Originally Posted by
sunworksco
Wouldn't the sectional mandrel pieces be prohibitively expensive ?
I'm already getting bids of $2,500.00 for the solid piece mandrels.
One thing about the sectional mandrels is that the steel would be less expensive due to the smaller material dimensions, but there would be more cost in machining more mandrel sections.
I thought that titanium could not be welded together. Titanium is heavier than aluminum, too. My first choice would be 304L stainless-steel, but it needs to be hydraulically tooled when spinning. It can be soft soldered, hard silver soldered and can be spun much thinner due to the strength. There is no dissimilar metallurgy, as well.This is a deal-maker for my needs! I may end up finding a spinner in Southern California, because there are many located there in the aerospace and aircraft industry spinning business. The closer you get to the Mexican border, the less expensive the labor becomes.
It might be less expensive to machine the hull out of silver!
Aluminum is more user friendly.
Regards,
John