it up into temps that the metals conductive properties are compromised. Hell even plasma cutters are supposed to be in the 20,000-40,000°+ range and I think the nozzles on those are copper!

Basically, melting and casting metals isn't always as simple as "heat and pour".

 

[kronin323]

I lit a fart once or twice. It got pretty hot.

 

[Brian24Xmetal]

I've emailed a couple sites that do custom titanium jewelry, so we'll see if I get any responses...

 

[qtrain23]

I've emailed a couple sites that do custom titanium jewelry, so we'll see if I get any responses...

They'll just be doing machining to stock. Casting Ti is very expensive and has to be done correctly less you get a metal that is impure and basically useless for anything other than looking at.

 

[Brian24Xmetal]

The one in particular seemed to do casting, but again we shall see...Not the end of the world if it can't be done. Just thought it would be a cool, unique ring.