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A few facts
about titanium
Titanium is
the only metal that combines extremely high strength and very light
weight with outstanding heat and corrosion resistance.
That’s
especially true for the alloy we use for Iron Works premium grill
grates - 90% Titanium, 6% Aluminum and 4% Vanadium.
Don’t get
us wrong, we think our steel grates are wonderful. It’s just
that titanium offers triple the strength and half the weight. And
titanium won’t corrode when exposed to harsh weather, grease or
most chemicals.
In fact, the
natural blue patina that titanium develops over time actually adds to
its rust resistance and helps keep food from sticking.
From mining
to dining
Titanium is
the fourth most plentiful metal on Earth. The titanium in our premium
grates starts as the mineral rutile in an Australian mine. The
difficult and complicated process for converting the ore to metal has
only been commercially viable for a little more than 50 years.
The pure
titanium metal next enters a huge electric melting furnace, where it
is alloyed with aluminum and vanadium to enhance its strength. The
10,000 pound, 36 inch diameter ingots of alloy that emerge are
repeatedly forged and worked down into half-inch diameter rods, then
drawn into the hardened quarter-inch rods that become our grill grates.
Our grates are
in good company. There are 40,000 pounds of titanium on a Boeing 747.
In medicine, replacement hips and joints, surgical staples and
sutures are titanium. Golfers are buying 15 million pounds of
titanium clubs this year. |
