[quote name='"ProvidencePlant"']You only have to worry about oxidation if you're using propane.[/quote] Not true. Sorry.
Since no one has really given you any input ill share what little i know. Titanium oxidizes over time, regardless of whether your using propane or butane. But propane burns much hotter and from what i understand this is the main reason propane oxidizes Ti so quickly. From what ive read oxidizing is basically just from the metal expanding/contracting when being heated and cooled and all the oxygen interacts with the ti. But if your using a butane torch and severely overheating your nail i would suspect oxidation can happen quite quickly. And as far as knowing when to switch out a nail, im not sure on this. Just out of safety i replaced my first Ti nail after 3 months and am now about 2 months into my new nail, and just ordered a V3 a few days ago.. But i have a couple friends with 6+ month old nails. I avoid hitting them though, theyre pretty gnarly looking.
I've heard this and I've heard the first post. Which is why I posted this. How can you tell when it's oxidized?
Its my understanding that one can use a sharp surface to scrape followed by a thorough rinsing with water(and subsequent drying, unless you want further oxidation) to remove any excess build up of titanium dioxide from the nails surface. Highly Educated recommends this on their blog, and I'm considering trying it with my old nail head, which is fairly oxidized from being regularly heated to glowing red back when I first began dabbing.
so everyone knows, this is what an oxidized nail looks like: my nail is oxidized. I'm just gonna use quartz from now on i think
I had a quartz nail for like 7 months that was still going strong till I was examining it one day and dropped it I bought a glass replacement (didn't have the cash for a ti but I miss my quartz.