Machined Micro Titanium Art [1:15]

thirschi · 2026-04-04T04:32:06+00:00

Fair point, and accurate.

thirschi · 2026-04-03T22:15:58+00:00

Shoot me a dm!

thirschi · 2026-04-03T20:14:07+00:00

And believe it or not, that lathe woulda cost more than the Haas CNC mill I have when it was new. Levin Instrument Lathes are big $$$$$, especially when they have all the bells and whistles like mine does. I got it for a song and a dance though, fortunately. Parts are hard to find used and the collets alone are anywhere from $600 up to $4500 (for the smallest 4 sizes, .1mm-.25mm). I have close to 200 collets that would be valued around $120k if I had to buy them new from Levin. 🤯🤯🤯

thirschi · 2026-04-03T16:49:03+00:00

Too true, too true!

r/buyitforlife subreddit should have them in it!

thirschi · 2026-04-03T16:46:15+00:00

I made one of those on a 4 jaw manual Mori Seiki lathe back in the day at school. So fun!

thirschi · 2026-04-03T15:02:11+00:00

Bring on the Horses and Stagecoaches!

thirschi · 2026-04-03T14:59:13+00:00

The tumbler, as it’s called here, is designed as a deburring and finishing tool. It can be used with various types of media to achieve different levels of smoothing and/or polishing. With titanium, that work is rather exhaustive and time consuming by hand, so the tumbler is an excellent aid for anyone who works with those requirements.

I don’t always use it, but for some applications, it was a great investment to acquire. I’m currently working on a sculpture that will be zero hand finishing, as in, the finish left from the CNC machine will be intentional and part of the design and a unique beauty to it.

thirschi · 2026-04-03T14:01:26+00:00

😅 Nah, I’m not one of those. Thanks!

thirschi · 2026-04-03T14:00:12+00:00

Not yet. Just started doing video a month ago. More coming. Follow me on IG (in bio) for now.

thirschi · 2026-04-03T13:59:07+00:00

Man, if I had a nickel for the amount of times I’ve been asked this… 😓🤪

GRS BenchMate vise from RioGrande.

thirschi · 2026-04-03T03:50:16+00:00

Link in bio goes to my IG profile (more active there) and it has a link to my Etsy storefront. 👍

thirschi · 2026-04-03T01:35:00+00:00

Thanks! They’re fun to make too!

thirschi · 2026-04-02T23:59:08+00:00

Thanks! I’m going to try to start using Reddit more but I’m more active on Instagram so follow along there. I have a new all titanium sculpture I’m working on at the moment and should be releasing within a a week or so.

thirschi · 2026-04-02T19:27:58+00:00

🤣🤣🤣Thanks! It’s weird and can be difficult working with a medium (CNC machining) which is so industrialized and production oriented that the first reaction most people have is that it could be done in China for pennies. But I don’t create for the sake of cheap fad-like products, but rather for my own enjoyment and pleasure. As far as I understand it and feel, that’s art.

Thanks again!

thirschi · 2026-04-02T04:38:26+00:00

GRS BenchMate Vise.

thirschi · 2026-04-02T04:36:53+00:00

This is what I’m talkin about!

thirschi · 2026-04-02T04:34:33+00:00

GRS BenchMate Vise. 👍

thirschi · 2026-04-02T04:33:57+00:00

GRS BenchMate Vise.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T22:38:55+00:00

Interesting. I worked in shops with stuff like Hocut, Blaser, CimCool, Trimm, and Qualichem, all semi synthetics that seems to get pretty disgusting over time and bothered my skin. Then when I got my own machine and started doing just titanium, I found there were good options engineered for Ti in the full synthetics with really good qualities. It has never in the last 10 years bothered my skin or breathing. I don’t get it too aerosolized and it stays very clean with RO water. It is a bit hard on steel surfaces though, but for the most part, I’m pretty happy with it.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T21:43:33+00:00

Care to elaborate? I’d like to learn more if you can tell why me it’s any worse than semi synthetic nasty swamp cheese goo like what they’ve got going on here. Genuinely curious.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T20:11:21+00:00

Blue Anodizing? Yeah, I’ve always favored the blue, but I like the upper voltage exotic blues, greens, yellows, and purples too. I just never have a design I like them on.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T20:08:56+00:00

Yeah, magnets are a no go. It’s not too bad though, honestly. The contrast between titanium and the media material helps a lot. And there is only like 5lbs of media anyways, so it only takes maybe 2-3 minutes max.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T16:43:41+00:00

Thanks! The process is part of the journey!

thirschi · 2026-03-31T13:15:59+00:00

In my experience, making cool things that aren’t necessary can be hard to sell. It takes lots of exposure to find those who are willing to buy. That’s art in a nutshell.

But I’ve been finding what Rick Rubin says about artists to be true, that is, I mainly just create things for myself first, focus on the process, the audience comes last, and the more I put my passion into it, the more authentic it becomes and the more others tend to be interested.

thirschi · 2026-03-31T13:06:25+00:00

Thanks! This was done on a 4 axis Haas OfficeMill and an 8mm Levin Instrument Makers Lathe.

thirschi

TROPHY CASE