Machining Some Titanium Heat Exchangers

In this video I machine some Titanium heat exchangers (or maybe microfluidics mixers?). I learned a lot of lessons about the super glue and tape method during this little project, and I look forward to using the process on future projects.
After some experimentation after this video, I found a much better glue: amzn.to/3U8qqAQ
Coolant Proof Tape: amzn.to/49LTbch
Tools:
Torque Wrench Adapter ER40: amzn.to/3SOx9Af
Allen Wrench Set: amzn.to/3KeFYg4
Pliers Wrench: amzn.to/3G0eqKl
Tumbler: amzn.to/3tMKlsU
Air Compressor: amzn.to/3ilQSUY
Blast Cabinet: amzn.to/37yYlOk
Blasting Grit: amzn.to/3iiPpi7
Rapid Air System: amzn.to/3uatCiq
Camera: amzn.to/3qjtSdJ

[@SKYWURX]

Something I found back when I used to machine parts out of very thin sheet is that facing on both sides to remove the 'skin' of the material can help release stress close to the surface of the material caused during the rolling process. I may be wrong about the cause, but I always found that taking 10-20% off each side first helped to keep things a little more flat when getting to the real machining operations.

[@AudacityMicro]

That absolutely make sense!

[@AlitaGunm99]

I second this. Any cold rolled material, or plastics, you have to put the part in the middle of the stock to keep it flat.

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

Yeah most rolled things will have a surface work hardening or a crust from pouring and cooling (even has a name in hungarian, kéregöntvény translating to crusted casting as a surface treatment option). Parts can bow a LOT when you take one side off. People making cast iron straight edges in the shop always seem to struggle with this because the more crust you take off the more it bows and it just never. fucking. ends.

[@JaakkoF]

Yup, skim one side, flip, skim the other side, flip and skim the first side one last time to get nearly dead flat. Of course the best option is stress relieving as a heat treatment, but not all materials are suitable for it.

[@th600mike3]

Really important that you have the right feed speed, tooling etc, but yes when correctly surface finished, a lot of alloys can significantly pick up strength. Similar to how precision grinding low alloy shafts can improve torsional strength 10-20%. That being said, unless you are buying precision ground billets, or buying direct from the manufacturer (not a distributor for carpenter etc) with data sheets to verify how they’ve been handled/stored etc, you should always parallel face your parts at the beginning. Even just from the perspective of a last minute double check to ensure you got what you paid for/loaded up the right tools/stock.

[@geneard639]

1. All aluminum forms a layer of aluminum oxide, and if you look at it under an electron microscope and compare it to other medals its very... 'lumpy' compared to steel, or other medals. 2. I'm retired military and part of my many jobs was Logistics. It is simply cheaper to buy Super Glues, Accelerators, and related tools like application tips and specialty non-stick spatulas in bulk lots... but with the size of your shop? Buy 6 bottles of Super Glue, set up a 'hi/lo' of 6/2, put 1 on the counter, 3 on a readily accessible shelf, and 2 put some red tape on the bottles and put them behind the other 3. I usually made stuff like that a tray with a separate bit for the '2 reserve units'. Once you use 4 units, you get to those 2 with the red tape on them and you know "oh, time to order more Super Glue" and that is how you save time from running around an hour before the store closes, save money because you are not driving when you could be making money and .... well... I think if you bulk order it direct from the manufacturer you can get a 10% discount, but never order more than 2 years worth because that is about the shelf life of Super Glue, stick with 1oz-2oz bottles to prevent wastage. Also, go look for Super Glue at Hobby Store sites they have the best Super Glues and it comes in more than one 'vanilla flavor' and I'm pretty sure 'Gap Filling' would work best on aluminum.

[@AudacityMicro]

yeah, I am embarrassed I ran out there. I have a lot of other things on a Kanban style system, but I didn't use the glue enough in the past to bother there. I guess I'll use this as a kick in the pants to get my act together.

[@jaro6985]

Yeah was going to say the same about the super glue, you can buy 20g bottles of loctite 401 or 406 (or knockoff equivalent) for not too much. The cap design is good IMO and lasts quite a while. Usually any other style of containers the glue dries out long before I can use it. Good video.

