That makes sense, we have had a company have us make pins that were used in harsh environments mainly for corrosion resistance, they ended up having wear issues and going to a heat treated stainless. I can remember which one now it's been several years. But you are correct if it's not a hard steel there are no worries at all with ti. Also you must have some extreme patience to make these how you do. They look impressive, I don't like running Ti even with a 50k lathe lol