Holly Gage is a Contemporary Jewelry Artist, Precious Metal Clay Master, Author, Speaker​, Jewelry Instructor and Mentor Offering Live Interactive Workshops Online and Onsite.

I use a lot of sculptural rainbow titanium in my work and sometimes I get these massive pieces that I need to cut into smaller pieces which could be done with a diamond saw blade. I inherited a band saw for cutting stained glass which has a diamond blade, and so I was wonder if I could use it to cut the titanium without ruining it. I have no intention on using it for glass, so that is not an issue. Your input would be so appreciated.

Abrasive diamond saws are typically a poor choice for cutting metal due to slow metal removal rates but it will work. Titanium and its alloys can typically be cut with standard metal working tools (like a jewelers saw). They wear out the cutting edges faster many than typical jewelry metals but as long as the tools are kept well lubricated and sharp they will cut titanium much faster and more cheaply than diamond abrasives.

As far as the saw goes, I was told diamond abrasives were the best because of the hardness and the thickness (1/4 to 1/2" thick), but maybe a jeweler’s saw would be worth a try. What kind of lubrication are you using for a regular saw? Does anyone have any suggestions on a jeweler’s band saw blade manufacturer that may have a blade to fit the machine I have?

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Holly Gage is a Contemporary Jewelry Artist, Precious Metal Clay Master, Author, Speaker​, Jewelry Instructor and Mentor Offering Live Interactive Workshops Online and Onsite.

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I was using a modified bandsaw to cut other materials-- my supply off narrow fine blades dried up so I searched all over I finally found some in Switzerland :

I have cut up a lot of thin,less than 1mm,titanium sheet in my time. It does shear very well, in fact I bought a guillotine when the engineering firm I used to go to damaged the blades on their big guillotine. So find a company with one and ask to use it. On the same subject I saw a company in the UK yesterday who laser cut shapes out of titanium sheet. You can get very fine details done and not too expensive for a moderate quantity.

Hey, I have been on vacation and not following this thread, but I looked on your web site at the piece you pictured. That is definitively “splash”. It is found on the floor in titanium mills. It is heavily oxygenated, brittle and hard. I have a piece somewhere. Do you have a regular source for it? I guess I would go at it with stone cutting tools. They are cheap and readily available. You might find a lapidary shop to give it a try. Bill

Holly Gage is a Contemporary Jewelry Artist, Precious Metal Clay Master, Author, Speaker​, Jewelry Instructor and Mentor Offering Live Interactive Workshops Online and Onsite.

Titanium is tough to cut but not all that hard, even aerospace grades like 21S or Al6V4 are just not hard enough to need diamond tools. It is nowhere near as difficult to cut as most tool steels or nickel alloys. I would much rather cut titanium than even most stainless steels. The bigest problem is keeping the blade and work cool as titanium is a very poor thermal conductor and the heat from cutting is not carried away from the cut by the bulk metal. This overheats the cutting tool and causes it to lose its temper and it ceases to cut.

On 1/4 to 1/2 " material a standard band saw with a bi-metal or cobalt steel blade with something between 10 and 14 teeth per inch will will work fine. You will want a coolant pump and a soluble oil and water based lubricant like Rel-Saw semi-synthetic coolant to keep the cutting area and blade cool. You would need similar coolant for a diamond blade as well. I think you will find that the band saw will cut much faster than the diamond abrasive saw.

I did however try the diamond blade which worked fine. It was hard to tell if it was slower than other blades since I have no comparison, but it seemed to go fairly quickly. My biggest challenge now is fitting the titanium under the clearance of the blade guides and the guiding plate. If anyone is interested in seeing the type of titanium I am working with stop by my site. It’s really different, very sparkly and fun to work with.

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I also did some digging and found out the “best” way to cut it is using a carbide tipped saw for metal (not wood). This advise was given to me by people that deal with Ti all the time and cut the sculptural crystalline, metallic, and satin-matte titanium that I use.

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As a data point, I’ve been cutting titanium with standard High Speed Steel endmills with great result, machining out shapes from sheet stock. An old machinist friend feels that people fear working with titanium, when it isn’t that difficult in practice. So I’d just use a jewelers saw, or shear to cut your sheet.

Holly Gage is a Contemporary Jewelry Artist, Precious Metal Clay Master, Author, Speaker​, Jewelry Instructor and Mentor Offering Live Interactive Workshops Online and Onsite.

Tim, also thanks for your suggestion. The guillotine idea sounds interesting, but since I want to do curved lines and I am not working with sheet metal, I wonder if that would work. All ideas are worth investing though, so thanks.

The saw is a Diamond Laser 1000S. The existing blade is definitely used and I might need another one soon if not now. I guess I can get a new one from the company that makes the machine if I can find them – dealing with the machine itself will be trial and error Thanks for the link to the additive!!

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Reactive Metals Studio. Over 40 years of experience selling unique materials for jewelry and art industry. Niobium, Titanium, Mokume Gane, Shakudo, Shibuichi, Rokusho

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When I say a massive piece of titanium, I’m not talking sheet metal, I’m talking about sculptural free formed rainbow titanium. Commercially, you probably have not seen it before, but I have some pictures on my site. Most pieces are small, but some pieces are not “jeweler” sized and they can be anywhere from a 1/4" thick to an 1" thick and that is why I want to cut it more easily.