Originally Posted by
Deademeat
I really like the idea of anodizing my own designs onto a titanium frame, but I would really like not to destroy a frame I care about perfecting this particular skill. Any clever ideas on where I could find an old titanium frame to practice on? I want to try my hand at stripping and brushing/polishing too, which is why I need an actual frame with some decals on rather than just some scrap titanium pieces. I'd rather not spend a fortune on this (I think around $100 would be my limit), but since it could be crashed and busted to heck for all I care I'm hoping that would bring the price down. ....
I sympathize fully with your desire to make stuff--but with anything made from Titanium, there is no cheap way.
It costs ~12-14X as much as steel or aluminum does and it is just as recyclable as aluminum, if a person knows where to take it. Any custom frame makers aren't likely to part with any totaled frames, or scraps either.
Contacting riding clubs and offering to buy any trashed frames or forks is probably your best bet.
Or you could reconsider just using scrap pieces--but they will not be cheap either. And you will need to find someplace local to get them, as the mail-order places all charge well for cutting & shipping. Look in your local phone book for "metals suppliers".
A while back I bought a [
scrap] piece .750" diameter x .029" wall thickness, and about 3.5 feet long. The local metals place I go to charged me $65 for it. A "new" piece would have been ~$100.
A third option might be testing anodizing on titanium foil. You could tape it (or somehow stick it?) around an aluminum tube to hold it in a curved surface shape. This would give you the most play-area for the money.
(...I dunno much about Ti really--just it's expen$$$ive, it's d4mn difficult to machine and it must be plasma-cut and tig welded...)