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I've got a lil titanium bowl for camping. Feels like alien material, it's so light and feels like you could snap it, but then it's incredibly strong. I used it

I've got a lil titanium bowl for camping. Feels like alien material, it's so light and feels like you could snap it, but then it's incredibly strong. I used it in the oven last night to make TikTok feta pasta. No worries on being oven safe as its melting temp is 3,000°F.

jacquesm 3y ago
Try working it with regular tools and you'll be even more amazed. It's incredible stuff.
- peteradio 3y ago
  I'm not sure how to take this comment. Is it unworkable or surprisingly workable?
  - VBprogrammer 3y ago
    It's quite well known for being difficult to machine generally.
  - nickff 3y ago
    Titanium is very hard to work with; for instance the carbide coatings on many drill-bits can cause it to degrade over time. Tooling for production of the blackbirds was a challenge in and of itself, as little was known about working with titanium at the time.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 3y ago
    The more you cut titanium the harder it gets. It can eat even carbide drill / mill tools. Welding it is a nightmare.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    Very much unworkable. I got a chunk of titanium tubing at some point of my more metal oriented years and tried to do something useful with it, it ate up my tools pretty quickly. Typical standing time for a regular HSS bit was < 1 hole. Carbide did a bit better, but still that too went much faster than usual.
- carabiner 3y ago
  Yeah I used to work in aerospace (defense) and was shown a large part, about 3 feet wide, with very complex geometry that was machined from a huge solid chunk of titanium. They said that one part was worth $1 million, on a vehicle that cost total $80m or so. I'm guessing a lot of it was due to difficulty in fabrication.
- Tangurena2 3y ago
  The early 80s Corvette used titanium for the air filter cover. There had to be all sorts of bulletins for mechanics. Even though the cover was held on by large plastic thumb screws (and thus needed no tools for removal) it was a very convenient flat spot in the center of the engine compartment for placing tools on. The cadmium coating on hand tools will cause titanium to corrode, so don't use ordinary hand tools.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    That's super interesting, I did not realize that. Isn't Cadmium banned nowadays? It's a pretty bad compound to ingest, especially in dust form. Not quite Beryllium Oxide but not exactly flour either.
canadianfella 3y ago
[dead]
antod 3y ago
Our wedding rings are titanium. The engineering geek in me loves it for nerdy reasons, and the metal allergies in my wife love it for other reasons.
- alsodumb 3y ago
  My materials science professor always used ring as an example in intro to matse classes of what not to do with titanium. His point was that if you ever get into an accident and the first responders have to cut your ring for whatever reason (MRI machine, etc.), literally none of their tools would be able to do that on a titanium ring. None of the tools in hospital would work either. It may not always be feasible to pull it out the usual way. Take it as you will.
  - debatem1 3y ago
    Unfortunately, this is an urban legend. While titanium is amazing stuff a normal ring cutter can go through it.
  - phone8675309 3y ago
    If it's that dire then I'll just take losing the finger.
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    I got Tungsten Carbide rings for that reason (and they happen to also be extremely inexpensive). They’re very hard (scratch resistant) in everyday use, but also quite brittle and easy to shatter to remove if needed for a finger injury.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Titanium is more flexible and softer than steel. It also has a similar melting temperature. I've heard it's just harder to machine because it's more flexible so it tends to bend away from the cutting tools, as far as I understand. Not because it's so strong. But I don't know much about machining so this is second-hand knowledge. It's just a hell of a lot lighter than steel which is why it's so great for cutting-edge aviation stuff. It's much stronger than aluminium. It's the strength/weight combo that makes it special.
simlevesque 3y ago
> No worries on being oven safe as its melting temp is 3,000°F. Two things: - Your bowl is most likely not pure titanium and is probably made of an alloy. - Over 1,200F titanium produces titanium dioxide and may give you titanium dioxide poisoning.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  My oven only goes to 500F. Some go to 550F. Even Ooni's are 1000F at most. What does yours do?
  - simlevesque 3y ago
    Well most oven won't burn any of your cookware no matter the material. I just wanted to emphasize that there are danger below 3,000F.
    - flaminHotSpeedo 3y ago
      I'll bear that in mind the next time I decide to make lasagne in a crucible
    - garaetjjte 3y ago
      >won't burn any of your cookware Except PTFE coatings, which releases toxic gases above ~260°C/500°F
      - AlbertCory 3y ago
        except this post was originally about titanium.
- carabiner 3y ago
  It's grade 1 unalloyed titanium from Snow Peak: https://www.snowpeak.com/blogs/explore/ultralight-everything https://www.snowpeak.com/blogs/explore/ultralight-everything with the lowest oxygen content. Your hazard warnings are noted though, and I definitely will keep it at lower temps. I've also got their titanium flask. I had it engraved from a random guy on youtube who had experience engraving on Ti, because everyone else I contacted (mostly jewelry shops) could only anodize it.