[@AudacityMicro]

I'm working on a video that shows my updated process now. After I finished recording this, I went on a deep dive, and learned a lot about the process, and I'm getting much better results now. Maybe I should add a kanban into that video 😂.

[@robthatguyx]

You can use ipad/tablet screen protectors on your enclosures windows on the inside to keep it easier to see. The protectors are hydrophobic so the water beads much cleaner and rolls down easier.

[@AudacityMicro]

I've heard about that trick! Part of my problem is that my windows are already in such bad shape, that anything I do would just be lipstick on a pig. I need to start by replacing the whole thing first.

[@geroldminhofer3295]

Greetings from Austria 🇦🇹. Found your channel and looked on your subscriber count and was like 😮 … you don’t have hundreds of thousands of subscribers? You are making great engineering content.

[@AudacityMicro]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying!

[@sydnerd]

@@AudacityMicro lol another Austrian that just subscribed :D

[@AudacityMicro]

🙂

[@Monoryable]

I would think the low subscriber count is not for long for how good the videos are 😊

[@christiantaylor5363]

If you have an arbor or hydraulic press you can always try pressing them flat. I've never done it to Gr. 5, but used to run some production 7075 parts that had the same issue and we included a pressing Op to solve the problem.

[@2xKTfc]

14:22 forbidden cookie! 😅

[@AudacityMicro]

😂

[@gulch1969]

At 3:55 you say you don't have a good way to measure flatness. Put the lapped side down on 3 equal gage blocks or 3 equal points and use an indicator to measure the underside to see if it reads the same all around.

[@AudacityMicro]

Good to know! Thanks!

[@gulch1969]

@@AudacityMicro You're welcome.

[@_GOD_HAND_]

You are 100% right about tape not sticking very well to aluminum vs other metals. That's also been my experience.

[@AudacityMicro]

I recorded this video a few weeks ago. After further experimentation, I've found that using the black loctite super glue directly on aluminum works MUCH better.

[@_GOD_HAND_]

@@AudacityMicro Cool, thanks for the tip. Also fyi I think you found a great niche with your channel. The fact that you make complicated parts with basic tooling and DIY setups makes it easy to understand the process.

[@dekutree64]

@@AudacityMicro Excellent, I'll give that a try. I've given up on tape and superglue after too many failures. How do you detach the part from the plate and remove the glue residue afterward?

[@AudacityMicro]

I'm literally recording a video on that right now. It'll have my full updated procedure with my lessons learned

[@AudacityMicro]

But to detach, use heat and/or acetone. I normally start with acetone, if that doesn't work, I heat it up, until I can get a prybar under the corner. Once a corner is lifted, the acetone will have better access to the glue.

[@dbkarmann1]

I love watching your solutions to fixturing and locating parts.

[@AudacityMicro]

That's always the hard part 😅

[@dbkarmann1]

@@AudacityMicro Definitely, but you make it look easy lol

[@AudacityMicro]

Editing 😁

[@unpopular_mechanics]

I am glad to see you got the probe.

[@AudacityMicro]

It's been a HUGE upgrade! I was a little hesitant because I struggled with the Tormach probe so much. But the Renishaw probe has just been awesome out of the box.

[@blitz355]

Thanks for sharing your experience and thought process along the way

[@randomconstructions4513]

you can look up 'surface energy' or 'surface free energy' if you're curious about how adhesives interact with materials

[@AudacityMicro]

Good to know! Thanks!

[@rexmundi8154]

I use superglue and blue painter’s tape almost exclusively on a fixture plate holding aluminum, peek plastic, delrin, and HDPE. I don’t use flood coolant at all because of cross contamination. My workholding failure rate is effectively zero. For larger chunks of aluminum, say you have a contact area larger than a pack of playing cards, I have to be careful not to knock my vise out of tram separating it from the plate. My plate doesn’t have all those holes and channels cut in it. Where my plates get a little squirrelly is on very long runs, oil from my MQL seeps in from the edges and softens the bond resulting in a slight bit of material lift. If that’s gonna be a problem, I do the profile cut first, clean the area, and brush the perimeter down with an oil based varnish. I think coolant got under the tape and weakened the bond in your case. I’ve started playing with cryogenic cooling in my very limited free time and I hope to go totally oil free soon. By oil I mean Canola oil.

