I’m making eyeglasses with commercially pure titanium from Reactive
Metals Studio, and have a basic observation to make: it’s not as
springy as I’d like for this purpose. Stainless steel is, naturally,
much more springier but I’d hoped that this pure Ti would be have a
/little/ more spring.
I’m using 14ga (1.5mm) straight rod wire, and I need the springiness
for this reason: if I put a 360deg bend in the wire with a 1.5mm gap
between the folded parts and mount something in that gap I want it to
have enough spring to grip a little. It prefers to spread. When I got
this wire from RMS, the first thing I did was to mark a line down the
length and twist it: held one end in a vice and used a battery drill
on the other end til it twisted for 25 - 30 turns. This stiffened
the rod somewhat, but there still is not very much springiness put
into the metal.
I see now that I might need an alloy, perhaps - as Michelle at RMS
said - an alloy of 6 parts Al and 4 parts vanadium.
Does anyone know of a source for small quantities of ANY sort of
titanium alloy wire?
Brian www.adam.co.nz/new.htm see the frames I’ve made
B r i a n A d a m a n d R u t h B a i r d
518 South Titirangi Road Auckland NEW ZEALAND
ph/fx +64 9 817 6816
www.adam.co.nz
www.adam.co.nz/ruthbaird
www.fingers.co.nz/artists.htm
Hi Brian, We use titanium bicycle spokes quite a bit. It might suit
your purpose but it might pay to find out what the alloy is. Maybe
someone on the list might know. If you want I could always send you
up a piece to try.
Brian, McMaster.com has 1/8 in (3 mm) rod in Grade 5 ( Ti6Al4V) in
1 foot lengths it is their part # 89055K311 You may be able to draw
or roll it down but it will rapidly destroy your draw plate unless
you have a carbide draw plate. It is much tougher than the Grade 2
pure Ti
Grades 1 & 2 can be certified for surgical implant chemistry. Tube
and pipe is usually grade 2. The difference in the two is few parts
per million of oxygen, hydrogen, iron and other trace elements.
Aircraft and high strength applications are generally Grade 5, also
referred to as “6/4”. There is a “3/2.5” which is very similar to
6/4 but easier to work. Your spokes are 6/4 most likely. There is
6/4ELI specifically made for surgical implants. ELI = extra low
interstitial.Which, as I understand, it relates to the compactness
of the crystal structure.
There is “3/8/6/4/4” AMS spec 4957 which I believe the very springy
alloy used in many glass frame. I know little to nothing about it.
Just that you won’t find in laying around.
It is possible to find “end of runs” and over runs. This usually
requires a lot of calling around and asking people to go look in the
back room. It is time consuming for everybody involved. There just
is no value in doing the work for little or no pay. Many mills
don’t make a dime until the order reaches $200 to $250. It is not
worth it to even ask if they have a few feet of this or that. If
there is a bit sitting around its liable to be 5 - 10 pounds. You
want it to work with, you have to buy the lot. It is the nature of
the beast. I have 22 years of doing this, it can take days. It is
usually a waste of time. Most of the product in this industry is
made to order. If there is a little over the purchaser usually takes
it too. Bill