researchkitty
Well-Known Member

OH NO. I want to make my own titanium nails and dabbers and a few other random parts.
I've never used a metal lathe before. I've no experience. No friends know them. Just me. This will be fun.

Have any of you guys seen the K.O ti nail? No globe needed.
http://www.abcamps.com/
Thats awesome, I would love to learn machining myself, however some of the sickest shit Iv ever seen is lathe accidents...
Reasonable enough price for someone that dabs a lot to take a chance on it and then give us a review.Hrm, weird............. Looks like the "I dont have a mill so lets just turn and drill this chunk of titanium" nails, but I can see how they'd work, but still wonder a bit if they are airy or good? He sells em on eBay for $30 a pop.
Yeah i work with tractors a lot, stay away from that shit!!!
Anyhow, i did not realize Harbor Freight carried a lathe, how much did you pay for that? (assuming HF since its a central machinery) I would love to have a small one for a while, probably going to end up with a big one eventually so some practice on a small one would be great!
I am not a machinist, don't play one on TV or have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express ... but i have been told by an actual one that titanium is an absolute bitch to machine. It's "chewy" as opposed to "free-cutting", and it has a way of ruining cutting tools, including carbide. I half-remember talk of special cutting fluids containing iodine. I said it before and I'll say it again ... tantalum!!! cn
Dude I hate to say this but that cut is bad. I run a lathe at work a lot, I'm a millwright by trade. If I was you I would get a few manuals and the machinest handbook, start with brass it is super nice to work with, and tool steel it's nice and cheap, I can check a few of my chart numbers for you if you like.
DO NOT WEAR GLOVES WHILE OPERATING A LATHE. I have seen people rip the skin off of entire fingers and hands from wearing simple cloth gloves when running machinery.