Titanium rod for making grills

[Monte Masterson]

onlinemetals.com offers 3 grade choices:

1) 6AL-4V titanium round

2) 6AL- 4V ELI titanium round

3) Cp Grade 2 titanium round

Which is strongest in high temps? Is there another titanium alloy that’s stronger?

Which diameter would be best for light load applications (1 lb or less), .25″ or .3125″?

Is there a better place to buy Ti round rod?

Need help from the metallurgist and cookware geeks out there. Thanks

 

[Gary Dunckel]

Monte, maybe I can offer a few tidbits here. I make and sell several versions of a titanium grill. Since I make them all by hand and don’t do any welding of the metal, I need something that will bend fairly easily and won’t break like a paper clip would. I use .062″ diameter Type 2  rod, which easily supports a 1.0 pound load, providing you keep the grill away from the hottest part of the fire. When the grill gets hot enough to reach and pass the beta transus temperature (about 1700* F), it can sag (fairly dramatically if the fire is really hot). The Type 5 alloy (6Al-4V) will withstand the temperatures better, but not completely. However, a Type 5 (6/4) rod is a bitch to bend by hand, and it will snap easily when doing sharp bends.

Josh Leavitt of Ruta Locura has had good luck by spot pressure welding the cross braces to the frame. Standard argon welding requires you to do it in an oxygen-free environment, which is something I don’t figure you want to get into. I think he uses .125″ diameter Type 2 rod, and I don’t think you will need a rod diameter greater than that. However, if you plan to bend the cross pieces around the frame, you will really want to use a smaller diameter rod for that, like CP-2 .062″ or .075″. Heck, you could even use stainless steel rod for the cross pieces, as it wouldn’t be a whole lot heavier. For that matter, you might consider making the whole grill from smaller diameter SS. SS isn’t affected by high heat like titanium is.

Good luck with this venture, Monte. I went through a lot of “learning curve hoops” before I pretty much figured out how titanium works. But if you want to just buy off the shelf, you might consider my Mega Grill which is a regular .062″ grill, but which has removable stainless steel rods that insert into split rings along the sides of the grill to dramatically reduce the sag issue. They come in at 2.6 oz. complete, not too bad for a fully functioning grill. You can buy them on the QiWiz.net web site, or from me directly.

I am happy to help you in any way that I can. You may contact me directly at this e-mail address: drzooz(at)aol(dot) com

 

[Monte Masterson]

Thanks for the info Gary. I did read that the titanium can only be welded in an oxygen free environment. That’s beyond my abilities, lol!

I was going to build something kind of like Sulak46’s grill, but with round rod. Heck, I might just break down and buy one of yours instead. However I do want something with the cross beams close together so I can grill small pan fish fillets without the pieces falling through.

On another note, what do you think of the BTU per gram ratio of charcoal? What other fuel beside wood might work? Something that wouldn’t hurt for juices to fall on, and that wouldn’t  make a smelly mess to clean afterwards..Thanks..

[Author]

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