Knurling Titanium

wquiles

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Mar 24, 2012
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OK, with much advice/support/tips from a couple of my machining buddies, here I am trying Knurling Titanium.

Now, being that I am not all that smart, instead of starting with steel, or with CP2 (Grade 2), I am stubborn enough of trying this on 6al-4v.

I am using my Dorian cut knurler, and using a calculator for setting up the diameter based on the knurler at hand:

PM12x36 lathe
Dorian Cut knurler, with RS 25 wheels
Ti Bar Dia = 0.650"
Carriage speed = 0.012 IPR
Spindle Speed = 65 RPM
Infeed = 0.018" (all in one pass)




Getting the diameter set (per calculator):
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Cutting a 60 deg area to help ease/start the knurlers:
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Setup for my PM12x36 (back gears were left as when I cut 20TPI threads, but the front dials were adjusted to 0.012 IPR as shown in these pictures):
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Starting to "cut" threads, various angles (you know me, I can't help but take lots of pictures!):
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Infeed:
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And yes, we are most definitely cutting metal away, but I am getting a little bit of binding on the cutters:
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After a single pass. Obviously not great, but not too bad as a starting point:
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Here in the cropped picture you can see that the grooves being cut are not quite "even", and that there is also some metal being displaced as well - note this is "as is" - I have not cleaned the piece):
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Short movie:
You Tube Movie

- - - Updated - - -

Now that I have the flood coolant running, I tried again the cut knurler - much, much better. Here on the left I am setting up the OD - the portion on the right was the one I did last time which came out OK:
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Just two passes, one at 0.008" and the second (a cleaning pass) at 0.010":
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The finish was even better (new on the left, and previous on the right):
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The knurling came out nice enough that I decided to go ahead and make a DE handle out of this portion, so I am cutting of the previous piece, then cleaned it up:
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Not too bad for a newbie:
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Not that anyone would shave with it, but it looks cool:
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Here I started drilling and tapping the new DE handle:
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Wow wonderful project. I have never tried to knurl Ti but you did a great job. That is an interesting knurl tool I have never seen one like that. I love the project. Why did you say no one would shave with it? It looks perfectly usable. Put a nice feather in there and go for it.

Jeff
 
Wow wonderful project. I have never tried to knurl Ti but you did a great job. That is an interesting knurl tool I have never seen one like that. I love the project. Why did you say no one would shave with it? It looks perfectly usable. Put a nice feather in there and go for it.

Jeff

Technically you "could" shave with that shorty handle, but I personally like a "little" bit more handle for better control :))

- - - Updated - - -

A few more work-in-progress pictures. I first tried cutting the cone from the back, but did not have enough clearance:
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So I changed it to the other side:
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Perfect fit:
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Then I applied my preferred grooves, although I came with a slightly different pattern for this handle (2.6" long):
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Cut and face the back:
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Finished Ti DE handle:
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That looks good. I've done a fair amount of turning and threading of titanium, never knurled it before. Next time have a go at inconel -- should be a good challenge.
 
Really nice thread and post. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Nice machine work going on there!

I haven't shaved with a safety razor like that in years. Got half a mind to drag mine out and get a pack of Wilkinson's (if they still make them). BTW: I shave daily with "un-safety" straight razors. -A habit I got into and enjoy...


Ray
 
:roflmao::roflmao: I somehow missed in the original post that it was just the short part that you did first. Guess that would be hard to shave with. This looks incredible. I have a couple of "safety" razors that use when I travel but normally I use a straight as well. I still shave with my grandfathers straight. I got it after he passed and think of watching him shave with it every time I shave. I love Ti so this would be a cool project some point in the future. Can you explain the knurling tool you used?

Jeff
 
Not yet on Titanium, but I started work on spiral knurling today:
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Drill/tap:
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Make the cone:
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Turn the OD:
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Start the spiral knurl:
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Cut and trim:
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I practiced some more with the Swirl or Twist knurling, and got a second prototype made. This one took much longer to do, but it was fun to make.

As always, start with the drill and tap operations, and checking the threads:
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Then cut the cone:
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Get the OD to the correct diameter for the first knurling operation:
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Do the first knurling operation - very slow ...
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Mark the two areas where I will creating the new section with a smaller diameter:
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Again, using the knurling calculators, turn the OD to the correct diameter:
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Start the spiral/twist knurling operation - same as before, very slow ...
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Trim/clean up the intersections and make even:
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Cut to length, face, and bevel the base:
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Finished handle on a Gillette NEW:
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and on a EJ89:
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Incredible work. I have never seen using just one side of a knurl tool to get a spiral. That is wonderful. Can you show more about how you did the setup for that.

Jeff
 
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