Can I Make Titanium Damascus? Part 3

[@thethoughtemporium]

Thanks for the shoutout! Been great watching your titanium Damascus progress!

[@daysejones968]

can you make a spider man costume made out of spider silk?

[@aycfes]

@@daysejones968 that would take so fucking long to do

[@BananaRadiation]

Can you make a silk man costume out of spiders?

[@user-up3rv8nm7v]

Can you make man silk out of spiders in a costume?

[@crppledizzle9374]

make man in costume spider a out silk can of?

[@origamimavin]

@20:30 The anode that's submerged in the electrolyte needs to be completely titanium. In your earlier tests, the alligator clip was outside of the electrolyte. Later, you used stainless tongs to hold the titanium damascus block, and the tongs were submerged into the electrolyte. The titanium oxide growth relies on the resistance of the titanium surface. Since there was stainless anode in the electrolyte, all the ions were rushing to it rather than through the titanium, so the anodization oxide wasn't growing on the titanium's surface. The reason pulling it in and out worked was because there was a moment where the tongs were out of the solution and the ions were directed through the titanium. Buy a spool of titanium wire, wrap that around your block, and clip leads to the wire outside the electrolyte. The surface area of the submerged titanium has an effect on how quickly it anodizes, so titanium wire works well, but make sure it's making good contact with the block. You could use some thin scrap titanium to make some tongs, which will change color too, but the tongs anodizing won't have any negative effects on your titanium damascus and can be reused. Something else to play with, you can change up your setup a bit and 'paint' anodization onto the titanium. Connect your titanium to the anode and place it on your workbench. Then dip a sponge into your electrolyte solution and hold a piece of metal connected to the cathode on the back side of the sponge. Turn the power on and rub the electrolyte-soaked sponge onto the titanium, without letting the cathode touch the titanium directly. You can change the color by changing the voltage, or varying how long you make contact with the titanium. Really great project/ series, btw. I'd been wondering how titanium gets forged without it catching fire in the air. Your videos have answered a lot of questions for me!

[@whoshotashleybabbitt4924]

Seems like this fellow knows a thing or two about these sorts of endeavours.

[@buildingsalvage]

He indeed seems like a knowledgeable fellow

[@benjaninb]

Now I know more about anodizing Ti- I Have electrochemistry experience and your ideas make sense Good post good info. A guy I know makes colored Ti toothpicks this way but he would not tell me how, Now I think I know good

[@artificium_]

@@benjaninb let the man have his toothpicks

[@BigpuffypARKA]

You taking the time out of your day to share your knowlege is inspiring, kudos to you!

[@alexgrote161]

It looks like you finally got a small taste of what it was like for lockheed martin to build the SR-71 out of pure titanium. What amazing engineers for their time.

[@FANTOllVll]

I think the more impressive part was creating thousands of shell companies across several countries in order to acquire the titanium from the Russians. Absolutely mental when you think about it.

[@danielwilkinson6508]

Hi Alec, I am doing a PhD on diffusion bonding tungsten to steel. Just wanted to say that I really love your videos and highly appreciate how much new stuff you try out. Much more practical than my lab stuff and so much fun to watch. Keep going!

[@daveemerson6549]

"Oh no, I cracked the bucket." Definitely one of the most heart-dropping moments of any gross job. I had it happen to me scooping decaying sea sludge out of a free-flood space on a ship.

[@gsxr6001984]

I felt it when he said it…

[@dstovell]

What, happened it can't be that bad? "I cracked the bucket" oh god...

[@NothingXemnas]

​@@dstovell Oh, wow, people sure are overreacting! It couldn't be that bad- OH NO!

[@nerfherder4284]

Luckily I was eating 😂

[@suicidebylifestyle9267]

"Oh no I mixed the acids wrong" is worse, using 30% rather than 3% peroxide to oxidize FC, hooooo boy it's energetic.

[@TobiasHJohansen]

Hi Alec, Metallurgist engineer here. I know a lot of the science behind what you're doing but don't have the practical skills to do any of it yet. I'm so glad you're discovering the science - it's always fun to understand. It has been fascinating and such a joy for me to watch you for a few years now.

[@everettcitty]

when does Rearden Metal come out?

[@UncleKennysPlace]

@@everettcitty "They" have suppressed it. You know, _Big Steel._

[@RyanYoxo]

I thought I would be the only metallurgist engineer here 😮

[@NobbsAndVagene]

@@RyanYoxo A metallurgist, watching a video about metallurgy? Preposterous.

