Working with Titanium

[tallguy]

Thank y'all for all the useful, informative postings.  It's a sad (I suppose) bit of irony that materials that are so wonderful in some respects are difficult to deal with in other respects.

I've done a bit of titanium (TIG) welding with great results, but no machining of it.  I did a little sanding on some once, using
a belt sander, and did notice the bright white sparks.  Kinda scary looking.  I urge an abundance of caution, and always try to
practice what I preach.  This helped me become quite an old guy (well, maybe not so old in land speed racing circles).

[panic]

"It is the only material that will burn in a pure nitrogen atmosphere"

Apparently there are no chemists or firemen here?

[Speed Limit 1000]

https://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=23529

[tallguy]

I didn't realize that weight-saving was such an important thing in land speed racing.  I realize that salt is relatively corrosive,
and I also realize that there are some pretty strong types of stainless steel available (that are also relatively corrosion-resistant).
Many fasteners are available in some pretty strong stainless alloys.  Instead of being on a major crusade to save weight in
a land-speed vehicle, I'd probably lean more toward minimizing friction (including wind resistance) -- except where traction is
desired -- , and improving aerodynamics.