Press quenching TI

[balibalistic]

Hey guys,

i just recieved a big expensive sheet of .187 6AL4V.its in pretty rough shape for bending/warps.is there any way i can press quench pieces straight?i normally use an arbour press to straighten but it just is'nt happening with this stuff! i'd hate to lose the ammount i spent.

[Ed Caffrey]

Ti is a tough one to straighten out. In my experience it has to be over bent a lot to get things back in line. Maybe if you built a special set of dies for a press you could do it, but I'll bet it would be a long a tedious process getting it straight. After about the second piece I had to straighten, I wouldn't buy it unless the seller could ensure me that it was completely straight and true....and had a money back guarantee if it wasn't. You can waste a bunch of time and effort trying to straighten a warped piece of Ti, and still not have it come out usable.

[balibalistic]

Yeah,i think im pretty much beat!! i baught a 20" x 20" piece at what i thaught was a good price.turns out after paying ups over $100 at the door it was'nt so good.now i have this large piece awith not a flat portion on it. the flatest section still has about a 3/32" bow.so,i guess im beat

[Messinger]

I was just wondering the same thing yesterday. I've got a bunch of 0.060" that has a slight bend in each piece. I know from making pocket clips that it is very pliable when you heat it up a few hundred degrees so I was thinking about trying to press-quench some pieces straight too. I'll post back with the results when I've given it a shot. For me, trying to straighten liners with the arbor press is just leads to anger management issues.

-Ben

[balibalistic]

Ben,

With .060" you should be able to straighten with little effort!i bent some .105" last week with no troubles.my main problem is that this sheet is bent at 2-3 axis.so once i get one bend out i have to reposition it and bend it back the other way.....,yeahhh right please do let me know how your quenching goes..,might just save me

[mete]

You can press it at high temperature but that 's a complicated process .It has to be done without contaminants and in an inert atmoshpere. Not really for the average knife maker. Send it back !

[balibalistic]

Unfortunatly sending it back is'nt an option.i had to pay UPS over $100 at the door,and i've already cut into it.so i'd like to salvage what i can.so your saying i could'nt tool wrap it and quench like a blade??i believe my oven will go above 2000.

[mete]

Did the material come annealed or aged ?
I don't have personal experience here but stress relief is 1000 F for 45 min. Annealing is 1350 F for 2 hours.
If you had a steel press you could try stress relief in a press . If that didn't work try annealing in a press . Special atmospheres shouldn't be necessary at those temperatures.