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I'm no MechE or machinist, but I do bang out parts on a mill / lathe on a regular basis, and I've noticed a huge disconnect between the shop attitude towards St
by jjoonathan 7y ago
I'm no MechE or machinist, but I do bang out parts on a mill / lathe on a regular basis, and I've noticed a huge disconnect between the shop attitude towards Steel / Aluminum / Titanium and the public attitude.
==== In the Shop ====
Aluminum is the "newbie" metal: cheap, light, soft, weak, easy (to machine, to protect from corrosion).
Steel is the "adult" metal: strong and resilient, but heavy and requires more care to machine, heat treat, and protect from corrosion.
Titanium is the "pro" metal: as strong as steel and as light as aluminum. Expensive and difficult to machine, though.
DISCLAIMER: These are all gigantic simplifications. Alloy, heat treatment, mass/volume denominators, coatings, geometry, and economic considerations can absolutely upset this ordering.
==== In Public ====
Aluminum is the space age advanced metal.
Steel is obsolete.
Titanium is Aluminum.
- ScottFree 7y ago> Titanium is Aluminum. I thought the public view of titanium was similar to adamantium or unobtanium. It's not an option because it's too expensive to use in a "normal" car. It's something that gets used in 100k+ supercars and formula 1 cars.
- jjoonathan 7y agoI suspect anyone into cars, bikes, or aircraft is aware of titanium's status as a paragon material, but the general public is less informed than that. I regularly see people miss the implication of an Al -> Ti or Ti -> Al material substitution and I semi-regularly see Al and Ti confused outright. It seems almost sacrilegious to someone in-the-know, but most people just don't seem to know or care. As far as they are concerned, aluminum is titanium is aluminum is titanium. Shrug.
- k_sze 7y agoWhere are fiberglass and carbon fiber?