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TwistedxSlayer

Titanium Screws

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Looked into this, decided steel is best. Quality of titanium screws varies and the good ones are stupidly expensive. 

If you're doing a dream build with every hopup, go Tamiya. 

If you're building a hopped up runner, swap to hex steel screws from bangood, aliexpress etc

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You have succumbed to the greyish side

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27 minutes ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Looked into this, decided steel is best. Quality of titanium screws varies and the good ones are stupidly expensive. 

If you're doing a dream build with every hopup, go Tamiya. 

If you're building a hopped up runner, swap to hex steel screws from bangood, aliexpress etc

Are they any lighter?

 

The build isn't a dream build i did plan on using steel anyway, i am just exploring the options of titanium just because the Yeah Racing Ti screw kits are quite cheap when compared to the price of Tamiya ones.

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Biggest con would be how they can round off easily and the price. 

Pro 🤔 light and blingy. 

If it's a runner no way I'd use titanium, but obviously perfect for a shelf bound build. 

 

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4 minutes ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

Are they any lighter?

 

The build isn't a dream build i did plan on using steel anyway, i am just exploring the options of titanium just because the Yeah Racing Ti screw kits are quite cheap when compared to the price of Tamiya ones.

Yes titanium is lighter but weight isn't a big issue these days, unless you're chasing that 10th of a second.

You will probably round out the ti screws which is less likely with steel.

Yeah Racing is generally pretty good so worth a crack

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1 hour ago, svenb said:

Biggest con would be how they can round off easily and the price. 

Pro 🤔 light and blingy. 

If it's a runner no way I'd use titanium, but obviously perfect for a shelf bound build. 

 

I've used titanium screws in several of my kits so far, and I generally haven't had a problem with them rounding off. In fact the only one titanium screw that I have rounded off was a YR M3x10mm countersunk that I knowingly tightened too hard into an aluminum part. Tamiya and Hiro Seiko screws have been very good to me.

HOWEVER: I tend to be pretty careful and thorough with my builds, thread-forming every screw hole at least half way, and tightening screws with as much precision as possible. Also I use a good hex wrench (Hudy).

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Luckily I do have the tamiya M3 thread forming tool. Need to get a proper handle for it though.

 

Will ponder on this for a while but am thinking I will get a set of YR Ti screws. Although they don't make a set specifically for the chassis I want ill buy one that is as close as and then add or remove from there as required. May also use YR Titanium turnbuckles too.

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Much if my decision to avoid steel is that steel will rust.  Stainless is a durable alternative if Ti or Al is too soft. I find that running a 2.5mm socket cap M3 stainless screw into plastic prior to Ti or Al prevents rounding any heads. 

A quality hex-driver is well worth the expense. Integy has several in their "clearance" pages for a reasonable price.

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HI. Do anyone know which Titane Grade (2 or 5?) Tamiya Titane screws are made of?

Do anyone of you celebrate TI screws and can tell me how much better the higher graded ones are?  Shure I read material specs and can see the difference but I would like to hear ist through the RC enthusiasts mouth.

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1 hour ago, Collin said:

HI. Do anyone know which Titane Grade (2 or 5?) Tamiya Titane screws are made of?

Do anyone of you celebrate TI screws and can tell me how much better the higher graded ones are?  Shure I read material specs and can see the difference but I would like to hear ist through the RC enthusiasts mouth.

I suspect without knowing that Ti screws are made from whatever grade of titanium is cheaper and easier to manufacture. There probably aren't enough people who would insist on a specific grade of titanium screw and be willing to pay a premium to make it worth the trouble for the manufacturer.

Source: talking with local hobby shop owner yesterday about ESC wire. Customers buy whatever is cheapest and can be made to work. No point in stocking better quality wire if it costs more, as customers won't pay for it.

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The darker grey Ti screws like Tamiya's original Phillips/JIS ones from the 80s are grade 2 which is also referred to as CP (commercially pure). This titanium is light but also soft. Stronger than aluminium but slightly heavier.

Most silver colored Ti screws these days are a tougher Grade 5 alloy also called 6AL-4V (6% aluminum & 4% vanadium). These are much stronger and weigh about the same as grade 2.  Not as strong as steel of course.

Titanium screws weight about 40% less than steel.

Aluminum screws weight 60% less than steel (and are the weakest of all)

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Cheap titanium screws are worse than any decent steel screw. But I think cheap screws of any material should be avoided full stop in my opinion.

If you want quality screws in Titanium then look at https://www.moodyfools.com/ (UK based).

If you want just awesome screws in general then look at http://www.hiro-seiko.com/ there's a few UK stockists for them, and the quality is fantastic.

Tamiya titanium screw kits are good, but tend to be a bit pricey from UK stockists.

