[ input ] - Designing Titanium Seed Plate for a friend

[Wq59wy8]

Hello,

I have a friend who asked me to help design the layout for a recovery seed plate.   It will be made out of titanium, one sheet, no screws, no letter pieces to assemble, no washers to bolt together, thin and easy to stash in a real leather wallet.  I can share the design, I'm not restricted and my friend is ok with that.   However, before I do, I need to finish it...

Titanium (Ti):
If you haven't put a torch on Titanium, or watched it turn colors, it's incredible!  I learned so much about titanium with this project, I think it's my favorite metal!
Melting tempterature is more than 1600 degrees celcius (that's over 3000 F)!  Far above the temp of a house fire.  It's corrosion resistant and 40% lighter than steel.  
Stainless is not 100% corrosion resistant.  

Metals rust and corrode as the result of the metal breaking down when exposed to extreme, wet or acid dominated environments. All metal eventually experiences this kind of break down. Some metals, however, are more resistant to them than others. This is the case of the titanium that is common today.

Titanium is a popular metal that is recognized as more durable and stronger than steel, yet is lighter and more flexible than steel. These properties of titanium make it a popular metal used in chemical plants, airplanes, and various military and engineering applications. Titanium is also used in rifles and air guns. Titanium can withstand extreme temperature and exposure to salt water. It has been hailed as one of the strongest, most durable metals around.

Side A:
A cool graphic which I am working on in Photoshop, it's a lot of work, but after it's finished, it'll be laser engraved on anodized titanium, available in multiple colors.

Side B:
24 word form laser engraved on the back, with additional space for unique details that may be required to write down. As well as the melting temperature and material engraved.

Price:
To be determined.

Use:
The Titanium can be engraved, stamped, or scratched, however the user wants to enter in the seed phrase on the back. We're thinking some tamper evident tape to cover up the words afterwards.  

Anyone done this before?  
Who else here likes Titanium?
What would be your ultimate wish list to check off on a design like this?
Looking for your input to see if you have something we haven't thought of and then we should have this project almost done! woohoo!

[Vod]

Use:
The Titanium can be engraved, stamped, or scratched, however the user wants to enter in the seed phrase on the back. We're thinking some tamper evident tape to cover up the words afterwards.  

With just high school physics and a love for technology, I can tell you manipulating (carving into or placing next to) a material of consistent density can be detected by some type of wave reflection.     Do you intend for this to be a next gen tech, or just another semi-secure method of storing coin?

[Wq59wy8]

Use:
The Titanium can be engraved, stamped, or scratched, however the user wants to enter in the seed phrase on the back. We're thinking some tamper evident tape to cover up the words afterwards.  

With just high school physics and a love for technology, I can tell you manipulating (carving into or placing next to) a material of consistent density can be detected by some type of wave reflection.     Do you intend for this to be a next gen tech, or just another semi-secure method of storing coin?

Where can I pick up one of these high school wave scanners?

 I'd like to do the following, but not in this particular order:
1. Drive around the neighborhoods and read everyone's seed plate! lol
2. Scan the Earth and find the 10 commandments in the Ark of the Covenant
3. Read the inscription on the inside of someone's ring and bet them that I know it


Looks like this idea is as old as Cuneiform technology which is about 5000 years old.  Dang - I'm late to the game, someone beat me to it!  I wonder what high school physics was like in the Neolithic period!?

[SFR10]

We're thinking some tamper evident tape to cover up the words afterwards.  

I have mixed feelings about this part... Are you going to place it directly on top of the words, or is there going to be a layer of metal cover first?

Anyone done this before?  

IIRC, there are a few titanium-based seed plates on Jameson Lopp's list: Metal Bitcoin Seed Storage Reviews

[Wq59wy8]

You bring up a legit point about options....   

I would say it could be up to each user to determine how they desire to store it.

Just a few ideas:

1.   Put tamper tape over the words, then store it in a secure/safe location.

2.   Use 2 plates, face to face, or back to back, and then put tamper tape, which would prevent someone from identifying the letters through the tape, if that's what the concern could be.

I have not experimented with the tape...  However, each person is going to have a different set of security requirements based on how they are storing the seeds.  If you live alone with your
family on an island in the middle of the ocean, probably some Titanium would be great, but no need for tape, since there's nobody else but the family.  However, most people do not have this
type of scenario.  Having the words exposed on the plate is unique to each user, in the method it is stored.   If it's in a vault, or buried 20 feet, or stashed...   A tamper evident tape might be helpful
to proove nobody else that might have had access, didn't look at it.  However, it's all unique for everyone, and nothing is fool proof, hacker proof, or wrench proof.  It's just a matter of how far someone
really wants to go, how many levels, how many lists of passwords must one make...  It could be like the movie the National Treasure, a clue leading to another clue and it'll take 15 generations to find your
seed plate...   It also depends how organized and clean and clutter free someone is...  If a place looks like a dump with stuff everywhere, pack rats, well good luck finding something that's secret!  Security
by obscurity works good in situations like that..    If it's magazine picture perfect like Architectural Digest, well maybe a few extra layers won't hurt.  But it's unique to each persons comfort/wants/needs.

[Vod]

2.   Use 2 plates, face to face, or back to back, and then put tamper tape, which would prevent someone from identifying the letters through the tape, if that's what the concern could be.

How about a box containing a gel with the key being colored dyes on a thin strip?   Right after you introduce the sealing component  to the box, you put in on a random vial rotator so the gel will settle randomly.

As someone who just had repeat open heart surgery after 40 years, I can tell you radiology has improved to the point that you can identify changes in the mm (engravements?) on any surface even if you cannot view it directly.    I don't want to keep repeating this advice, but by the time you take this to market, a raspberry PI will be able to program a portable radiography scanner and "see" whatever modifications you made on the spot, probably within seconds if they knew the exact thickness of the plates you used.

[dkbit98]

Anyone done this before?  
Who else here likes Titanium?
What would be your ultimate wish list to check off on a design like this?
Looking for your input to see if you have something we haven't thought of and then we should have this project almost done! woohoo!

Titanium is good metal but I think it gets scratched easier than stainless steel, and it's more expensive.
There are already several titanium backup options available as finished products, and they can have their pros and cons.
Main problem for me with all metal backups is that they are usually not encrypted, so additional passphrases should be used.
I recently saw more objects made from titanium that could be interesting, like Flask bottles, cutting boards, plates, cups, etc.
I still prefer design of washers, but you might want to check JamesonLopp website for more inspiration.