carbide-tipped-steel-blade defense is why I went to
titanium in the first place! So, I decided to try an
abrasive type metal cutting blade. The kerf is huge on
these (1/4” or more) and the cut — I expected — would
be ragged. But what the heck, I thought. I moved the
table saw out into the yard — luckily, as it turns out.
The first cut was in 1/16” titanium sheet. It ripped
right through it, with lots of pretty white sparks. The
edge was slagged and ragged, but a quick pass through
with the sheet turned over cleaned that right up; sort of
like a grinding wheel.
Next, I took on some thicker stock, close to 1/8”
thick. By now, a crowd of kids had gathered. “Hey,
everybody, Mr. Berry’s making lots of pretty sparks!”
After making sure the gang was safely back, away we
went. LOTS of pretty sparks. And smoke. Then more
smoke.
Turns out, gentle readers, you might want to clean
the sawdust out of your table saw before making,
essentially, thermite. The neighborhood kid pack was
treated to a smoldering fire. As a bonus, there was not a
EVENTS
Completed Events for
September 2011
Robot Battles 42 was held at
Dragon*Con in Atlanta,
GA, on September 4th
and 5th. SV
hose — nor water tight vessel — anywhere to be found. I
did remember to unplug the saw (which was on a GFI
outlet that didn’t pop) before dumping it on its side and
raking out most of the burning wood chips.
So, I now do a complete cleanup before switching
from woodwork to metal work. Also, my NEW table saw
isn’t used to cut titanium. I’ve discovered the beauty of
mail-order waterjet services. SV
SERVO 11.2011 33