[@Ortisan_Official]

You guys are a dying breed ​@@RyanYoxo

[@adventuroushermit2590]

6:40 coolant is amazing. The amount of times I've heard Adam Savage say you cant have too much coolant, and then I come to your channel and see you cutting everything without coolant is nuts

[@AlecSteele]

I’ve been lazy on coolant for too long!

[@LordDragox412]

Alec has finally visited his cool aunt and learned the secrets of milling from her :P

[@TheActionBastard]

"wtf is coolant?"

[@djfernando16]

@@LordDragox412 Aunt Flo?

[@aapur]

@@AlecSteele You better use it constantly from now on as you've fixed the pump on both your Mill and your lathe now

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

Alec can work mithral now. According to D&D rules, you are very close to being a master smith, as only a master smith can work mithral into functional tools, weapons, and armor. Being able to make pattern Damascus with it is a pretty good demonstration of your mastery of the material. I look forward to what your plans are and seeing what other materials you can incorporate into it. If you can get steel to weld to it, that opens up the possibility to make some crazy stuff, like light weight swords with that insane pattern on them and the electro-oxidation for the rainbow coloring. Just crazy stuff. Fantasy sized axes. Crazy layers of titanium added into Damascus patterns that get oxidized into colors never seen before in blades. This is going to be nuts.

[@howlingwolven]

Titanium truly is our universe’s mithril, isn’t it? It’s an expensive metal, resembling silver when polished, stronger and lighter than steel.

[@squidbad]

to my knowledge titanium is not stronger than steel.

[@scottpollock1714]

@@squidbad You are correct (at least generally speaking - steel is an alloy and, simply put, adjusting its makeup greatly affects properties), however titanium is the strongest metal by weight, and can be alloyed to make it much stronger as well.

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

@@squidbad Stronger per pound. For an armor application or supporting material, it would be better suited than steel. For total strength in total, yes, steel alloys are stronger.

[@howlingwolven]

@ Stronger than elemental iron, and stronger than many steels for the same weight.

[@walnutforge1203]

It seems like if Alec continues to educate himself about the scientific aspects of his craft, he will be in a rare situation with both lots of practical knowledge and experience as well as great academic understanding! Fusing those aspects is often where innovation is born. GREAT things to come!!!

[@mrstephenporter]

Just thinking this myself.

[@DaftyBoi412]

@@walnutforge1203 He needs to solid state diffusion bond the practical and theoretical sides of blacksmithing to really become a master! 😂✌️

[@benjaninb]

good deduction I agree.

[@joshuafreeman3745]

I work for a large company that has done exactly that, in this exact field ... And believe me there is big money in it 😂

[@r0llinguphill483]

@2:49 just standing there going "throw the stick...oh god PLEASE THROW THE STICK!

[@travisfabel8040]

Yes! My dog is next to me on the couch watching this, and I could tell he saw the other dog wanted him to throw the stick too. Lol

[@myitbos1335]

Bacon? Is that bacon?

[@fredbawden1468]

It does look extremely like a stick to be fair.

[@spaztikcuk5871]

@@fredbawden1468it gives me some ideas for an art piece that looks like wood but I don’t have the skill or money to do that so hopefully some KZbinrs see this video and try it

[@TheNewJankyWorkshop]

LOL... caught that too! I am not sure the dog would like that stick as much, but hey, who knows... maybe it likes to play fetch with metals!

[@KevindeB93]

What I always find funny is that with some of the latest projects you basically have been forced to clean your machines, a maintenance task that likely have stayed on the shelf for ages

[@wellscampbell9858]

Never do today what can be put off until tomorrow. This and other sayings (lift with your back, not your legs, a penny saved is a penny) have served me well.

[@hanswoast7]

@@wellscampbell9858 From the makers of "what could go wrong?", "it's not my fault" and "yolo". Coming soon to cinemas near you!

[@emilyscloset2648]

​@@wellscampbell9858I'm aware of flipping all the sayings on their head, but what?

[@markroberts9382]

It's so delightful to watch this series! So many craftsman I see are using only their own experience, and bumbling through anything new. You are making use of expert resources, reading publications on metallurgy, and admitting you don't know everything. Your willingness to learn something new sets you apart from so many people. Humility combined with confidence , perseverance and humor, what a great personality you have. Keep it up!

