Drilling titanium

[Shewie]

I`ve gone all 21st Century and treated myself to some titanium goodies from Tamarack this afternoon I was kind of near to Manchester and couldn`t resist the urge to jump on the M61. Anyway, three hours later and nearly £200 lighter, I`ve got some titanium pots I want to drill to put bail arms in.

What`s the best way to drill two 3mm holes in a titanium billy. I don`t have a pillar drill just a hand held. I`ve done plenty of stainless by punching a hole then drilling out with normal metal bits. I don`t fancy whacking a hole in these so much as they`re only thin walled and will probably distort before letting a punch through.

Any advice on a good drill bit would be appreciated

Ta

 

[drewdunnrespect]

Rich

going to my Mechanical fitting days what i would is to buy a building site joiners bench and stick the pot over one end and drill down on to the bench thru the titanium. Bearing in mind if you do this you will need to clamp it on due to the shaking of drill. Secondly by a set of hard ground metal drilling drill bits. Another thing to remember is dont forget to hole punch were you want to drill before you drill our will loose your hole due to it not being a piller drill.

Please also remember that saftey is a must and goggles are a must when drilling cos i have seen a lad go blind because of not using goggles when drilling and it aint nice
I.E it would put an end to your camping and bushcrafting days

please also not having not been a fitter for three years an up todate expert might come along and tell you another safer metherd drew

 

[Treemonk]

rich, i drilled my MSR titanium set big pot to put a wire bail on it. Drilling was easy, much much easier than stainless. I just put a plank on a kitchen work surface and used the corner to work over. I lightly tapped with hammer and nail where i wanted the holes to get a small depression. Holes were put in with a hand drill drilling down into the plank.

 

[pwb]

Maybe Hoodoo could help Rich.
He made a smart looking billy out a titanium Snow Peak 900 pot by riveting a Swedish army cook-set bail onto it.
Personally I find stainless steel hard enough for me

Pete.

 

[Shewie]

Drilling was easy, much much easier than stainless.

Thanks for that Treemonk, I had presumed it would be harder for obvious reasons. In that case I`ll give it a bash over the weekend.

 

[Wayland]

I'd drop GrahamS a line.

He used to work with titanium a lot in the air force so if anyone knows, he's your man.

 

[Shewie]

I'd drop GrahamS a line.

He used to work with titanium a lot in the air force so if anyone knows, he's your man.

Cheers Wayland, will do

 

[Wink]

I've heard that Titanium has a habit of hardening up if you try and grind it or drill it too fast, resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Best to take it slow? Never tried myself though!

 

[BossCat]

I haven't tried drilling Titanium yet! but as we all no doubt know SS can be a pain. Over the past couple of weeks Iv'e been drilling a few SS tins. I found the best way is to start with a new drill and do it sloooow.
Others have suggested placing tin on the edge of a bench, I cut a block of wood that fitted inside my tin to stop it beveling when I used a center punch to notch the holes. I also wrapped some tape around the part that I was going to drill to stop the drill walking.

TC

 

[Shewie]

Just done it now, it only took a couple of minutes with the cordless B&D

 

[bikething]

Just done it now, it only took a couple of minutes with the cordless B&D

piccies???

 

[Treemonk]

hate to say I told you so - but I told you so!

Enjoy your new pots rich!

M

 

[Treemonk]

Piccies of kit - first packed up...

Next everything out - kettle/big mug, inner 700 ml pot and pot cozy, outer 1000 ml pot with wire bail, whitebox meths stove with windshields/ heat reflector

 

[Shewie]

piccies???

It feels a bit criminal putting a coat hanger bail arm on titanium but it does the job grand.

 

[bikething]

trying to post piccies

strangely I can see the pictures when i'm editing a post in the thread, but not in your post

EDIT: i see you've fixed it

 

[bikething]

It feels a bit criminal putting a coat hanger bail arm on titanium but it does the job grand.

Why does that lid remind me of a WW2 German helmet?

Is the bail arm permanently attached?

 

[Shewie]

Is the bail arm permanently attached?

No, I just turn the ends up inside the billy so it can`t slide off. It comes off easily enough though.

 

[saddle_tramp]

It feels a bit criminal putting a coat hanger bail arm on titanium but it does the job grand.

So long as it dont weigh much. . . Be criminal to fork out for an ultralight pot and then counter it with heavy bale