Titanium Silencer on a Form 1

[L1A1Rocker]

Here's some progress on my Form 1 Titanium silencer. (Form 1 is the ATF form you use when you want to make your own)

This is basically what it will look like when done:



This will screw on to the muzzle brake that I posted about earlier. The muzzle brake will also work as it's own baffles inside the silencer.

Here's a diagram of the first few parts:



I've got the blast baffle/first end cap partially finished. The latest part I've been working on is the first cone baffle. Here are some pictures.









This next picture shows why a number of people will run their lathe backwards and mount their cutting tool upside down. I don't have that capability with my Atlas so I have to work from the back side while cutting the 60* cone.



And the cone is taking shape.

Please note here the upgraded fingers on the steady rest. The brass fingers super heated on the titanium in just a few seconds. They expanded and caused the work to seize up dead. I had to upgrade to some bearings. And of course no one in this po-dunk town carries such an animal so I had to order them from Enco.







Parting off.



I've learned a bit about parting this last year. In particular when parting Titanium go slow (back gears engaged) and step down. Plunge the parting tool in a bit, then move over and do it again and work your way down. This way you don't get too hot and bind the blade.



And a pic showing how I hung the misting nozzle.



And there it is.



The next step is to carve out the innards. BUT, I'm going to go ahead and do the other cone and spacer while I've got the Titanium round stock in the lathe.

More to come later. . .

 

[Brad]

I got a question. Why titanium instead of stainless? Corrosion or flame cutting resistance? Weight? Ease of manufacture? Cool factor?

 

[Ian]

I was wondering that too, I keep hearing blast baffles being made of super-tough alloys I can't even pronounce. I do think SS is considered a poor choice due to how fast it wears out, I'm sure titanium is better.

Kudos to the documentation, I've taken a few "in process" pics of various things like lube making and it's a real pain to do it while it's happening. Manning a camera while concentrating on the work is for the birds.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I got a question. Why titanium instead of stainless? Corrosion or flame cutting resistance? Weight? Ease of manufacture? Cool factor?

Three reasons; weight, weight, and weight.

Stainless is a very good material and most all of your full auto rated cans are made of it. However, they are so heavy they could be used as a club. Titanium is about half. Form 1 silencers also tend to be on the heavy side, so the titanium is a way to help keep that weight down.

Also, I'd much rather turn titanium than stainless. Stainless tends to make the most awful little splinter, and the stings that curl off try to find you fingers to wrap around in order to rip you skin off. The swarf on titanium is much more like aluminum than steel. That being said, I've got another approved Form 1 that I intend to build into a stainless 30 cal can. . . .

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I was wondering that too, I keep hearing blast baffles being made of super-tough alloys I can't even pronounce.

Inconel is popular for blast baffles in full auto rated silencers. It is darn near indestructible. BUT, it is difficult to machine (hard on the equipment) and very expensive. For those reasons when it is is used, it's normally limited to just the blast baffle/chamber. There has been a trend lately to use 17-4 as a blast baffle. I'm curious to see how this holds up.

 

[Pistolero]

Titanium is light and strong and extremely corrosion resistant.
Used to be considered hard to machine. I have done a LITTLE bit
of milling on titanium, it was hard to get a decent surface finish.

Looks good.

Bill

 

[L1A1Rocker]

And then there were two. . .

Titanium is light and strong and extremely corrosion resistant.
Used to be considered hard to machine. I have done a LITTLE bit
of milling on titanium, it was hard to get a decent surface finish.

Looks good.

Bill

Thanks. I did a LOT of reading on turning Titanium and did some upgrading on my old Atlas (underneath drive) 12x36 lathe. My compound apparently flexes by about 10 thou, so cutting by the gauges is out. I also discovered that any cuts less than 2 thou leaves a horrible finish. Sooo, if I'm inside 2 thou I have to use a file and sandpaper to "get there".

But on a plus side, the swarf on Titanium is soft, dull, and very malleable - it's a lot like aluminum in that regard. I'm really warming up to turning Titanium. I think I'd much rather work with it than any of the steels.

 

[Ian]

Looks good. Heck of a lot better than the pressed freeze plugs I'm planning to use. Are you going to clip those?