[@ilknivescouk]

Great stuff! Bit late in spotting. Tweezer steel with current in contact w electrolyte will ruin anodising, use Ti contact on titanium part, stainless steel foil for submerged cathode/black electrode is fine. Also, don’t need etchant, polish, clean w warm deionised/softened water and dishwashing soap, rinse without letting dry… et voila, more vibrant colours due to surface finish being finer. Even better results w conc sulphuric acid 1ml/1L water. None of my own anodising is photo/colour edited.

[@justandy333]

My heart skipped a beat when I saw you putting the V blocks in to a hydraulic press. A chap I knew did this when using some machinists V Blocks as a die when bending some steel rods to make a drawer handle. The V block shattered and peppered his chest in shrapnel. He was lucky to survive. A piece of the V block penetrated his chest, had his rib not been in the way, it would of punctured his heart. I'm not a metallurgist but I'd imagine the blocks he was using were of a high carbon steel and may well have been case hardened. My point is use some blocks that you know for sure won't shatter when putting them under that sort of pressure. It would be well worth doing some research into this, just to make sure you don't have a similar incident to my colleague. Loving your work dude. Stay safe.

[@hanswoast7]

That is horrifying! Stay safe.

[@DaftyBoi412]

@@justandy333 yeah machinist blocks are super hard so they don't deform over time as they contact other surfaces. Power hammer anvils are useually mild steel or something similar that is much softer than tool steel etc. to avoid exactly what you are describing as they deal with a lot of striking force constantly! Dies are probably useually a bit harder than the anvil so as to not deform also, however if you only squeeze without them making contact they arn't under much pressure due to them only dealing with the force of squishing hot metal at forging temps. It's when the dies slam together and connect with each other you're really running the risk of them exploding if they are hard and brittle like your mate's machinist blocks ofc were.

[@bial12345]

He's fine that T-shirt will protect him!

[@legion_hero2096]

DAMN! Your friend definitely got the backstory to become Iron Man now. Just help him build an Arc Reactor of his own!

[@ChrisWijtmans]

just wear chainmail.

[@DryW4t3r]

When sawing small pieces in the bandsaw, try putting something with an equal or slightly larger width in the other end of the jaws. That way you generate more pressure on the actual clamping spot.

[@1cx2william]

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. ❤

[@sedled2829]

That doesn’t solve the reach problem, I saw someone extend the backplate w 4x4 angle iron and then clamp the part on the angle iron.

[@joseph6750]

I was thinking a machinist jack would give a good adjustable way of doing that.

[@ebc1f7]

This is also roughly what I was going to recommend. Sometimes in a less critical cut. I just put a piece I cut off before it becomes to short on the other side of the vise jaw. The machines jack might let you play with slight angles to get the most surface contact. All this said. My saw pulls into the fixed jaw tho.

[@SpydersByte]

this ^

[@nimajnebkingofsausage4744]

This is more like it. Feels like Alec’s been reinvigorated with this new material. Thank you!

[@lordbaconweeb]

I love how he is just an artist but with metal and balcksmithing! Another reason I say that anyone can be an artist! If your art is Physical, verbal, digital, making games or heck even blacksmithing like him! I full heartedly call you and artists!

[@minecaftpenguin]

21:01 might be the prettiest chunk of metal I’ve ever seen. Cannot wait to see what you make with this gorgeous material

[@Rekateer]

Alec, you're picking up special skills with this titanium quick! That pattern is stunning, especially with the etch technique you used. Sort of wish we had a forge at my work so I could try this sort of stuff out, but we just evaluate quality for lot approval and finished product efficacy. Getting your coolant working properly was a very good choice, I've burned myself on hot Ti even WITH coolant, so I can't imagine how it felt without it. Love this series.

[@KevinOMalleyisonlysmallreally]

The fact that you're glad your friend isn't there to have to deal with a disgusting thing is a testament to your quality as a person. I feel like this kind of thing doesn't get shouted out enough, especially in this space. Good on ya fella.

[@sempi8159]

The bar is really that low

[@fightfanian]

Naw, you should want your friend to suffer with you. Its male bonding.

[@AbirMojumder]

I thought he was just being sarcastic about his friend not being there😂

[@holdawayt]

A classic example of subtle british sarcasm.

