Titanium reaming

[Whit Johnson]

Hello group,

I'm starting to play around with Titanium and had a fun time reaming the seat tube collar on my first frame with my threaded Silva cutter.  I've heard stories but nothing like first hand experience for the finish work on Ti. The head tube was not as difficult but I've also considered setting this up on my small SB 9a lathe.

What do you all recommend other than SHARP tooling? 

1) lathe w/the same normal Silva reamer chucked?

2) Boring bar (is this also called "single-pointing"...?)

3) Type/brand of cutting fluid that works better than others?

I searched back and saw a shop getting a honing machine but that's not in the cards.

thanks,

Whit

[Wissahickon Cyclery]

Reaming titanium is always going to be a task even with the sharp tools.  Seat tubes are super tricky because they start to heat up instantly and suck down on the tool.  It takes tons of leverage to get over this.  I literally use 36" T handles to ream a seat tube.  I use my lathe to ream the head tube but was not super excited about using it too do the seat tube.  I have my reamers ground by a place in Oakland, CA and they do an incredible job.  I have two of each and keep them in rotation.  If you want the best cheap answer on an oil go get Canola oil.  It has an incredibly high smoke point and works wonders as a cutting fluid on titanium.  Other than that I prefer rapid tap which is a great cutting oil.

With your SB lathe it is good that you are belt driven.  The lowest gear on that machine is a tad fast but if and when you get jammed up the belt will more than likely slip and not be too bad.  I run my lathe at 30 RPM and even then I would not complain if I could go slower.  I am also doing it on a 6,000 lb machine that won't stop so it is important that everything is working right.  

Good luck.

Cheers,

Drew

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Drew Guldalian

D.B.A. Engin Cycles
Wissahickon Cyclery
7837 Germantown Ave Phila,PA 19118
www.wiss-cycles.com
www.engincycles.com

[titanium...@gmail.com]

I have had very good luck with these adjustable reamers:

http://www.chadwickreamers.com/str_blade_adj.php?adjust_measure=fractional

They even stock parts and replacement blades, plus the blades can be resharpened.  They are straight blade so only work before one cuts a slot, I'm guessing this is obvious...

For reaming and tapping this is my go-to, Boelube paste, I like it because I can pack the flutes of the cutter and it melts out as I work to keep lube on the cutting edge:

https://orelube.com/about-boelube-products/pastes/

Dave Levy

Ti Cycles

We stock Reynolds titanium tubes

[Cameron Murphy]

I don't have any experience with titanium bike tubing, but cut hundreds of lbs a year of Titanium barstock for my business. If possible, single point it with a sharp lathe tool. Most titanium cuts pretty easily, it just doesn't carry away heat worth a darn, so slower is usually better. Try to keep it under 30-40 sfm for hss or better, cobalt tooling. Most carbide inserts aren't all that sharp, and wont work as well, but can be run faster -- maybe 100-150 sfm.

Trying to ream will be tough, as it grabs, and moves under cutting. Sharp cutters, and more backside relief will help, but you'll probably find thin wall tubing to come out undersize from reaming.

Cameron Murphy
San Marcos, CA

[Cameron Murphy]

I forgot to add, Castrol makes a great tapping/cutting fluid called MolyDee that really works well for titanium, stainless, and other gummy, hard to machine materials.