Sculpted and colored prototype on Titanium

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Trying to start a not expensive new line.
The anodized Ti Colors should do when spring and summer comes.
The anodizing is done by "painting" using a wooden tooth stick and the anodizer to obtain different colors at different volt.
The sculpting again is the Chris DeCamillis way.
It took me about a 3 hours to finish it. So if I can have them done by Lola, they should not be expensive but still hand craft one of a kinds. :biggrin:

arnaud

 

[Weldon47]

Nice!!
How do you think it would look with a blue background & yellow flowers? Seems like it might take longer...

Weldon

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Weldon, that should not take longer. My idea is to have them is different colors and designs. I will do the rose too, still practicing that on whit Marcus fine English book and DVD
Perhaps even only flowers without scroll, just a few leaves to obtain sort of bouquet.

arnaud

 

[Willem Parel]

Very nice Arnaud, talking about inexpensive, what prices do you think of if I may ask.
I ask this because there is a huge collection of titanium jewelry with prices so darn cheap that I have my doubts about being competitive to those.
http://www.bocciatitanium.nl/Producten/Sieraden
What are your thoughts about this, I know that handcrafted rings are not comparable to this collection but does the customer know?

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Willem, I have no problem talking about prices.
Yes I know the jewelery you show is real cheap. When I was in Basel last year, I had a contact and catalog of Chinese Ti ring, with zirkonia.
Prices from less than a dollar up to 4 dollar.
But non of those come even close to my Titanium jewelry.

I do not use the Ti because it is cheaper than gold or silver, but this kind of sculpting would wear of fast on a silver ring. And that is why the combination ti and engraving work so well.

So relative not expensive means less than 150 euro.
To give you an idea, these wedding rings I charge 750 euro for the two. In gold they would be at least double.

also these with fingerprint engraving I charge 700 euro for the two rings.

You may say 700 euro, that is expensive, I say it is not because you get 100% hand made exclusive wedding bands. Of course, they pay my bills and still keep extra to party.

And I don't want to offend any one, but who would like to wear wedding bands that only costs 20 euro or 100 euro. Those who like that are not my customers but sure plenty of customers who like my work and prices.

arnaud

 

[rayf24]

Price is forgotten long after service and quality is remember.
One should never sell yourself short. That's why my wife says I am not cheap but I am easy .
Ray

 

[Willem Parel]

Well, we both have the same opinion Arnaud, that's why I said it is not comparable.
But I have to deal with jewelers and first they show this site to me and next they asking to make a titanium ring for them....
I did not spend much time on that question because I can imagine which way this conversation goes.
I think the private customer is willing to spend some money on this and they buying a piece of art, but selling them to jewelers won't be easy I think, and that was my first purpose when I started with titanium, but I will let go this idea.
And you are very right when it comes to marriage and rings, they want to have the best and the most beautiful on this special day and they don't wanna go cheap then.

 

[monk]

arnaud: gold, silver, any metal for that matter, it's what you do with it that becomes special. i think the work you do in ti, esp the textured rings-- outshines any piece of gold. and as for durability. where do you get your anodizing solutions?
or does the voltage changes create the colors from 1 solution ?

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Thanks Monk for the compliment, as for the anodizing solution, any for that purpose will do. I use a special anodizing solution that comes from my tool supplier. But it is the volt, between 0 volt and 130 volt that makes those different colors. The color you get at a certain volt also depends on how the Ti surface is treated.
To obtain different colors like if it was painted, I use the Santos tootstick method.

arnaud

 

[Sam]

You should teach at Ti course, Arnaud. I don't know of anyone who does a many creative things with this material as you do. Really nice design and colorations :clapping:

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Yes Sam, a lot of people keep asking me the same question, thing is I already have two students I teach and only 24 hours in a day.

After I finished the first prototype for this new line I'm working on, here is one I finished after fine tuning the needed skills and techniques.
I hope you like it as much as I do

 

[Marrinan]

Arnaud, I find your work with Ti very interesting and appreciate your sharing it with us. The main issue as I see it is the welding. PUK is just out of the question for me to experiment with. However I can weld Ti with my TIG welder. Shield gas is a minor problem. Currently working on welding cabinet much like a very small bead blast cabinet where it could be filled with the shield gas. Am Also looking for the right micro tig torch. Have gotten good info on shielding using back blocks to shield inside the ring. Have also considered machining the rings from round bar stock like surgical stainless rings are often done. Penetration of the weld is certainly not an issue in any jewelry type work and coloration in welding Ti is considered a flaw in the welding. I know that Ti can be ordered in tubing and machining ring size could be non issue with proper boring bits or manually turning the size required. Could you show a picture of a welded band before any cleanup is done so I have a target weld I am aiming for Thanks Fred

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Fred, I will show some photos of my PUK welding ASAP. Sure a TIG wil do as well, my son in law Jeroen uses one for the same purpose.

arnaud

 

[KCSteve]

Arnaud you continue to raise the bar with your work! :bow:

 

[LVVP]

Arnaud,

As I said, this is cooooooool!

 

[simone-cervellati]

I love working in Ti too, but yeah, Arnaud, you make amazing Jewelry with it!

this thread was very inspiring!

I will have to start setting aside money to buy myself some Ti tubing and toy with rings ideas (No tig welder in my shop )

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Thanks all for your interest in my titanium work. As promised I attach some photos of the welding using the PUK3.
When using the PUK on its highest settings, it will weld 0.5 mm deep. As this Ti sheet is 1 mm I don't have to add extra Titanium to fill a V I do when using 1.5mm sheet.
My welding is that strong I can stretch the band up to 6mm surround size without breaking the welding.

 

[bdext002]

Great photos and beautiful work! Love seeing the process. I'm learning so much about Ti that I never knew was possible!


Bryce

Also, that PUK is quite an investment. Would there be another, less expensive set-up that would give similar results?

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Bryce, thanks for the compliment, yes a PUK is an important investment and sure worth every euro, However a good TIG welder and using ARGON works too.

Here is some progress on my last one, 6 mm wide, but now I close my shop, drive home and gonna sit in the sun for at least one hour.

arnaud

 

[Jane]

I like this idea Arnaud....great work!