[@Kellysg126]

Hes British, as a brit. I can tell you its sarcasm 🤣🤣🤣

[@federicograziani6160]

Please make a long series trying to make a beatiful masterpiece! We love seeing you delve deep into the details of the build, and we actually like long series! I think all of us remember with joy your (long) time spent on the viking sword!

[@eamonshields2754]

Truly awesome work man. Well done

[@Reconzile]

1:18 The forbidden Salmon

[@scanamana]

Worth it

[@Yewtewba]

6:03 The forbidden curry

[@tu1469]

@@Yewtewbalmao

[@10Gpixels]

The improvement from episode 2 to 3 is crazy. Can't wait to see what you do with this new forging knowledge!

[@daddymushroom5383]

Me and my friend used to anodise our titanium butterfly knives with tin foil, baking soda, water, some random stripped wires we found, and some 9v batteries. This brought back good memories

[@SlayEmAllYear]

Hey Alec from a welders perspective instead of having to make that special cutting fixture.. literally order a 12” long solid bar of Ti and tack weld it to the piece clamp it cut it then just grind off the tacks and reuse it. it will work with any sized piece you forge up instead of having it fit that slot. Hope this helps

[@davincidamaster5311]

LOVING the measure twice cut once approach you took for this project. Not that I didn't enjoy your other projects where you learnt along the journey, but delving into the science and understanding what you're actually doing to get the best results is so satisfying.

[@RobertGracie]

About time bring on round 4 of Titanium vs Alec Steele.....I cant wait for more of this!

[@patheddles4004]

Titanium vs Steele, you say? :D

[@Dellpodder]

13:55 the typical recommendation is to put a piece of material on the far end of the vise that is the same thickness as the piece you're cutting, so that the jaws stay parallel as you clamp. You can also use a screw jack/machinist's jack.

[@cameronwebster6866]

you can also take a some strips of metal and loosely bolt/rivet them together at one end (kind of like a feeler gauge set) that way you have an adjustable tool that can stay with the machine.

[@captainorange9260]

For smaller pieces like Alec is using you could use adjustable height parallels.

[@Traylor0]

Another way is to tap the jaw so you have an adjustable stop on the backside of the jaw. Also for cutting short stock you can use a grinding vice stood up vertically.

[@nightmare62089]

The craziest oart of this being able to see the pattern while forging. At the end while working on that piilow-shaped billet, the different grades of titanium were actually visible while glowing and it was awesome to see.

[@randomawesomeness1999]

Maybe someone else has recommended this in the process but Alec: for cutting titanium, perhaps you could look into facilities with cnc water jets that you could rent time on. The billet material lost in cutting would be much less and you don’t have worry about starting a titanium fire from heated chips.

[@fallenstudent1103]

Favorite series by far. Plus there a million things you can make with Timascus from fittings for your knives to jewelry. Can't wait to see where you go with this.

[@henkgrobbelaar335]

I did some anadizing at home a few years ago (3d printed Ti 10-sided dice). Living in a little flat at the time, I had little resources and space. I managed with off the shelf rust remover which was cheap from the local hardware store, cleaned the Ti with acetone, anodised it blue using the same baking soda solution and 3 9-volt batteries in series to give me 27V. My point is, on a tight budget you don't need specialised chemicles or equipment. I managed with a stainless steel kitched bowl and 3 batteries.

[@davegrox3150]

First nilered doing some metal work and now alex doing chemistry, it’s like two of my most watched KZbinr doing crossover(not really but still)

[@mustii22]

Alec uploads… I watch … immediately 😂

[@GronnocGames]

it should be law to do this lol

[@caseysmith1718]

Alec what I've done for workholding small parts like that on a vise with swivel jaws is actually drill and tap a hole in the other end of the vise jaw. You put a screw in it that touches the opposite jaw, and you adjust the screw to keep the moving jaw square

[@HugeMitch]

I'm worried less and less people are going to see each episode, which is a shame, because this was easily the best one so far. I love seeing you light up and get excited about learning and experimenting with new things. This is so cool and results speak for themselves. I can't wait for the next addition to the series!

[@Tom-Lahaye]

You start to understand the material more and more, and with quite stunning results. The pattern is beautiful. The colours depending on anodising voltage is something I didn't know before, but explains why titanium is such a suitable material for coloured piercing jewellery, the colours are in the material and don't rely on plating or such making it a very safe material for piercings.