 

[smokeywolf]

Titanium in many cases is less of a chore to machine than 316 stainless. Deep hole drilling and tapping is the exception to this.

Titanium is not just corrosion resistant. Like teflon, titanium is inert to everything that I know of. This can be a big advantage if you break a tap. You can use nitric or just get some alum at the supermarket and dissolve the broken tap.
Prior to using ceramics, titanium was one of the materials of choice for knee, hip and other joint replacement.

Many, if not most materials yield a better finish if you don't attempt to take less than a .003 depth of cut. Spring cuts are OK where you're taking maybe half a tenth.

Inconel, Invar, Kovar and Hastaloy are all miserable to machine, but result in a near indestructible part.

Really nice machining L1A1Rocker. I gather your spindle thru hole won't accommodate the O.D. of your Titanium stock.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

Looks good. Heck of a lot better than the pressed freeze plugs I'm planning to use. Are you going to clip those?

Sent you a PM on your future project. No, these are not going to be clipped.

Titanium in many cases is less of a chore to machine than 316 stainless. Deep hole drilling and tapping is the exception to this.

I've read it once that taping titanium is like sex with a porcupine. It's possible, but you really don't want to do it.

Really nice machining L1A1Rocker. I gather your spindle thru hole won't accommodate the O.D. of your Titanium stock.

Thank you. And yes, the spindle hole is only .75. Also, the jaws on the Atlas are not very strong. I read somewhere that an old "expert" machinist with lots of Atlas experience, said the the most secure way of holding work on the Atlas is to use a steady rest.

 

[Ian]

I can't wait to hear it work.

 

[Brad]

I can't wait to hear it work.

If you hear it work, did it work?

 

[Pistolero]

Really nice looking machine work.

Bill

 

[Ian]

If you hear it work, did it work?

I meant "listen" to it work....unfortunately, real life is a bit different from what Foley editors would have us believe.

 

[smokeywolf]

L1A1Rocker, looks like you're in need of a parting tool holder for your Dorian or Aloris type toolpost. I haven't used a rocker tool post in over 30 years.

I don't remember the last time my lathe was as clean as yours

 

[Brad]

I meant "listen" to it work....unfortunately, real life is a bit different from what Foley editors would have us believe.

Woah, hold on a second here. Are you trying to tell me that what I see on TV and in movies isn't all real? You can't say that here, that is lying on the Internet and that isn't allowed either!

But yes, it would be interesting to "hear" it work.

 

[Pistolero]

Wait! Are you suggesting that some of the stuff on the Internet isn't true?

Shock!

Bill

 

[L1A1Rocker]

I can't wait to hear it work.

Me too. But hey, I've only been sitting on this Form 1 for about 3 years now.

Really nice looking machine work.

Bill

Thank you.

L1A1Rocker, looks like you're in need of a parting tool holder for your Dorian or Aloris type toolpost. I haven't used a rocker tool post in over 30 years.

I don't remember the last time my lathe was as clean as yours

Yeah, I bought a cheep Chines copy but it was junk. I'd like to get one someday but I have other things to get first. The lantern rocker works pretty well.

I tend to wipe down and clean up between operations. It gets my mind focused for the next operation I guess. While cleaning I think over the angles and such.

 

[L1A1Rocker]

Two and a half days to bore out a darn spacer! I chipped on drill bit, and chipped AND bent one boring bar. Auggg!!!

Well, here are my parts so far. . .



Here's a couple pics of it on the lathe.





I'm trying to keep my waste/scrap down to a minimum. I almost made this one too close, check it out.



I'm really glad that didn't turn into an oops.

And here's a pass boring this sucker out. That's .005 per pass to a final I.D. of 1.380. Yeah, it took a while.

Well, I'm having trouble embeding the video. Here's a link:

Well, that's all folks. At least for now, stay tuned.

 

[Ian]

Aren't you glad this is just a hobby? You'll be proud of that when you're done. Me, I'm just going to buy stuff produced by professionals and modify it as necessary. When an 11" finished tube with threaded ends is only $90 and I have no lathe or Ti-specific tooling it's either that or buy a commercial silencer.