[@rexmundi8154]

I think the original thinking about the slots / holes in the glue plates was it gives the uneven glue somewhere to escape into and a pathway for air so it dries. But I don’t think that any of that is necessary. I put glue on the tape that is on the material then put the material down quickly and seat it in what could be described as a lapping motion, just a quick figure 8. No accelerant. Then 10 min with a few 2-4-6 blocks on it and I’m good to go.

[@memejeff]

Very nice.

[@Renda238]

I know you work under time quite tight time constraints. For people who are learning it would be interesting to see your programming process.

[@AudacityMicro]

That is a good point. I've been meaning to show that more. Generally I have everything programmed in advance, so I don't think about it when I'm filming/actually making the part.

[@micahpaul20]

Thoughts on one of those vacuum suction fixtures to hold down parts?

[@AudacityMicro]

My only real thought is "super glue is cheaper". I don't have any experience with vacuum workholding, and therefore can't really give any thoughts on it. Seems like it would be a lot faster at very least

[@monsteraddict999]

Something you might want to invest in is a gopro, you could put it in the machine and get some awesome footage. We do that for advertising videos at the shop I work in.

[@AudacityMicro]

I have one 😬, it just makes editing videos surprisingly more complicated. And frankly I make money from machining, not from KZbin. My plan is to upgrade my main camera to one that I can put a longer lens on, then I can get better footage from outside.

[@monsteraddict999]

@@AudacityMicro That's an understandable upgrade. Either way, your videos are still going to be awesome. 😄

[@_GOD_HAND_]

There's an interesting product on the market used by chip foundries for fixturing silicon wafers that are too brittle to be pried up after milling. Its a double-sided tape that's extremely sticky when cool, but unsticks immediately when you blast it with a heat gun. I've always wanted to try it, but it's like $500 for a roll.

[@AudacityMicro]

that would be awesome!

[@2xKTfc]

Do you have a name for that super-sticky-tape? I have absolutely no use for it and don't have any business dropping $500 on a roll of tape but your comment made me REALLY curious to google it. And that's an amazing fun fact. Do you do work for chip industry suppliers or did you hear of that tape completely by chance?

[@_GOD_HAND_]

@@2xKTfc Search for Mitsui Chemicals thermal release tape on youtube. These days I'm a hobby machinist working on watch parts. I found this product because I was searching for a good way to fixture sub-mm stock for milling. I've worked previously developing printed semiconductors, so I had a hunch that the wafer fabs would have some novel approach to the problem.

[@_GOD_HAND_]

@@2xKTfc Look up Mistui Chemicals thermal release tape. For some reason my other comment was censored by the algorithm.

[@akselbering291]

Aluminum also develops a oxide layer, in fact so does stainless! Difference between them and steel is the oxide layer prevents further oxidation.

[@AudacityMicro]

Good to know! So does that mean stainless should be out for when I make a new fixture?

[@th600mike3]

I clicked on this because my acoustic brain got triggered by the idea of titanium being used for heat exchange 😂 Have you had any issues with f360 lagging/crashing on more complex parts? I built a hot rod of a pc and it still always gives me problems. To the point where I usually make several versions of a part just to optimize the rendering itself and prevent crashing. Or split one assembly into multiple parts. I probably should just start exporting things and reimporting them to get rid of feature history. But it overall really hurts my design flow

[@AudacityMicro]

To be fair, I have no idea what the part is for. I'm just guessing. Could be micro fluids mixer too. Or something I'm not even thinking of. Fusion definitely has some reliability issues. It's picky about hardware too. If you aren't on Intel/Nvidia, you are going to have issues. You also just kinda have to learn how to design things in a way that's lighter on fusions calculations. Keeping everything in one document instead of importing other files definitely helps.