[@benjaninb]

the colors are actually a layer on the surface of the clean metal. Oxide thickness makes the different colors and the grain structure makes the pattern our the painting style varies the apparent voltage actually current density on the surface= cool

[@VaguelyAmused]

Looks stunning! Just make sure you stay safe. 60V+ DC is starting to get into semi-sketchy territory so just treat it with some respect 🙂 Edited due to replies that may misguide people. Including some factual information below so people can make an informed decision on how much risk they want to take if wanting to follow this process for anodising: Bodily Effect to DC Current: Painful but maintain muscle control: 41mA - 61mA Painful and unable to let go of wires: 51mA - 76mA Sever pain and difficulty breathing: 60mA - 90mA Body Resitance: Hand immersed in conductive liquid (i.e. this anodising approach if no gloves and care not taken): 200 Ohm - 500 Ohm (body will experience 120mA - 300mA at 60VDC)

[@mfx1]

90V ripple free DC is officially SELV and perfectly safe (it's 50v for AC), you won't even feel it if you touch it we use it in prop making for large hot wire polystyrene cutters. You can go significantly higher and still be safe but you're outside of SELV then.

[@VaguelyAmused]

Maybe with dry hands when you have roughly 10kOhm resistance, not with hands in a conductive liquid which are right down at 500Ohm. Better safe than sorry, or worse. Just take precautions is all

[@mfx1]

@@VaguelyAmused Even with wet hands it's perfectly safe as long as it's DC. AC kills primarily by muscle fibrillation which happens at fairly low currents, DC doesn't cause fibrillation.

[@VaguelyAmused]

@@mfx1 That's just not true. DC current can be just as dangerous as AC. Have a read of the MIT safety handbook from Cooper Bussmann or one of the many sources on "allaboutcircuits" which include the table extracts from that publication. EDIT: Actually I will correct/clarify myself a little - you are right that DC doesn't cause fibrillation I think but I would still maintain that its wrong to generally say that DC is perfectly safe, that it most certainly is not and it can be dangerous if not treated carefully when getting into higher DC voltages and hands in conductive liquids (60VDC is high in this case)

[@mfx1]

@@VaguelyAmused It's perfectly safe AT THE VOLTAGES BEING DISCUSSED don't quote me out of context. At the lowest skin resistance of around 1k it needs around 500v to pass 500mA but you're going to start to know about it at around 150v or so but still extremely unlikely to kill you.

[@betif00]

I remember watching steel damascus videos years and years ago when it was just starting to take off on youtube. Working with titanium has always been really difficult, I am glad to see Alex tackling the processes and refining them. A new chapter in youtube smithing/metallurgy is being written

[@dominictalbot3720]

the good attitude is by far what dissuades me from most projects-love to see you here to remind crafters what we love about our work!

[@nickbz1303]

I reiterate that this is the series you were born to make! I am really surprised you got the whole spectrum on only 80V; I skip the etch on my home rig and sometimes need to string up 144V worth of 9V batteries to get all the way to the light green. Your clear demonstration of the variegation of different grades in the setting of a Timascus billet is a beautiful demonstration of science I have not seen any existing literature on yet. I’m eager to see more of this adventure!

[@dronevids1541]

0:15 - Experimenting with titanium mosaic patterns 2:01 - Understanding titanium annealing temperatures 3:35 - Improving machining processes for titanium 5:13 - Cleaning the coolant tank for the lathe 6:59 - Starting the lathe at 450 RPM 8:10 - Unboxing two sheets of titanium 10:02 - Changing to a new blade for cutting 13:49 - Seeking workholding suggestions 15:16 - Introduction to anodizing titanium 20:05 - Troubleshooting anodizing issues

[@phantomsrage6523]

you forgot 2:47 - dog

[@dronevids1541]

@@phantomsrage6523 rip...

[@blaken2880]

That's a milling machine, not a lathe.

[@Walker_Texas_Danger]

hahaha what sorta loser does timestamps still??? hahha

[@AkiUwUx3]

you also forgot 5:59 b u c k e t

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

To avoid the clamp spreading out on you bandsaw use a machinist jack (effectively a bolt and threaded tube sometimes with a lock nut/setscrew) at the other end of the jaw set to be about the same thickness as the part you wish to clamp - then the jaw can't spread and you will get good clamping pressure. If you build one bespoke for the saw you can make it so at least one side of the jack hooks onto the jaws to make it easier to set. You may also want to create some extra jaws from cheap plate material that can be bolted on so that the bandsaw blade will actually have no or very very minimal clearance too. As when your gripping really small chucks that gets you the maximum area being gripped you can possible have, and those same bolt on jaws might also get a deliberate v (or any other shape) milled in them if you want to grip a weirder shape in the future without harming the vice (say you made a pentagonal or triangular bar of Damascus for some reason - cut a groove one side of the add on jaws so the clamping pressure doesn't roll the point over and you still get a good grip).

