Best titanium rods & accessories according to redditors

You can grab a 5/16" x 36" bar of ASTM f136 ti on amazon for under $44, which, starting from a 3/4" blank, would give you about 24 pairs of earrings. So under $2 a pair in metal materials, and completely hypoallergenic.

This will tell you a bit more about grades, but titanium itself isn't reactive to the human body (no one has ti allergies). Unless you need the strength of the alloyed medical grade stuff, sticking to grades 1-3 will be a lot cheaper and a ton easier to work with.

Edit: When I've got to pick up just a little at a time, Amazon supply is pretty great for raw materials. They've got grade 2 ti that's close to 8 gauge, but I haven't found anything smaller than that for a fair price yet.

Edit 2: 18 Gauge ti wire per foot

Edit 3: Turns out people are allergic to ti after all, unfortunately the alloyed versions aren't going to help much. They're surgical grade because they don't contain vanadium (which is used in grade 5, the most common titanium you'll find), which is toxic to humans on it's own. If someone has skin allergies from titanium, then any grade is going to cause issues.

Why would you want an unstable radioactive compound when you can get the exact thing you want? Buy on Amazon

I tried cleaning with a new dollar bill (read that that is less likely to damage sensor). I found pictures of a new one here. Honestly the bend looks pretty similar, don't you think?