Looking for a recommendation on a fabricator with some experience in titanium that doesn't mind doing custom work and preferrably in the northeast.

I'm looking to have some custom fab work done on the 80 and have been striking out all over the place.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

Mike Augspurger at "One-Off Titanium" is your man.

I think that he is still in the NE.

http://www.titaniumarts.com/

Bring your wallet.

I have been to his shop, the man is a god among men.

-Stumbaugh

Mike -

It won't be easy - there are not many. I would see if you can find one of the custom frame (bicycle) gurus. Its going to cost you INSANE $ to do anything with Ti.... I know a very skilled west coast manf. of Al and Ti bike parts (mostly CNC work), and know what the materials cost. You might have a reason for wanting to do it, and maybe you are a cashed out.com'er but get ready to shell it out.

Jim

One-Off Titanium Inc.

221 Pine St.
Florence, MA 01062
Phone & Fax (413) 585-5913
Web: www.titaniumarts.com
Email: mike@titaniumarts.com


-Yep, still in Boston.

You have piqued my interest.....what the hell are you making that has to be ti:confused: :D

Yikes, even the *website* looks expensive! :)

Seriously, I'm also curious about what you want to fabricate for an 80 series that requires titanium. In general, fabricators in the Northeast are few and far between, *good* fabricators even scarcer, and prices reflect that, you can expect to pay (on the average) about *double* what you would pay on the West Coast for custom work.

Thanks. Will give 'em a ring.

What the heck am I doing? Don't laugh too much!

I have free access to a load of Ti if I want it. So of course I do. But I need someone willing to do the welding.

I use my roofrack ALL the time. At least 3 days a week. But, the ARB was too heavy (200+lbs) including the mesh floor. I"m hoping that if I can find someone willing to fab a roofrack with my Ti, that it would be similar in design but weigh about 40lbs.

Am I nuts? Don't know. But I'm going to try it.

THanks
Mike
let the laughing begin

there is a guy in Crested Butte CO that makes ti bicycle frames and does other custom work. His name is Wess Williams. I cant get his web site to work ( http://www.willitsbrand.com/ ) so i dont know if he is still around but you can try and send him an e-mail at ( poor@crestedbutte.net ). Good luck

Got your hands on some surplus aircraft hydro tube eh??

Very cool idea, Ti would be ideal for a roof rack. Half the weight of steel and every bit as strong plus no need for paint and no problems with corrosion. Main issue with TI is to use plenty of shielding gas in a controlled environment. Embitterment is a huge issue and results from improper shielding gas. Would also be ideal in that it has sort of a metal memory and tries to flex back to its prexisting shape when you bend it - so when you wacked it against something it would flex back into shape instead of bending.

Go down to the airport or find a welder that services the aero industry. No problem to Tig weld or even pulse Mig Ti. Any competent Tig welder should be able to handle this for you. You might even want to try and see if the local welding school would take on the project for you as an exercise. They might jump at the chance to work with an exotic alloy at no charge. If you don't have any luck there, try an industrial kitchen/food service or factory fabricator from the food service industry. Those guys are so good with Tig that they could do this kind of work no problem. You might also try a racecar fabricator and there are PLENTY of those in the NE.

Surface contamination is a huge issue, much worse even than with aluminum. Even oil from your fingerprints will contaminate the weld! The welder must wear cotton gloves at all times!

If you want to drive all of the way down here to VA a buddy of mine is really handy with tig torch...

One or two bad things, Ti is really hard to bend. You'd need a porta power type bender if you want curves. It's also not happy with fretting corrosion and with galling. If you carried the same thing on the roof rack all of the time you'd need to do something to keep the abrasion factor from being an issue. A simple solution like a section of clear hose slipped over the area that made contact would be all that you'd need to do.

-Stumbaugh

Carefull there Stumbaugh... if I strike out here in NJ, I may take you up on that. I drove all the way to Farmville (outside Richmond) for my sliders and siderails. I'm heading down there again to get a supercharger installed and talk to someone about an external rollcage for the 80 :) .

Mike

No need for me to be carefull, I only mess with Steel and only for my self and for people that I know. I do know a guy named Justin who is really into TIG and is taking advanced classes and getting certs in TIG. He'd probably be into it. If you want I can talk to him. Another of my best friends is a race car fab guy but he is kind of pain to deal with- most pro welders are not super friendly. Both of those guys specialize in Tig welded cages.

You should have no problem finding a decent TIG welder up in NJ. Any Ti work is going to cost you though.

-Stumbaugh

Mike-

Although the theory sounds good, Ti is a bitch to work with. As John S has said, it does not like to bend, does not like to be forged, can spot weld (poor) in reg atmosphere but ideally need the right set up. It loves to sieze when bolted together as the corrosion products (Titanium Oxide) are heinous. 25,000 degrees F melting temp on those by-products...Al or steel is light years easier to work with. 040 wall steel can be made into a cheap light rack, Al maybe 065, but at $25+ stick (12', 1"OD) for 6063 I'd go back to steel (at $5-$8 per 20', 1" OD).

If you want a fabricator go to:
usenet and subscribe to rec.crafts.metalworking and ask the question there.

best of luck...

What is the flexibility factor with Titanium?

Because if it's very rigid, you might want to reconsider making a roof rack out of it. If you ever hit it at an angle, it's going to be stronger than the roof, and it's going to rip the rain gutter right off. I've seen it happen with ill-designed steel roof racks!

Ti is VERY flexable. If hit, it would flex and then spring right back into shape. It's used as hydro tube in planes for this very reason. When I said it's hard to bend, I meant that when you bend it, it springs back.

Very good point Henry - many people WAY overbuild racks. I farked up my FJ40 gutter with a yakima bike rack and a vine that tore the rack right off the truck and that was just on a trail that a car could have driven down. The vine was so small that it could have been sawed through in a few seconds but it still tore the rack off my truck!

-Stumbaugh

Originally posted by climbermike
Looking for a recommendation on a fabricator with some experience in titanium that doesn't mind doing custom work and preferrably in the northeast.

I'm looking to have some custom fab work done on the 80 and have been striking out all over the place.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

Mike not sure if we ever met at CMCC I have the orange 40 and did some work for jon H. PM me or shoot me an email and lets see what you have planned.

rich

Yes, Rich, I think we did. Although I met so many great people there that it's hard to put a face with each name.

I did see those AWESOME sliders you made for JH though!!! Also heard from JH that you are a welding madman (meant to be a comlement).

Will send you an email later today and explain what I'm trying to do.

Thanks
Mike

hey rich, i was just gonna tell mike to get ahold of you.

have you got your atlas yet?

dave

Originally posted by davefj40
hey rich, have you got your atlas yet?

dave

Yes it came last week ser #1995 :D :D
It will still be a while before it goes in as I am trying to my 60's done. The rear is cut down and I bored the spindles for 35 spline axles and the disc brakes are on, just waiting on gears and axles.

The front rc60 is all cut up and getting ready to weld the knuckles on and last night I hacked the crap out of the bottom of the housing and will be machining a flat bottom plate like a dynatrac.

hopfully next month it will be going together.

rich

i wont even recognize steve and yours truck come spring. might need you to do some tube work for me this spring.

dave