I’m getting married coming up in May and me being who I am, I can’t have a normal wedding band. Wedding bands with “different” metals are all the rage, but tungsten and titanium are boring. Me? Mine is being made out of Inconel 718 with an inlay of Palladium.
For those of you who don’t know, Inconel 718 is a high performance Nickel Alloy that is typically used in applications like Rocket Engines, Turbine Engine Blades, etc. Basically, anywhere that needs a high melting temperature metal. (note the thermal properties) http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=94950a2d209040a09b89952d45086134&ckck=1 However, being a nickel alloy, it is traditionally an extremely difficult material to work with. The material isn’t necessarily expensive, but the processing of it is. That’s why this band is special.
And palladium? Well because Iron Man is cool. And it looks pretty awesome.
Yes, I am fully aware that this thing cannot be cut off (which is why I can’t wear it while playing sports or really anything where I can break my finger or cause it to swell). I believe it’s much easier to cut the finger off and reattach it than to cut the ring. That also has the added “advantage” of being able to keep the ring unharmed! Oh the things I do for love…
Congratulations, but I think you might be overstating the durability of that ring.
I suspect you could get rid of it by abrasively machining it under water with an electric1 or pneumatic die grinder and a cutting wheel. That would certainly hurt less than the alternative you propose. And if you happened to find a friendly firefighter, they would likely make short work of the ring with their hydraulic cutters.
Also, doctors will likely attempt bloodletting or dissection before amputation, so you’d have that to look forward to, before they pull out the miniature bone saw.
1 If mains electric, use a large ungrounded bucket or tub, and insulate the operator from the electrical source. Don’t use a grounded fixture. Low-voltage DC won’t care much as long as you don’t submerge it—and if you do, it will still work for a while.
Wow, that’s a pretty cool method he’s using to make the ring. The custom setups are a little weird, but I guess if you make multiple rings or sell them at a high price it offsets the cost.
He said he’s modified his setup a little bit more so he can better “mass produce” them. I’m not exactly sure what he’s done though. And compared to how much I spent on the engagement ring…the price of this ring isn’t so bad.
I was hoping to see something like that; after the initial cuts those square edges would be darn sharp. I wonder why he didn’t do that - at least on one side - during initial fabrication. Meh, he knows better than me perhaps.
As for cutting it off: No, not with plain hand tools, but think ‘dremel-with-water-cooling’ and a diamond or abrasive wheel will make short work of that, as would a Rescue-size one of these.
Inco 718 bar stock comes in 2 forms, 5662 (solution) and 5663 (precipitation hardened), you can machine it in the hardened condition without subsequent heat treatment. We do it all the time on jet engine hardware.
It’s pretty hard to see the palladium band in the picture, but it’s there. It’s a bit easier to see in real life (though it blends in a bit with the inconel)
