painting titanium

Bob,
For some reason I assumed a pot. The suggestion remains, food-safe or not.
Dave

Bob, what method have you decided on :-)

I had to go with what I could procure locally.

I sanded the metal finish a little, then sprayed self etching primer. That is drying now. Later, I will apply some International Orange spray paint on some surfaces and some Glow-In-The-Dark spray paint on other surfaces. Then I will put a Clear Coat on top.

Now I need to go out and buy stock in the Rust-Oleum Company.

–B.G.–

Titanium has great strength to weight ratios, but isn't very hard. The highest grade Ti alloys only reach the mid 40's on the Rockwell C hardness scale and Grade 5 alloy is only 36. For comparison, a Swiss Army knife blade is 55-56. Emery cloth or even the commercial grade 3M green sanding pads will scuff the metal.

I just got a Ti fry pan in terrible condition and was able to buff the metal using rouges designed for stainless steel. A steel utensil will readily scratch it.

If you are trying to paint Ti stakes, I would investigate a light bead blasting. Your local automotive machine shop could probably do that in minutes, so the labor shouldn't be expensive.

I agree on the need for painting Ti. Likewise with painted stainless steel water bottles— they make me crazy.. It adds nothing but color and I like the bare metallic color. I do subscribe to that design principle of being true to the materials: for example, plastic should look like plastic, not wood or stone, etc.

Alternate :

Small length of heat shrink tubing…

So Bob, will you be revealing what item(s) you've painted? The suspense is killing me…

No titaniums were harmed in this process.

–B.G.–

> Small length of heat shrink tubing…
Nope. Really unsuccessful. I tried it.

What happens is that the dirt catches on the heatshrink as you poke the Ti wire into the cround, and pushs it up the Ti wire. Eventually it pushes off the end. Pity.

Cheers

Also, if you use the heat shrink on the hook, it'll rip when you use a rock to smash it into hard/rocky dirt.

Well I thought it was a brillant idea. This violet color caught my eye at the time. Anyone in the market for 1/8" violet shrink tube?

> if you use the heat shrink on the hook, it'll rip when you use a rock to smash it
> into hard/rocky dirt
Yeah – I forgot about that. It did.

Cheers

I've switched to MSR Groundhogs, problem solved.

Real nice there Ken :(

Hi Don

Nice colour. Maybe you could put a short bit on the tip of the hook anyhow? The bit that does not go in the ground and does not get hammered.

Cheers

To paint titanium you need to remove the oxide layer for the paint to properly stick. The cheapest way to do this is get some goo off rust remover from your local grocery or hardware store. It has Oxalic Acid and Hydrofluoric Acid. This will properly etch the surface. Spray or dip the area you want to paint and then paint with something like a gloss rustoleum rattle can in the super bright color of your choice. This is going to be give you the best coating for the cheapest. Good Luck!

Titanium ALWAYS has a surface film of "oxidation." It reacts with nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. This happens immediately, upon exposure to air, like aluminum. I believe that you can use a standard metal primer that will etch through the "oxide" coating and sticks directly to the metal, then you can paint with your color/paint of choice. This is a common problem with many metals.

Make sure you get one that says suitable for aluminum. Generally this will be a spray type, the "red" or "grey" primer for body work and non-latex. Normal sanding to supply tooth does not work by itself.

" "Why would you want to paint titanium?" To make it a different color."

Why do you want to make it a different color ?

Seriously though, I'm dying …

1. So stakes are harder to loose ?

2. So bottom of cookpot will absorb heat of flame more efficiently ?

3. So it'll look purdier ?