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Okay so I've got an idea for a little project: I'd like to buy a cheap slip-on exhaust for my motorcycle, cut the ugly discharge outlet off, and replace it with a mitered stainless tip. The cheapest muffler I can find, however, is titanium (it's on sale for around 200). We do quite a bit of stainless piping at work, so I'm no stranger to that, but I've never even seen titanium welded in person. My question is: is this possible, and, if so, what do I need to know about the process? I'd rather pay for as little titanium at possible, too
Reply:Can't weld Ti to stainless, it forms brittle intermetallics with most dissimilar welds and if it doesn't crack and fall apart while trying to weld it or immediately after it'll be more brittle than glass. It can be brazed and soldered ('filler' metal alloys of silver or aluminium) although i suspect it's more involved than your typical brazed/soldered joint.If the exhaust can is riveted together as some are could always fab a new end piece for the exhaust can in stainless...
Reply:nah its all welded, i wonder if welding the titanium would **** up the packing inside?
Reply:For small jobs you never save money going to titanium. Hard and expensive to fabricate and weld correctly. Not worth the trouble. As mentioned you can't weld Ti to ferrous alloys.Welding EngineerCertified Scrap Producer
Reply:If it's all welded construction then it'll be made/packed in a way that you'll almost certainly be ok welding on the end cap/tail pipe. Go 'inboard' of the factory welds (like the skin of the can for example) and you may have problems. There's been several threads on welding Ti recently, a quick search of the forum will find 'em. As said it can be hard to work with (more so with some of the alloys) but it's not so different from austenitic stainless in many regards, more fussy regarding argon coverage and cleanliness while welding but if everythings clean and shielded well it's easy and very nice stuff to weld. Picture the differences between mild steel and stainless (machining, forming and welding) and Ti is kinda like another step beyond stainless if that makes senseThe biggest hurdle is likely to be getting your mitts on some suitable material/filler wire without spending a fortune |
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