Welding titanium?

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I have managed to get hold of some scrap 2mm grade 5 titanium and am planning to make my wedding ring from it. Once I have formed the circle I am thinking of TIG welding it then polishing the whole thing. A bloke I know who runs a laser cutting/welding shop has offered to laser weld it but I would like to have as much input in the fabrication as possible.Has anyone had experience welding titanium? I'm guessing it won't transfer heat too well so low amps are probably the go? I'm also not worried about blueing the material, in fact I am going to try and heat then quench it to emphasise the colour
Reply:Titanium is actually an excellent conductor of heat, better than copper iirc. Just make sure you get good coverage on the back side of the weld. Titanium anodizes really well also, might be something to look into instead of heating it to get the color you are after.
Reply:Titanium does anodize into beautiful colors, BUT because it the colors are based on the thickness of the oxide layer which is EXTREMELY thin (unlike aluminum which uses dyes sealed into a very thick oxide layer), they wear off pretty easily.
Reply:something that tiny I'd think to weld it in a little make shift box so you can fill the box with argon easily eliminating any contamination... the box does not have to be sealed, argon is heavier than air so it will fill the box the way water would fill a bucket... just have to be conscious of your movement into & out of the box to not stir things up too much & re-introducing O2 into the mix... if you want to do coloration I'd do it after it's welded cleanly rather than as it's welded, so you don't have to worry about the weld ever cracking...miller 330a bp TIGmiller dynasty 200DX TIGmillermatic 185 MIGthermal dynamics cutmaster 101 plasma cuttersnap-on YA5550 plasma cutterhypertherm powermax 30 plasma cutterbaileigh CS225 cold sawetc....
Reply:Originally Posted by quasiTitanium is actually an excellent conductor of heat, better than copper iirc.
Reply:From what I hear/have seen from the welders at the last place I worked you have to have good argon coverage.  He used to make all kinds of tin foil contraptions to route the gas or hold it where it needed to be (as mentioned it's heavy).  I'd love to see how this thing turns out - keep us posted and show some pictures!Millermatic 135Syncrowave 250
Reply:Thanks for the advice, will post some pics when its done