[@sionsoschwalts2762]

Yes! More delicious titanium Damascus!

[@Volt64bolt]

Yes it looks so tasty

[@stratos_chrys]

11:30 As a metallurgy-materials science major, this part just makes me happy, keep up the amazing work

[@jdciii6342]

Hey Alec, my name is John and my buddies and i run a small performance diesel parts business called Ohio Diesel Parts, where manufacturing is done in house. We use our Haas CNC mill and band saws to work stainless & aluminum stock all day, we have a similar issue with our band saw jaws but have used a simple solution that has saved us so much time. We use two steel plates (longer length than the jaws) to butt up to (or close to) the band saw blade, then we cut a scrap sliver of stock and use it as a spacer on the far end of the jaws away from the blade but between the steel plate extenders so equal pressure is kept on both sides not leading to the jaws pivoting. Its an incredibly simple solution but has worked very well for us!

[@martyh9309]

Next up... Alec tries Explosive bonding. It is a solid state welding process. In the case of explosive bonding, two different metals are forced together under high pressure (using controlled explosive energy). This explosive welding process takes so long that the reaction zone between the two metals is microscopic. This was used to create metals for the SR-71 back in the day.

[@AndrewClewett]

the fact he's liked this is both exciting and worrying 🤣

[@aaryansharma9720]

This is one of the best series of youtube

[@artemisargent8623]

Tool and die maker here, You can rotate the inserts so the chipped areas arent in the cutting area. You dont need to replace them as soon as they chip. If they split or majorly chip, then replace them, but round inserts can be rotated many times before replacing and are generally stronger than other insert shapes.

[@jm_mort]

Dang, it's not too often I leave comments on yt videos but that etch looked phenomenal, can't wait to see all of what you do in future with titanium.

[@PlasmaFuzer]

That final result is absolutely incredible. The anodizing worked perfectly.

[@goriup]

This really felt like an Alec, pre Montana episode. I don't mean that as a step backwards but a warm and fuzzy nostalgia of OG Alec episode style/topic/learning

[@ThylineTheGay]

9:46 i see your packaging shredders are hard at work :P

[@ThePps646]

Harry Potter and the titanium Damascus

[@foxrazu]

Good one

[@owenschulz9504]

15:16 can’t wait for kids to hear this in schools in 20-50 years

[@hugoirving-hyman3658]

Can’t be the only who loves just how clearly the layered patterns come through during forging in the mosaic stage

[@MrTimelessWinter]

So glad you took the FSWizard into use. Hope it helped alot, and will do in the future to get into the right ballpark of speeds and feeds

[@DS_2627]

you should sell merch with the patterns and design you creat. i'd love to see that damascus titanium pattern on clothings

[@LordDragox412]

@@BloopTube "Tie-die" titanium chain mail >:P

[@squishyflac]

I'm so glad the patent died out, I was waiting for you to do this for a while

[@felipecastanho7525]

Alec, Love your videos!!! Hello from Brazil!!!

[@Thaylien]

14:23 That glamour shot... actually made me whistle in appreciation.

[@orphax1925]

17:00 if my understanding is correct the color is not voltage dependant but only "time in the bath with electricity" dependant, the voltage only reduces the time necessary to get to X said color

[@hammerth1421]

It's kinda both. It needs some time to react, but what you're building there with the oxide essentially is a capacitor of increasing breakdown voltage. Eventually, the oxide layer gets so thick that then voltage needed to anodize it any further is larger than the voltage drop across the given thickness of oxide, so current stops flowing and no more oxide is formed. It's really cool because you can get pretty consistent colours by dialing in the voltage to certain values.

