Although parent asking for titanium for the feeling, so maybe something in-between would be fine? Lightweight material inside and structurally, but titanium or something else as the "skin".
I don't think a titanium coating over something else is going to deliver that.
I think the reason titanium glasses feel nice is primarily because they have minimal contact with your skin and very low mass.
My frames weigh 6 grams, with lenses they're 14 grams. The Meta Ray Bans are 50 grams. If you could make the frames from pure helium they still wouldn't feel close.
Does sheet titanium not exist? I know it’s a tough metal, I don’t know if it would be feasible to make it out of folded sheet titanium.
Edit: Just checked, it does exist.
The weight is the issue. The guy above said he doesn't like the weight of acetate glasses. Acetate frames for traditional glasses are 10-20 grams. Titanium frames for traditional glasses are 5-10 grams.
Between the weight of material and the electronics, I don't really see anything approaching the feel that someone that discerning would want.
Yep, but seems like the discussion was around solid titanium, that's why I mentioned sheet titanium. I can't see how making the fame out of thin titanium with hard bends (like how computer cases are made of steel sheets, but on a small scale) would make it weigh more than the solid acetate version. Should also be much stronger.
The "solid" frame titanium glasses I'm wearing right now are 0.5mm thick. If you were to put a housing the same thickness around a 60x10mm cylinder you've got something about the weight of an acetate frame, with zero electronics inside. Add the electronics and you've got something heavier, just with titanium as the material.
I mean, the material is nice, but you're not making it light weight that way.
You may be right, but I think they are imagining a tubular frame construction. It would contain a volume of battery or electronics inside the hollow skin.
I guess the problem is can you extrude and form something so small with the precision and metallurgical properties you want to maintain. You probably don't want to just cast it in the final shape, right?
Titanium glasses are lightweight because a very minimal amount of material is used. This is possible for regular glasses because you can make them with a ~1mm cross-section. When you want to put electronics inside of them, you need much more material.