[@JohnGrimsmo]

Great video bud! Super enjoyable to watch.

[@AudacityMicro]

Thanks John!

[@jbrownson]

Nice choice for the Timelapse music

[@AudacityMicro]

I figured I would try something new on this one 🙂

[@meddlingwithmetal7153]

I have had trouble removing parts off of the plate after machining without bending them slightly, how do you “pry” them off the fixture plate when done machining

[@AudacityMicro]

Checkout my most recent video, I go through the whole process in detail. But long story short, either a heat gun, or dropping the whole thing in acetone.

[@starky8833]

Amazing videos, keep em coming they make my launch break better ❤️

[@AudacityMicro]

thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying them!

[@rbum17]

Great video! I found you a few videos ago and have really enjoyed watching you make these pieces. I saw you add a note of why you did not film more for the machining. I wonder if you could apply a hydrophobic coating on a small area for the camera? If you are interested in including more time-lapse of course.

[@AudacityMicro]

That would certainly help. I need to replace the whole window soon. It's all kinds of beat up. The best thing would be some sort of air knife, and a camera with a longer lens.

[@Pgroenbech]

​@@AudacityMicro Or a Ship window: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooqkn4Kemrx7e6M

[@starbrightpools]

Love the video! That machine is turning out to be pretty awesome

[@AudacityMicro]

Thank you!

[@starbrightpools]

@@AudacityMicro You're welcome. I hope more success comes your way

[@davidburton3082]

What are your feeds and speeds for the 1/32 in ti?

[@AudacityMicro]

245 SFM, .00015 IPT. .01" DOC

[@davidburton3082]

@@AudacityMicro thank you!

[@ROBOROBOROBOROBO]

What type of tape is this? I would like to try for my PCB machining

[@ROBOROBOROBOROBO]

Sorry, I realized you even gave the link for it, thanks a lot :)

[@AudacityMicro]

🙂

[@Fed3d]

I think 4 bolts at corners is much better fixturing option.

[@AudacityMicro]

The middle bows up as you remove material off the top, making the middle too thin.

[@n8r8ts41]

Could you possibly fixture all 5 vertically and drill all 5 holes at once?

[@AudacityMicro]

You could potentially, sure. The issue you run into, is that if one thing goes wrong, you scrap all of your parts at the same time. When you do them one at a time, worst case scenario you only scrap a single one.

[@n8r8ts41]

@AudacityMicro that's what I thought. Too tough to see mistakes in such a short program. If you get a chance check out AVE, he made a cheap version of an air window for your CNC to help film machining passes without Coolant messing up your shot¹

[@n8r8ts41]

@@AudacityMicro kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX21YaCImraFfrssi=MRmHswlXDQrLGQci

[@bobbywright3479]

I think you should not use a plate with holes in it for a sub plate if you are using tape. I never had luck with coolant and tape. I made a roller that I put in the spindle and rolled it over the part when I used tape. And I always used alcohol on the material and the sub plate to get rid of any oils. Good luck

[@AudacityMicro]

So there is a long story here, which I'm working on making a whole video about. But you are 100% correct. That was a HUGE part of my issue with this method. As soon as I moved to a fresh fixture, without any holes, I never had any adhesion issues again, even with coolant.

[@swordfish2089]

Excellent job my man! Question I have for you. I actually just got a hass cm for my work shop here in Wisconsin. I am using it to make fishing lure molds for silicone soft plastic lures. I was wondering if you new a source for iso 20 toolholders? I have 10 but need more. I ordered from hass about 6 weeks ago but they are backordered again. Thanks from Steve in Wisconsin

[@AudacityMicro]

Unfortunately theres a few places to get them. In my experience, Haas is the best. They are decent quality, and cheap, especially if you grab them during a sale. Regofix has them, in both ER and PG. And Technicks has them. Both options are higher end, and will give you nicer holders, but both options are also more expensive.

[@rampage5275]

Unrelated but did you see the new Tormach 1500mx that was just released?! It looks pretty great.

