Titanium coloring....
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Joined: Mar 2008
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From: Northern NJ / Vacation on MARS
Titanium coloring....
So im on vacation and me and my son where extremely bored outta our minds when I had this great idea? How about turning my titanium NISM0 shift **** into colored titanium like my exhaust? Sounds cool but has the makings of an epic failure. So off we go removing the shift **** and getting the torch outta the truck. Basically this is what i did:
How to produce the oxide layer and get the colors:
Heat. Titanium eagerly grabs oxygen from the air, but the oxide layer blocks slow moving oxygen from the surface. So, torch the surface gently to give the atoms the boost they need to charge through the dielectric barrier to bond together and build a thicker layer. It's a bit hard to control, but you can easily get the first-order colors (bronze, blues, maybe yellow). Higher-temperature / longer-time colors are much harder to get and control with heat.
taken from a random google search, in other words heat the surface from a distance starting at the point you want to be blue then work away from that area pulling away from the flame as you move away from your starting point. The colors are blue purple yellow start to finish respectively. Be careful once the titanium piece has turned blue because after that it can start to destroy the metal. You can get some pinks n greens outta it but after that u scorch the hell outta it, no fears tho if u screw up jus sand the piece down and start over. Its jus the oxidized layer that ur sanding off and the titanium will be down to a bare piece in no time. For more appeal polish the piece to have a chrome like finish first then hit it wit the flame. I used a standard plumbers torch but u can get the cheapo set up wit propane tank from home depot. That will be sufficient. As for my shift **** I didnt remove the plastic insert first or the shift pattern label from the top. I heated it up until I could take the shift pattern piece off the top which is glued on. Then melted the hell outta the plastic inside. ( mine was already beat on the inside so replacing it was bound to happen.) Then heat it and watch the magic happen. Now one thing is sure be careful not to drop it cause I dropped mine and put a serious nick in the top, again no problem jus wet sand out and youll be alright.
How to produce the oxide layer and get the colors:
Heat. Titanium eagerly grabs oxygen from the air, but the oxide layer blocks slow moving oxygen from the surface. So, torch the surface gently to give the atoms the boost they need to charge through the dielectric barrier to bond together and build a thicker layer. It's a bit hard to control, but you can easily get the first-order colors (bronze, blues, maybe yellow). Higher-temperature / longer-time colors are much harder to get and control with heat.
taken from a random google search, in other words heat the surface from a distance starting at the point you want to be blue then work away from that area pulling away from the flame as you move away from your starting point. The colors are blue purple yellow start to finish respectively. Be careful once the titanium piece has turned blue because after that it can start to destroy the metal. You can get some pinks n greens outta it but after that u scorch the hell outta it, no fears tho if u screw up jus sand the piece down and start over. Its jus the oxidized layer that ur sanding off and the titanium will be down to a bare piece in no time. For more appeal polish the piece to have a chrome like finish first then hit it wit the flame. I used a standard plumbers torch but u can get the cheapo set up wit propane tank from home depot. That will be sufficient. As for my shift **** I didnt remove the plastic insert first or the shift pattern label from the top. I heated it up until I could take the shift pattern piece off the top which is glued on. Then melted the hell outta the plastic inside. ( mine was already beat on the inside so replacing it was bound to happen.) Then heat it and watch the magic happen. Now one thing is sure be careful not to drop it cause I dropped mine and put a serious nick in the top, again no problem jus wet sand out and youll be alright.
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,876
Likes: 2
From: Northern NJ / Vacation on MARS
Continuation
So heres the finished product but first some things had to be done about the melted plastic piece that threads it on to the shift lever so enter trusty JB weld epoxy.
Mix a large amount so u can fill the bottom of the shift **** use more hardener than the actual resin because IMO it hardens faster. Then tape off the piece so not to make a mess. Fill the hole and let dry. Drill out center with a smaller bit then ur shift lever so u can thread the **** on later. Now if someone knows where to get a replacement piece for the inside of the **** please feel free to post. I did mine the In a hurry way and made mistakes to show that things r forgiving and DIY can and should always be tackled no matter how unskilled a person is. If you fack it jus buy a new one... Thanks hope this was helpful, and BTW I searched the site and didnt find any one posting this. GL...
Mix a large amount so u can fill the bottom of the shift **** use more hardener than the actual resin because IMO it hardens faster. Then tape off the piece so not to make a mess. Fill the hole and let dry. Drill out center with a smaller bit then ur shift lever so u can thread the **** on later. Now if someone knows where to get a replacement piece for the inside of the **** please feel free to post. I did mine the In a hurry way and made mistakes to show that things r forgiving and DIY can and should always be tackled no matter how unskilled a person is. If you fack it jus buy a new one... Thanks hope this was helpful, and BTW I searched the site and didnt find any one posting this. GL...
Last edited by 350zion; Jul 28, 2010 at 08:24 PM.
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Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,876
Likes: 2
From: Northern NJ / Vacation on MARS
Thanks all. Me and the boy were extremely bored I however took great pleasure in doin this my son ,,,, not so excited so now im lookin for other things I can burn... So if u plan on doin this make sure the piece ur doin is titanium first I wouldnt try this on chrome as it wont have the same outcome... Thanks again keep doin it urself ,and be proud of ur work no matter how shatty it looks....