[@ViktorCZ42]

2:47 just throw it, dont make me wait

[@IanZainea1990]

Lol yep. But I don't think he would enjoy chewing on that! Haha

[@zin6749]

Try tungsten next

[@triplestangman]

Unfortunately tungsten can only be sintered....he could forge a die and try pressing a shape....I'd watch

[@Doc.Shazam]

Been watching this guy since I started med school, now I'm a doctor and I still watch him even though I don't understand anything, still lovely watching his videos

[@Capo4242]

I was an mechanical engineer apprentice 30 Years ago. Milling, hardening, tuning... all the Fun stuff. So i love your videos. But what i can most relate was the bit where you had to clean the cooling of the milling machine. I had to do that about 3 times (in 5 years) while we where restoring old milling machines. Further most, i cracked the Bucket (more or less) the same way! I had more Flashbacks then you can think of!!

[@tkgus2408]

You're going to have to officially change your name to Alec Titanium

[@tturi2]

actually a great promotion 😂

[@tturi2]

just wait till he's Platinum 2 😂

[@cannonbyrd6265]

Gotta say Alec, I really feel like you’re coming into your golden era of content. I didn’t know it could get better, but the Walter White-esque flavor that the application of published research papers to your processes really brings it all together. I appreciate how much it enables you to do and explore, but it also really electrifies your content with it’s addition to your good nature, humor, and colorful personality. Personally, I very much enjoy the inclusion of educational information and I can appreciate how you communicate it in a way that the laymen like myself can understand! If I may speak for the community of your subscribers, we’re all chuffed to bits and celebrate your success. Keep it up chap, see you at the next one!

[@guillaumejoop6437]

With all the tools you're investing in, maybe offering some custom titanium forging on etsy would be a cool idea. If not to recoupe the cost, just to offer a service that would otherwise be unattainable to the common folks

[@Sausketo]

14:00 i ran into this exact problem when i took a welding class, what you need to do is have a cutoff piece of the same width on the other side of the pivot, if you have a set of adjustable machinist parallels that would work perfect for varrying thicknesses of material

[@0num4]

Alec, you've come a very long way as a smith and an entertainer within the last decade or so. I'm proud of you and your never-ending curiosity and your audacity to try new things. Keep it up!

[@pulchravitaeest]

I freaking love your vids, especially this series. The following is a very general complaint lol Every maker video I watch: vid= 20+ min. Close-up footage of finished product: 10 seconds over 4 cuts. Guys, can I, uh, see the thing? Can you point out interesting things on the thing without warping the footage in some cheeky way? I wanna see the thingggggg

[@AlecSteele]

Great feedback thank you!

[@mitonera]

my friends father was doing the same thing you are doing with just gold for rings but like this one it was expensive and took a lot of time. just keep going on what you are doing and you will be probably one of the rarest crafter in the world (sorry for my bad english)

[@Walking_Adventures691]

This is getting more and more interesting as you progress. Must admit, kind of inspiring how in the first video, it seemed everything was going wrong, but you pushed through, and have made a MASSIVE success out of this series!

[@ltpinecone]

"Would you believe it? Science works!" should be on a T-Shirt. Awesome work as always. Very much enjoying this project!

[@adamhollins]

A suggestion for your workholding method on your saw, a very quick ‘modular’ and secure enough way of holding materials in a saw is to first cut a piece of the workpiece and place at the back end of the jaw so the packing size is exact (or use nut and bolt and unscrew to adjust to the material size to make the jaws parallel). This will ensure your material stays put, however gripping on hardly any material will require you to extend the jaws, the closer to the saw blade the better (I do like your milled fixture but it takes too long to make and only good for material that exact size unless re machined) To extend the jaws is a simple process, you need 2 pieces of steel (I use milling clamps) place them in the saws jaws and place the offcut or nut and bolt at the back of the milling clamps (same width as the material) also add packing to the rear of the vice to keep everything nice and square and that will be secure enough to hold most workpieces (except round bar that is more than double the height of the saws jaws(however you can cheat and angle the clamps but this loses rigidity in the clamping(it is best to have the clamps sat flat on the bed but hovering is okay if it’s in the centre of the billet)) and should take less than 5 minutes to set up.

[@julianheninger1174]

I always appreciate your “get ‘er done” attitude when it comes to things like cleaning the sludge out of a coolant slop so you can move on with the project. Easy to watch the timelapse, but always impressed with your positivity as you forge on forward!