[@AudacityMicro]

YES! it looks awesome! I've been meaning to do a video on it.

[@rampage5275]

@@AudacityMicro Sweet! I'll be looking forward to it.

[@Custly]

Comment for the algo, love the content

[@AudacityMicro]

🙂

[@alittle2fast785]

Do you accept outside orders?

[@AudacityMicro]

I would love some outside orders! If you have anything, send it to [e-mail] and I'll get you a quote.

[@sshep7119]

I am not sure if this was a xometry job or not, but if it was that explains the minimum wage paycheck. Dude you gotta get away from xometry, there is no money to be made off of xometry jobs. When you consider shop rate vs time spent compared to the pennies you get paid, it isn't worth it. Not many shops will take on this micro machining work, you have a niche here, capitalize on it. Xometry used to be a solution to down time, but now that xometry got flooded with "vendors" there is no way to make it work. When you get the finances, invest in an EDM wire. A Sodik, Chamille, or similar. Either way keep it up, you are doing great work. Impressive scale of parts, I don't know any other shop that would do the small stuff like you do.

[@AudacityMicro]

When it comes down to it, really what happened on this one is that I underestimated how long it was going to take me. Which, admittedly is a fairly regular occurrence. My actual time in the shop when the part was running was fairly limited, and I was able to work on other things in the background. But yes, I need to get away from xometry work in general. It's an easy time suck that is keeping me from taking the time to build up my local customer base. The opportunity cost there is definitely real.

[@cyber2526]

whats the yellow disc on ur tool probe?

[@AudacityMicro]

It's a ceramic pad. The previous owners of the machine added it, presumably to cover up some wear. It doesn't hurt anything, so I haven't bothered replacing it yet.

[@TeamStevers]

Why use titanium for a heat exchanger?

[@AudacityMicro]

Chemical resistance

[@Strothy2]

I had to machine 1.4301 sheets a lot, still gives me PTSD

[@AudacityMicro]

🙂

[@jgress898]

You need to get a spinning view port like AVE (channel)on KZbin .

[@AudacityMicro]

I really do! I've been wanting to make one. Or an air knife at a minimum.

[@andrewwaters2354]

That tape looks very much like composite release tape, used in fibreglassing work where you DONT want resin sticking to..

[@AudacityMicro]

It's powder coating tape. Probably isn't that different than what you are talking about, but it holds super glue well if you scuff up the surface. The glue against the tape is never my weak point, it's generally the tape against the part or fixture.

[@jeffwinkelman6574]

You're probably getting flex in the tape as you machine. Not the way I'd hold it down on a thin part. Just throw the ol 4 clamps around straight to a fixture plate

[@AudacityMicro]

With thin material that wants to warp like this you need clamping force in the center of the part, or the middle will flex upwards, blowing my tolerances.

[@jeffwinkelman6574]

@AudacityMicro yeah, I was thinking about that when writing. Gets you better but maybe not good enough. It would add quite a bit of time at a machine, but rough, grind, then finish on cnc can get you there. We do that very often.

[@carlhitchon1009]

You don't show your work pieces long enough to actually see them.

[@AudacityMicro]

Maybe 🤷‍♂️. The video is really about problem solving, the parts are just a side effect

[@stickyfox]

I mean, go make your paper, but running a machine shop at 50% profit margin is why machinists only make $23/hour in most of the USA. When that customer finds out where he can get the part made for $300 instead of $1500 he will vanish from the ecosystem forever.

[@AudacityMicro]

Are you saying that I should raise my prices? Or that I charged too much?

[@stickyfox]

@@AudacityMicro I dunno... work stagnated at my last shop because the machinists weren't getting anywhere and the company kept posting more profit. All our talented guys left. Maybe they started their own shops.. I hope so, because a lot of expertise left in just one year and it would be a shame to see them all start over with a competitor who'll do the same thing. I guess the inconsistency I see most is a guy who spends millions on high-output CNC machines, but then won't take small jobs because of the setup time; so a six-axis machine sits around for a week waiting for a 200-hour job instead of running five more two-hour jobs in the meantime. Or, they'll push a customer to make 200 of something when they only need 30, and Old Slappy could make it on the bridgeport before he leaves Friday afternoon. I guess I think you should keep making it work for you. It's a tough world out there.

