[Spiffy Lab]

Anyone have good results with cutting titanium with the 770?
Machining things like pocket pry bars (every day carry type stuff).

[Steve Seebold]

There's no reason why a 770 shouldn't work just fine. Titanium cuts EXACTLY like aluminum, but at 10% of the feed and speed.

[pickled]

The 770 works very well with titanium. I machine it all the time with mine. Basically when the feeds and speeds are set correctly it is a pleasure to work with. To me it machines like 304 "Light" similar slow pace but requires significantly less HP and torque reserve for the same MRR. If you aren't in the correct ball park with speeds and feeds you will fry carbide cutters like they are going out of style!

The only HSS tools I use in this material are drill bits and an occasional roughing end mill. Everything else is carbide 4 flute minimum. FYI 3/8", 5/16" and 1/4" cutters match well with the 770 and 6Al4V. For detailed work 4 flute carbide ball end-mills do a terrific job and you can get some decent feed and feature detail. I posted a YouTube video up here a few weeks back of some slotting operations that I had to do on the 770 when my band saw died. The material was 1/8" 6Al4V . It will give you a feel for it.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/tormac...l4v-300-a.html

[Steve Seebold]

When I had my business, I used to solicit inconel and titanium. Everyone wanted to machine aluminum, and after I learned to machine tougher materials, I made a lot of money doing it.

I remember one particular Inconel job, I would get up to 100 pieces from one cutter. Most guys thought if they got 5 pieces from one cutter they were doing good.

[pickled]

That's the same mode that I am in right now Steve. The learning curve for Titanium was not anywhere near as steep for me as the 304/316 stainless one was. Titanium is one of my favorite materials to work with now. If it wasn't such an Argon hog and have such a sickly high filler rod cost to TIG weld it would be my absolute favorite material. The strength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance is outstanding. It gets real magical when you deposit some tungsten carbide on its wear surfaces :-).

[mrquacker]

You can get new old-stock Ti welding rod on ebay for $20/lb

[Spiffy Lab]

That's the same mode that I am in right now Steve. The learning curve for Titanium was not anywhere near as steep for me as the 304/316 stainless one was. Titanium is one of my favorite materials to work with now. If it wasn't such an Argon hog and have such a sickly high filler rod cost to TIG weld it would be my absolute favorite material. The strength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance is outstanding. It gets real magical when you deposit some tungsten carbide on its wear surfaces :-).

You and Steve are getting these results with a 770? Flood I assume?

[pickled]

Wow! I have never seen an ER Ti-5 or ER Ti-23 filler go that low. Typically you are talking $60/lb on the low end. I bought some old .gov/aerospace disposal stuff once a few years ago and ended up using $15 worth of Acetone and rags just to get it clean enough to dip in the puddle LOL. I'll have to go sniffing around again. Thanks for the tip.

[pickled]

Fogbuster and/or flood (on occasion) used here Spiffy Lab. If you are just profiling and not making deep pockets or drilling >3/16" deep holes the fogbuster works quite well. Some people swear that you can machine it dry, but the only time I tried that on a manual lathe the turnings turned to fireworks that reminded me a lot of thermite! I have never attempted dry milling or turning of Ti again.

[pickled]

Yes on a 770 and an 1100 here. My 770 is my preferred mill for titanium work because most of the intricate detail work I do with smaller cutters at RPM's above 5,000.

[Calico]

who sell tormach in Indonesia region ?
I don;t see dealer close to Indonesia but India ?

after watching you guys video cutting Ti on 770, this is the machine I want to buy.

oh, I'm far away from you guys...

how about 4th axis cutting Ti ?