Heat coloring of titanium

DakotaDocMartin

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This is also something I would like to try some day. The blued titanium watches with the gold inlay that Chris DeCammilis does for the Montana Watch Co. are awesome.:yes Blue and gold together have a beautiful look.:thumbs up:

Heat coloring of titanium:
Pale Gold Straw-385 ºC = 725 ºF
Purple-412 ºC = 773.6 ºF
Deep Blue-440 ºC = 824 ºF
Red Purple-565 ºC = 1049 ºF
Brown Gray-648 ºC = 1198.4 ºF
Green Blue-925 ºC = 1697 ºF

According to O. Untracht: Jewelry Concepts and Technology, London 1982.

From: American Engravers – The 21st Century, by C. Roger Bleile, Edited by S.P. Fjestad
 

Arnaud Van Tilburgh

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I agree about blue and yellow Doc and I don't know, but colouring this in my opinion is not done by heating but with electro anodising.

arnaud
 

DakotaDocMartin

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I agree about blue and yellow Doc and I don't know, but colouring this in my opinion is not done by heating but with electro anodising.

arnaud

I've read that heating with that method of using electricity results in a flat finish without the high gloss. Also, the coloring can vary in a sort of pattern effect.

It would be nice to have some experts weigh in on this if they would like to share some of their "secrets". :big grin:
 

KCSteve

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Heat coloring of titanium:
Pale Gold Straw-385 ºC = 725 ºF
Purple-412 ºC = 773.6 ºF
Deep Blue-440 ºC = 824 ºF
Red Purple-565 ºC = 1049 ºF
Brown Gray-648 ºC = 1198.4 ºF
Green Blue-925 ºC = 1697 ºF

Hmmm.....

Yet another reason I need to get some Ti to play with.

Since I have a kiln it would appear that I could prepare a blank, put it in the kiln at, say, about 565F to turn the whole thing red/purple, then carefully engrave a design. Reheat to only 385F and the cuts should go gold(ish).

The hard part is that you can't slip. If you're set up to do electro-anodysing then you can 'paint over' any slips.

Still, if you're good enough, and careful enough, you can plan out your work and cut a design from dark to light, ending with the plain cuts.

Of course, all of this assumes I actually get time to do any work. :rolleyes:
 

peteb

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Coloring titanium using anodizing voltage is the way to go. Etching the metal prior to anodizing will also brighten the color. Remember the actual layer of anodization in extremely thin and subject to wear on flat surfaces. A better way to go may be to engrave and then anodize the resulting engraved surface. The color would be better protected that way. Power source and etching chems are at Reactivemetals.com.

PeteB
 

Tim Wells

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I wish I could afford it; this is a beautiful, beautiful watch and my favorite shape, the old tank cased timeieces of the 30's.
 

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