[@snowpython]

I worked at a titanium plant as an IT admin where they took titanium chloride and turned it into titanium sponge. It was ATI metals. Coolest plant to see. The guys there knew a lot of the nuance of working with titanium. You couldn't even go on site with a ball point pen because they use titanium in planes. It's a crazy story

[@rossmonasweebro]

This is my jam. Intelligent people being passionate about stuff I barely understand and would have no desire to ever try to acheive that level of mastery. It's like watching magicians at work 😊

[@MickeyKraut419]

That turned out gorgeous. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[@Yupppi]

You rarely see as happy of a man than here when the struggles have been overcome, the tools work great and everything's nice and dandy. Also I study mechanical engineering and get a huge kick out of this series. I discussed this with my materials professor last week because it was so interesting.

[@WilliamsDanielJames]

Hi Alec, Your clamp problem made me think of two sliding angles/wedges with a channel parallell to the hypotenuse/long face. Slots cut through the long face so you can pass through bolts and clamp the wedges together at different heights. I remember a YT creating something like this but can't find the video after some searching. Would still need something to hold the wedges in place at the opposite end of the vice as you clamped down on the part. And extra idea is to have the wedges form a dovetail so they can only move along the hypotenuse plane. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with Dan

[@RobFeldbauer-qt3bm]

My dad works at a steel mill. He got so excited when I mentioned 64 for the titanium number. He is always surprised when rolling the metals, that they start being bendable at 1700° or so degrees which isn't that high for melted steel at his steel mill. They have contracts to make the metal for Boeing and Mercedes and Nasa sometimes. Always loved watching the metal being moved by the huge transporter! :-)

[@Gogsnik]

I can actually feel Alec's enthusiasm for the upcoming projects, this is legitimately awesome!! :D

[@davel9130]

A joy to watch. The only thing missing to my mind was a properly timed "BANG!"

[@DuckDodgers2350]

For the band saw, recommend finding a piece the same width as the piece your cutting minus a few thousandths of an inch, place it on the other end of the vice and it will allow you to squeeze the piece tightly.

[@Rooftopmatty]

What you’re explaining is waaaaaay to smart for me to understand but love watching the process of what you do, very impressive work can’t wait to see what else you have planned for the titanium

[@Seraph318]

Bro that final shot of the explosion pattern on the anodized titanium was freaking epic! Never seen anything like it, so stoked to see everything else you decide to do with Titanium!

[@RyanHill-tg1wz]

You might be able to find a water jet to rent somewhere, it's expensive, but would drastically cut down on wastes. It would help a lot for cutting the center out of a ring, as you could use the resulting disk for something else. I've been watching your content for a long time, and I really appreciate your work! You have inspired me, and I now have a forge and anvil as a 14 year old.

[@josephdenford]

Your videos just keep getting better, and the fact you still put out regular videos is an added bonus

[@skull277]

As someone who’s always been intrigued with and wanting to learn forging and blacksmithing, seeing an expert like Alec learning all about this new idea and finding out new ways and methods is so cool! I’m hooked on this little series with this metal because the results are just beautiful

[@alexbotner4656]

You can also rotate your circular inserts to expose a new cutting face to save $$$ and reuse the insert. That is why they are made with the continuous cutting edge all around

[@HarunAlHaschisch]

i like how its immediately notecieable when jamie isn't there because you get stuff like the out of focus low angle wide shot like in 02:48 lol; jamie does an amazing job is what I'm trying to say :D

[@beemerwt4185]

Just wanna say I'm so glad you're finally doing this. I remember years ago you mentioned it but didn't get anywhere, which you also went over in part 1, but here we are and I'm so excited!

[@ergodzfatal4780]

Loving the videos as an manufacturing engineer i suggest taking the first cut you take off the piece and putting that at the back of the band saw clamp that way you have the same size on both sides and it should be able to hold it just fine hope this helps

[@Mike-hp7lv]

Honestly I have always wanted to see this exactly, so this titanium forging series is genuinely exciting

[@lucasmarti6652]

Hi! I did a apprenticeship as precision mechanics and it is so good to see nice cuts on this beauty ! Find yourself and nice cutting speeds diagram/table and you'll reach these nice surfaces almost every time on various material. Thanks for the videos!

[@robijakus6860]

i cannot fathom why these videos don't have millions of views yet and i don't even necessarily like your person all that much Alec however i admire your work with immense astonishment

[@thedarkknight1971]

TITANIUM CROWBAR! I know there are mirror Chrome long crowbars, but man, imagine opening a crate with a rainbow coloured crowbar!!! 🤔😏🤣🤣