Question: Engraving Titanium (Black Titanium) Too hard?

RedfordTrails

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Hi, I took a simple job to engrave a phrase in script on the outside of a ring. This ring is stamped TITANIUM but it's black in color. I believe some kind of anodizing... from what I was told any way. I put my layout on the ring and when I tried to make my first cut the the graver wanted to just slide over the top of the metal. So I re-sharpened and tried a very steep entrance angle forcing the sharpest part of my flat graver to the surface. It wouldn't enter. It wouldn't even scratch it!!! It just burnished the sides of my flat graver round.

I thought titanium could be engraved? Is it just hard from the black coloring process?
Any help is appreciated. I think I'm going to have to give the ring back as not engravable though.
:thinking:
 

Sam

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Sure doesn't sound like titanium. There are some hard titaniums but the graver should at least enter the metal. If it's tungsten it'll be really heavy. If it's titanium it'll lightweight like aluminum. Tungsten is impossible to engrave.
 

GTJC460

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Sounds like tungsten not titanium. Tungsten is a very dark blackish grey color. Based on the way you describe you tool reacted, I'm fairly confident this is the material you have. Laser and maybe a diamond drag are really the only way to scratch it.
 

RedfordTrails

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Thanks for the quick replies! I double checked and it's laser marked insid: "FORGE TITANIUM". I think forge is the company... but it's ultra light and says Titanium. Maybe it's an alloy or part of it is tungston. I'll post a pic of it later.
 

RDG

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It could possibly be a PVD Coating on the Titanium. I have read about black PVD coating on high end watches, it's supposed to be very scratch resistant and hard wearing.
 

Gemsetterchris

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Sounds like Zirkonium.
Very similar to titanium, but when heat treated it creates itself a sapphire hard coating that happens to be black.
 

monk

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i'll drop my quarter on plain old kryptonite. remember what it did to superman !
 

RedfordTrails

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Ha! Well I ended up putting a script layout on it and my boss traced it with a low pulse on a laser welder. Got the job done and it was decent looking. It was titanium with a coating. Sound like what RDG said. From my understanding it's a coating on titanium.
 

RedfordTrails

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Here's a pic. Not pretty but you can shoot a laser welder through the coating.
 

willy

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http://mrtitanium.com/faq.html
Q: I've seen "black" titanium. What is that, and can you make it?

"Black titanium" is titanium with a coated surface. It usually is G23 titanium, which is called "pure" by some marketing materials I saw, but really is an alloy with 6% Aluminum and 4% Vanadium in it. (read about titanium grades). Alloys are generally harder and stronger than pure titanium.
I believe that the black coating chemical is titanium-aluminum-nitride. It is even tougher than anodized titanium oxide because it is applied as a thicker coating.
I don't have the vacuum chamber and vapor-deposition equipment necessary to produce this surface.
 

Roger Bleile

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Years ago I tried to engrave a set of Weaver scope rings that I thought were blackened steel. Turned out that they were coated with black hard chrome. The graver wanted to skate right off the surface as RT described above. I fought my way through one ring and gave it back to the client at no charge as long as I didn't have to fight with the second ring.

RB
 

James Roettger

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What kind of steel is your graver tip? I use Lindsay Carbalt on titanium with ease. What kind of graver geometry too? I assume you are using pneumatic power too which is really necessary on extra hard metals. High speed steel wouldn't be hard enough, carbide too brittle.
 

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