jacquesm 3y ago

Try working it with regular tools and you'll be even more amazed. It's incredible stuff.

peteradio 3y ago
I'm not sure how to take this comment. Is it unworkable or surprisingly workable?
- VBprogrammer 3y ago
  It's quite well known for being difficult to machine generally.
- nickff 3y ago
  Titanium is very hard to work with; for instance the carbide coatings on many drill-bits can cause it to degrade over time. Tooling for production of the blackbirds was a challenge in and of itself, as little was known about working with titanium at the time.
- jasonwatkinspdx 3y ago
  The more you cut titanium the harder it gets. It can eat even carbide drill / mill tools. Welding it is a nightmare.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  Very much unworkable. I got a chunk of titanium tubing at some point of my more metal oriented years and tried to do something useful with it, it ate up my tools pretty quickly. Typical standing time for a regular HSS bit was < 1 hole. Carbide did a bit better, but still that too went much faster than usual.
carabiner 3y ago
Yeah I used to work in aerospace (defense) and was shown a large part, about 3 feet wide, with very complex geometry that was machined from a huge solid chunk of titanium. They said that one part was worth $1 million, on a vehicle that cost total $80m or so. I'm guessing a lot of it was due to difficulty in fabrication.
Tangurena2 3y ago
The early 80s Corvette used titanium for the air filter cover. There had to be all sorts of bulletins for mechanics. Even though the cover was held on by large plastic thumb screws (and thus needed no tools for removal) it was a very convenient flat spot in the center of the engine compartment for placing tools on. The cadmium coating on hand tools will cause titanium to corrode, so don't use ordinary hand tools.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  That's super interesting, I did not realize that. Isn't Cadmium banned nowadays? It's a pretty bad compound to ingest, especially in dust form. Not quite Beryllium Oxide but not exactly flour either.

canadianfella 3y ago

[dead]

antod 3y ago

Our wedding rings are titanium. The engineering geek in me loves it for nerdy reasons, and the metal allergies in my wife love it for other reasons.

alsodumb 3y ago
My materials science professor always used ring as an example in intro to matse classes of what not to do with titanium. His point was that if you ever get into an accident and the first responders have to cut your ring for whatever reason (MRI machine, etc.), literally none of their tools would be able to do that on a titanium ring. None of the tools in hospital would work either. It may not always be feasible to pull it out the usual way. Take it as you will.
- debatem1 3y ago
  Unfortunately, this is an urban legend. While titanium is amazing stuff a normal ring cutter can go through it.
- phone8675309 3y ago
  If it's that dire then I'll just take losing the finger.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  I got Tungsten Carbide rings for that reason (and they happen to also be extremely inexpensive). They’re very hard (scratch resistant) in everyday use, but also quite brittle and easy to shatter to remove if needed for a finger injury.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Titanium is more flexible and softer than steel. It also has a similar melting temperature. I've heard it's just harder to machine because it's more flexible so it tends to bend away from the cutting tools, as far as I understand. Not because it's so strong. But I don't know much about machining so this is second-hand knowledge. It's just a hell of a lot lighter than steel which is why it's so great for cutting-edge aviation stuff. It's much stronger than aluminium. It's the strength/weight combo that makes it special.

simlevesque 3y ago

> No worries on being oven safe as its melting temp is 3,000°F. Two things: - Your bowl is most likely not pure titanium and is probably made of an alloy. - Over 1,200F titanium produces titanium dioxide and may give you titanium dioxide poisoning.

AlbertCory 3y ago
My oven only goes to 500F. Some go to 550F. Even Ooni's are 1000F at most. What does yours do?
- simlevesque 3y ago
  Well most oven won't burn any of your cookware no matter the material. I just wanted to emphasize that there are danger below 3,000F.
  - flaminHotSpeedo 3y ago
    I'll bear that in mind the next time I decide to make lasagne in a crucible
  - garaetjjte 3y ago
    >won't burn any of your cookware Except PTFE coatings, which releases toxic gases above ~260°C/500°F
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      except this post was originally about titanium.
carabiner 3y ago
It's grade 1 unalloyed titanium from Snow Peak: https://www.snowpeak.com/blogs/explore/ultralight-everything https://www.snowpeak.com/blogs/explore/ultralight-everything with the lowest oxygen content. Your hazard warnings are noted though, and I definitely will keep it at lower temps. I've also got their titanium flask. I had it engraved from a random guy on youtube who had experience engraving on Ti, because everyone else I contacted (mostly jewelry shops) could only anodize it.