[Jewelry making - Article 00937] - Re: [Orchid] Titanium Contamination

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     has anyone else had any cross-contamination issues between gold and
>     titanium???

    titanium filings and particles, as with any form of titanium
    instantly form an impervious oxide layer on contact with air.  That
    generally prevents good bonding or wetting by solders, though you can
    get a bit of joinint with enough flux.  But the bonds are not good. 
    So if you've got titanium particles imbedded in your solder, first
    off, like any dirt, it will lead to pits and messy joints. Plus, with
    a different thermal expansion rate that the gold, it might lead to
    stresses in the joints.  And given the very light weight of titanium
    grindings and filings will fly around more than will gold, so might
    easily get everywhere on your bench, and could easily get onto
    soldering pads, into the flux containers, or whatever.   And, I'm not
    sure, but it might even form a microalloy type of contaminant, as one
    can get an almost 24K gold that's microalloyed with titanium, making
    it about the same hardness as 18K, and with some different working
    properties too.  In general, while larger pieces of titanium (such as
    solder pics) should be safe enough, the idea of titanium dust flying
    around where your soldering gold, just might not be too bright an
    idea, and might well be involved in your problems.  Even if I can't
    tell you for sure, it seems clear enough that your own experiment by
    using different tools to solve the problem seems a pretty good
    indictment of the titanium dust. 

    And finally, does your boss pay for your tools or do you?  Mention to
    him that titanium is rather hard on steel tools, dulling burs and
    files very quickly. So if he's using tools he pays for, he's making
    your job harder and slower by bessing up the tools he pays you to
    work with. And if, as is often the case, you pay for your own tools,
    then get mad and tell him to buy his own damn tools and keep his
    hands off of yours, cause he can quickly shorten the life of your
    tools by using them on titanium. 

    You might suggest, for this task, the use of rotary diamond
    abrasives, such as the 3m diamond sanding bands.  Used with oil or
    water for lubrication, the lubricant also keeps down the dust
    generation. And he can grind a lot of titanium with those sanding
    bands. If he mounts them on an appropriate mandrel fixed to an
    adapter chuck for the polishing motor, then he can do his grinding
    with that fixed motor safely removing the grindings as well, and
    keeping your bench free of the dust. Both Stuller and Rio carry the
    diamond sanding bands. with lubricant, they last quite well (I use
    mine with platinum, and even with daily frequent use, they last
    several months on average. Probably would last even longer if I were
    more careful about the lube) 

HTH
Peter Rowe

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