Personally I think for race cars (which tend to be a bit underweight anyway) you probably want a mix, for none stressed parts I use annodized aluminium screws, for stressed parts higher up the car (like gearbox tops/top decks/towers) I use titanium. For low down screws like bulkheads and suspension mounts I use steel. Even brass screws can find a few spots to be useful on a race car.

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Titanium doesn't make sense to me. It's not like its that blingy either. No one would know and not that beneficial. Now if you said blue screws I could see why.

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5 hours ago, Smirrors said:

Titanium doesn't make sense to me. It's not like its that blingy either. No one would know and not that beneficial. Now if you said blue screws I could see why.

The weight reduction is a fact you can't deny.

 

14 hours ago, BuggyGuy said:

Cheap titanium screws are worse than any decent steel screw. But I think cheap screws of any material should be avoided full stop in my opinion.

Personally I think for race cars (which tend to be a bit underweight anyway) you probably want a mix, for none stressed parts I use annodized aluminium screws, for stressed parts higher up the car (like gearbox tops/top decks/towers) I use titanium. For low down screws like bulkheads and suspension mounts I use steel. Even brass screws can find a few spots to be useful on a race car.

I guess this says all. I agree with you in all points.

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In regard to the original question. Tamiya titanium screws are much better than yeah racing ones.

 

All of my race cars are titanium, some have alloy high grade TRF screws in as well. With a race car you want it to be as underweight as possible. Then you use brass weights / brass screws etc to perfectly balance it. 
 

I always get screws from moodyfools.com they are used by many racers. The best quality out there (and a good price). Next up would be Tamiya or Hiro-Seiko. They are both good quality.

 

For a basher I would use steel screws. More Tamiya kits come with these nowadays, for those that don’t I usually swap over.

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21 hours ago, Smirrors said:

Titanium doesn't make sense to me. It's not like its that blingy either. No one would know and not that beneficial. Now if you said blue screws I could see why.

You can make them blue with baking soda (trisodium phosphate is better) a metal strainer and two or three 9v batteries in series. Very simple.

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On 9/2/2022 at 9:54 PM, 94eg! said:

You can make them blue with baking soda (trisodium phosphate is better) a metal strainer and two or three 9v batteries in series. Very simple.

Uhhhh..  I will probably blow up my workshop if I tried this..  :lol:      

But yeah, if you're serious racer that can't figure out any other bit to reduce weight from and 100% certain your driving is perfect, titanium screws can make sense.  

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On 9/3/2022 at 3:54 AM, 94eg! said:

You can make them blue with baking soda (trisodium phosphate is better) a metal strainer and two or three 9v batteries in series. Very simple.

Interesting 🤔 I'd like to see that

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It's really easy. There are tons of diy videos out there. This was the result of my first experiment.

Knob 1_zps8rrktcbi.jpg

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I've used them once on a topforce simply because I got them as part of a deal and would I recommend them? Probably not! like @Willy iine said if you are a serious racer and your driving is perfect and looking to get that 1000th of a second difference then go for it but otherwise don't bother;)  and motors and batteries are so more powerful now I don't think it matters about that difference in weight? I'd forgotten I'd put them in my topforce because it didn't obviously look any different there are far better hop-ups than titanium screws especially in that price range IMO:)

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Its nice to this thread got some more input. 

Thanks all.

 

In the end... I bought a Hiro-Seiko set, Titanium and aluminium. Very shiny. Purely for blingy purposes over anything else.

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9 hours ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

Very shiny. Purely for blingy purposes over anything else.

I’ve got my eyes on a set of Evo V titanium screws…both titanium AND blue 😬 Uber-bling 👌

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Just wanted to share my experience with titanium screws. Bought set 54024 for my current Durga build; saw them cheap somewhere and figured I'd give them a try. Assumed since they were hex heads, it was all good and I was excited to try them out. For context I've built around 20 kits, and have been very fortunate to avoid stripping any screws, JIS or hex. Well that all ended with my fancy titanium set :P, as I managed to strip a hex head that was directly into the chassis. I should also mention that I only use Tamiya tools, so this was not a tool issue.

 

I like to walk away from engineering problems for a few days, because I usually come up with a better solution in the long run. My knee-jerk reaction was to Dremel the plastic part (the spur gear cover) that needed the offending screw hole, but that would have been a mistake. After taking a breather, I decided to use a Dremel cutting wheel to slot the hex head. Wasn't sure how the cutting wheel would hold up to titanium, but it worked perfectly. I was then able to use a slotted screwdriver to easily remove.

 

Crisis averted and the build continues. Just wanted to share in case this helps someone else. Worth noting that I taped up the chassis pretty good to avoid metal shavings getting into any moving parts.

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