[@AudacityMicro]

Business is tough, and most people don't understand it. Managers get too focused on stupid goals that don't mean anything, like "spindle utilization". And the guys on the shop floor don't understand how much it costs to run a machine shop besides materials and tooling. Profit isn't evil, if profit doesn't exist, jobs don't exist. But at the same time, if the company doesn't know how to treat its employees, then there is no company. A lot of shops are started by some machinist that doesn't understand business. He makes good parts, so his shop grows, then once he starts making serious money, he doesn't know how to handle running the business efficiently, so he covers his inexperience with more growth. Eventually he ends up with so much overhead, that it's unsustainable. He begins to look for ways to cut expenses, and payroll is the easiest thing to squeeze. It's something I see ALL THE TIME.

[@brocktechnology]

How did you ever get into this field? You don't really seam to know what your doing. there's a lot of talent there so your getting away with it but it really looks like your making it up as you go. I'd expect a guy with a 2000 sq. ft. shop with half a million dollars worth of gear in it to have all the answers for something like this.

[@AudacityMicro]

So there's a few interesting stories here. I'll start by saying, yes, I haven't been a jobshop for too long. I'm definitely still learning. I started out making products, basically that entire journey is documented on KZbin if you watch through my old videos. I transitioned to being a jobshop near the beginning of this year. The 2000sf shop is a pole barn on my property, so not exactly a stretch. And I maybe have 25K in equipment? Nowhere near half a million 🤣. My mill is the smallest Haas from 2005, even brand new it was probably only $65K. I had to take a loan to get it, and the loan was only for $14K. In terms of making it up as I go along? Sure, that's definitely at least a little true. But you only see one of every 10 projects I make. The easy boring ones don't make it to KZbin. Editing also plays a part in that, this channel isn't about machining, it's about problem solving. Which means I need to show problems, and how I work through them.

[@brocktechnology]

@@AudacityMicro it seems your pretty talented at equipment shopping as well. thankyou for taking the time to reply in such detail, that was unexpected.

[@jackkara91]

Dude, have you considered a different line of work? The reward here is not congruent with the level of effort. If you put this level of effort into being a plumber or HVAC or handyman, you would be a millionaire in a year or two and not have to wake up in the middle of the night to do machine tending.

[@AudacityMicro]

Eh, if I just wanted money, I would go back to being an engineer. *most* of my parts are both much simpler, and go much more smoothly. I didn't track my time on this one, and it probably wouldn't have been a great hourly rate, but I learned a lot about the super glue method. I've already used the lessons learned on a few other projects that went flawlessly. Basically what in trying to say, is I'm learning. I'm not a great machinist right now, but I'm getting better. My shop is growing by about 20% month over month right now. So maybe I'm not rich right now, but the pay ceiling in this line of work is much higher than even being an engineer. Someday I'll have a flock of robots making parts for me while I make up for some lost sleep 🙂

[@jackkara91]

@@AudacityMicro Obviously it's better than engineering because most jobs are better than engineering at this point. Of course you can make lots of money in machining, but that's not my point. I'm also a former engineer and started my own shop. I've been where you are trying to go and I can tell you that the view is not worth the climb.

[@AudacityMicro]

Honestly, that is BS. The climb is worth the climb. The view is a nice bonus, but if I didn't enjoy the work, I would have stuck with my nice cozy regular paycheck. Is machining going to make me a millionaire? probably not. I'm a much better engineer than machinist, but as a machinist I can stick a chunk of aluminum on a robot, while I go play with my kids. Sometimes I work late, but that is because I get to spend an inordinate amount of time doing what I want to do during the day.

[@ciderhat2760]

That's just owning a business 101. You gotta expect to work late hours and even weekends to keep it up and running.

[@growinglifeorganic940]

​@jackkara91 go take your bs somewhere else, dude is living his best life go rant to a wall.