zfrilly

Well, not a boat, but figured someone on here may know. I had a Ducati 748 and while looking at good ole ebay the other day spotted some Pankl Tiatnium rods for it on the cheap. Snatched them up and then started researching. Yeah, I know, wrong order. On my research everything, pics mostly, is telling me that these are steel H beam rods. Not many Ti rods for these Ducati's are H beam and the ones that are look slightly different than what I got. Well the first thing I did when the box got here was put a magnet to them. They are non magnetic. The only thing the magnet sticks to is the locating pins for the cap and my magnet was strong enough to feel them with the cap attached. Anyone have any idea why my "steel" rods would be non-magnetic? Doubt they are made from stainless, but maybe steel rods are made from an alloy that isn't magnetic, anyone know?

Wally

iTrader: (1)

without a true lab test id say the only way i know how to tell if its titanium or not would be with a dremel tool and a small grinding wheel....titanium gives off bright white sparks when its being ground on....steels give off yellow sparks. If your ok making marks on the rods...
you can also try and test the resistance of the metal as titanium is a poor conductor but you'd have to have something to compare it against....

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Got a picture of them? One of my best friends is a Ducati mechanic and has a relationship with the Superbike team.

My thoughts, they're titanium. Ducati used these rods in their Superbike engines.

zfrilly

I thought about grinding them a little, but....I also though about trying to color anodize them as I do this with most all my Titanium bolts. I raced for about 5 years and have tons of Ti. Just wanted to see about nondestructive test or if anyone knew about some steel h beams they had laying around that were also non magnetic. Here is the link to them.

​​​​​​https://www.ebay.com/itm/12505012393...53.m2749.l2649

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Also, I would not do any grinding, gouging, etc on those rods. Titanium is really strong but if there's a imperfection, it can crack. If they are not magnetic (typical of any 4xxx steel), then they are surely titanium. Not many options out there for these, at least from what I understand.

Brad Christy

ZFrilly,

I've made many titanium rods for our model boat engines. I've got pretty extensive experience machining it. Capped rods would be a PITA, as titanium doesn't like to be tapped. I also hope they've made sufficient provisions to prevent even minor, incidental contact between the rod and steel crank. Sh!t goes catastrophically sideways fast if not.

Mass is the biggest difference between steel and titanium. If you've got a stock rod handy, weigh them and compare. Titanium density is approx. 60% that of steel. You could also use the Archimedes principle if you've got a container sufficiently graduated and large enough.

FWIW, those rods have the right color for Ti, even if they've been bead blasted. I would not suggest grinding, scraping or any other sort of "destructive testing".

I can't imagine anyone making a set of rods out of nearly any kind of stainless, magnetic or not. There would be no benefit, as, being constantly bathed in oil, rods aren't likely to rust, and most of the non-magnetic stainless steels are high in nickel, which is heavier than steel, yielding heavier rods, the exact opposite of what one would want. None of the magnetic stainless steels are anywhere near the tensile strength of, say, even billet 4340, let alone a forging.


Thanks. Brad.
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