*Off Topic* Suggestions for metallurgy engineer's ring 9

[whisp]

Hi folks,

First, my apologies for signing up for a forum I don't know much about and interrupting your community. I'm attempting to be resourceful with information I cannot get otherwise.

My boyfriend is a Metallurgy professor and I want to get him a special ring for his birthday. Is there anything that you might suggest that someone into metallurgy would really like? I'm thinking either a certain kind of metal/ possibly precious stone or something uniquely nerdy/classy that you might have bookmarked in the past that you liked?

My sincere thanks!

 

[winstonsk]

I'm saving up for an Iridium ring. I've wanted to own Ir since I was a kid.

That's a $2000 investment, though, so you'd have to really like this guy to drop that kind of money.

Perhaps you can get him a ring made of an alloy related to his research? Or his PHD thesis?

 

[tbuelna]

Here's a suggestion for a ring metal alloy that your metallurgy prof boyfriend should appreciate: Nitinol.

If he ever gets mad at you he take out his frustrations by squashing the ring. Then later on when he has calmed down he can return the ring to its original shape simply by heating it.

Nitinol is available in bar form which can be formed into a ring. Don't know what it costs in small quantity though.

Hope that helps.

 

[EdStainless]

The traditional engineers ring (given at graduation at some universities) is made from rather pedestrian 420 stainless. Strong but not too corrosion resistant.
The one that I wear is made from Monel 400. I bought a hex nut of size that let me drill out the threads and get the correct size. I left one flat intact and then rounded the rest of the OD off. This material is extremely corrosion resistant. Sweat, seawater, and general chemicals will not attack this material.
Other alloys in this league would be C276, C22, 625. All of these may be available in a hex nut. That way you could buy one piece and work from there.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[whisp]

Thank you so much for your ideas! I'm so happy that I got some thoughtful responses. I hope you all have a great weekend!

 

[EdStainless]

I'll give some background also.
These days rings in ceramic, tungsten carbide, and Titanium are all popular.
All of these are very corrosion resistant.
The first is very light and brittle.
The second is very dense and also brittle.
The Ti is very over priced. Since the metals sells for $10-40/pound the rings should be cheaper than silver.

I was trying to suggest materials that could be:
1. obtained
2. work well as jewelry (durable)
3. be worked by a skilled artist
4. have some technical interest

I have seen rings in various other alloys, but these were often made by the PhD student using the materials that they were investigating.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[racookpe1978]

Both my university class ring and my (now 35 year old) wedding rings tarnished due to my particular skin acidity/chemistry.

Please consider the stainless alloys above. If a welder or machinist engineer, or a field engineer, expect damage to it! Consider engraving either your name (or your initials) inside with greek letters, or engrave the greek letters used in our our formulas: pi, phi, delta, gamma, alpha, beta, etc.

Personally, I'd like the idea of a Ti ring more than a gold one.

 

[moltenmetal]

Titanium is dead easy, not very expensive, and unfortunately not all that unique any more. I made my wife's "promise" ring from a piece of 3/4" titanium tubing, bored on the lathe to the right ID and carved with the Dremel. It was a placeholder for getting her a proper engagement ring. To my great pleasure, she still wears it- and it still looks lovely after nearly two decades.

The trouble with titanium is that it will have to be fabricated rather than lost wax investment cast which is the normal method for making rings from silver, gold, platinum etc.

 

[WKTaylor]

Moltenmetal... I sure like Your idea of a Ti ring made from tubing... then hand engraved.

One amazing aspect of titanium and Ti-Alloys is that when properly cleaned [polished/etched, etc], then heated precisely in various atmospheres, or anodized in various solutions, Ti alloys will change from typical boring metal-gray to a wonderful assortment/rainbow of colors. This predictable [semi-controllable] property of titanium has made it an alternate jewelers material.

I had a high school student [daughter of an NCO friend] make a series of Ti-6Al-4V coupons and run them thru an oven at various temperatures so I could estimate temperature exposure of fire on [F-15] Ti airframe structures. She then submitted a set at a science fair which drew a lot of interest RE: how the colors changed so precisely/dramatically in heated O2 atmosphere; and their potential use in aircraft fire-mishap investigations.

http://files.engineering.com/getfil...678782ac59f8&file=Titanium~Cntrl-to-1500F.jpg

NOTE. In the early 2000s I bought two Titanium British coins [1999, Gibraltar, millennium]: gave one to the young lady who helped me with this project; and kept one for my self. The original intent of the mint was to make ~50,000... but the coining dies made for the production run simply didn't last that long. Roughly 40,000 were made before the dies were worn-out and the project was terminated. Google 'colored titanium jewelry' for some colorful examples of this art!

Regards, Wil Taylor

o Trust - But Verify!
o We believe to be true what we prefer to be true. [Unknown]
o For those who believe, no proof is required; for those who cannot believe, no proof is possible. [variation,Stuart Chase]
o Unfortunately, in science what You 'believe' is irrelevant. ["Orion"]
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[whisp]

Those colors are beautiful! I just want to reiterate my thanks to all of you. I'm so overjoyed at your feedback.

 

[EdStainless]

You can also electrochemically tint Ti. It is easy and you can get great colors. It works with all reactive metals. I have some 'coins' that were made in Zr by Wah Chang and they were tinted various colors.
There are also ways to do this with stainless steels, but the chemistry is a bit harder. Look at

http://millenniumforms.com/

yes, those are all stainless steel and no dyes are used.

I have tried wearing Ti rings, and didn't like the fact that they have no heft to them.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube