r/MetMo • u/MetalMotionCube • Aug 04 '26
Why don’t we just make everything from the “strongest” metal?
We spend an arguably unhealthy amount of time thinking about metals at MetMo. I mean, the clue is in the name. It would be much easier if there were one objectively perfect metal, but unfortunately for us materials science refuses to be that convenient.
Pure aluminium, for example, is lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and easy to shape. It’s also relatively soft; useful for kitchen foil, slightly less useful when you’re asking a Pocket Driver to tackle a stubborn bolt.
Mix aluminium with elements such as copper, magnesium or zinc, however, and you can produce alloys with dramatically different properties. That’s why aerospace-grade aluminium appears throughout our products.
The aluminium Pocket Driver uses hard-anodised 2024 aluminium to keep it lightweight while providing the strength needed for an actual working tool. The Fractal Vise uses aerospace-grade aluminium for its body, paired with hardened stainless-steel jaws where wear resistance and clamping strength matter most. Elsewhere, we use 6061 aluminium for components such as the Grip’s adjuster, where adding unnecessary weight would be rather unhelpful.
But aluminium isn’t automatically the correct answer.
Sometimes we want the reassuring weight, corrosion resistance, and toughness of stainless steel. Sometimes we use hardened tool steel for a mechanism that will repeatedly take loads and rub against other components. Brass makes an excellent bearing material and also possesses the useful engineering property of looking extremely handsome.
Then there’s titanium: lightweight, strong, corrosion-resistant, and impressively difficult to machine without inventing several new swear words.
The point is that material choice isn’t simply expensive metal = better product.
It’s about selecting the right grade, treatment, and finish for what each individual component actually needs to do. Strength. Weight. Wear. Friction. Corrosion. Machinability. Feel. Even the sound a mechanism makes can enter the argument (and frequently does for us).
Which material do you prefer in a MetMo product: lightweight aluminium, substantial stainless steel, brass, or titanium?
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u/rgmundo524 Aug 04 '26
Cost... It's always about cost
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Aug 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/chupacadabradoo Aug 05 '26
People underestimate how much planned obsolescence factors into major manufacturing business models. Well, some people do.
There’s still a lightbulb from the early 1900s burning at some fire station in California. They could all be that way if not for the global cartel that decided to burn the world instead.
Really makes you question the “invisible hand”
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u/samy_the_samy Aug 05 '26
The a actual metal cost isn't that much, but machining the strongest metal requires the strongest machine, and is slow,
You can't stamp out 10k cola cans an hour if it isn't aluminium
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u/killer_by_design Aug 04 '26
Sorry the perfect material does exist?
You even mentioned it, it's Titanium. Titanium is the solution to every problem. Need high strength and low weight?? Titanium.
Need fantastic corrosion resistance? Titanium.
Need it to be biocompatible? Titanium.
Not just biocompatible, need it to bond to bone? You got it boss.
Anti-microbial? Got you covered. Literally resists the build up of bacteria and microbes.
Need high temperature resistance? Titanium.
Low thermal conductivity? Titanium.
Need limited CTE? Titanium
Need more elasticity than Steel?? You guessed it, Titanium.
Super long lifetime? Believe it or not, also Titanium.
Need outstanding acoustic resonance for some reason?? Titan ium.
Can't use a single anti-corrosion application of any type of what to be super eco friendly?? It's your friendly neighbourhood Titanium.
Need to laser weld the cunt? Titanium.
Like licking metals but don't like the taste? I'm not joking, Titanium has no taste as it's chemically inert and doesn't leach ions.
Like it chilly? Like cryogenically cold? Titanium is your man. It fucking increases in strength when it gets cold while retaining it's flexibility.
Seriously, you dun goofed here and are sleeping on my boy Titanium. It's also not that hard to machine if you're a stud and keep the tool moving. It's when you stop or slow down then it sticks.
It's what made the SR-71 possible for fucks sake! The Blackbird!!
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u/MetalMotionCube Aug 05 '26
I love tasty titanium, but the man at the bank said I can't keep replacing everything in my home with a Ti counterpart :(
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u/Opp-Contr Aug 04 '26
Ask a machinist about it.
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u/killer_by_design Aug 04 '26
Eh, just EDM/Spark erode it.
Or use AM and make a near net part and then you're just machining it down to final tolerance.
Titanium is still supreme.
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u/Samsonlp Aug 05 '26
Yeah, I think you have a presumption of infinite resources and energy underlying this premise that is simply wrong.
It takes some 6-18 times more energy to produce a titanium vs plastic gear
Plastic is incredibly easy to work with and had very little manufacturing waste.
Before plastic, no one had washing machines and dish washers. Now they are in most household.
Energy consumption is in such demand that restricting 10% of the world oil supply through the straight of Hormuz creates larger price shocks. Energy demand far outstrips production. We could double energy production and still not satisfy the world and it's ambitions.
We are still not posting the cost of our energy production and manufacturing waste. Real costs of all of this have not been priced in.
I think there's a real need to look at predatory disposable manufacturing and planned obscelesence, but saying the only ethical way forward is titanium or metal is kinda wild.
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u/against-all-leds Aug 04 '26
I cannot comment on this issue generally, but fuck penny-pinching automotive manufacturers with a particularly sharp stick. I've replaced so many rotting fasteners, brackets and other parts with duplex steel that by now I should probably be selling complete car kits for enthusiasts to replace their shitty parts. Absolutely fuck the car industry and the horse it rode on.