"Bill Swears" wrote in message
...
alloying material to have my 'expert' character tell the journeyman to
"try using a little less (or a little more) X" where X is my manganese
placeholder.

Manganese, nickel and carbon are good starting points as mentioned above.
Sulfur is by far the most sensitive impurity, however; steel gets pretty
crappy about 0.1% S! In contrast, a typical mild steel has around 0.5 to 1%
manganese and 0.2% carbon (1020 alloy).

Note that sulfur is always quoted as an impurity -- no alloy specification
has it within a range; it's always less than X. Likewise, you would never
add sulfur except to intentionally spoil a batch. Normally, pains are taken
to reduce it, e.g. good ore selection, basic (alkaline) refractory and
slags, etc. (Dolomite and magnesia are used today in the manufacture of
steel, hence the term "basic oxygen process" for example.)

To reduce carbon, add oxide -- rust, ore, etc. Alternately, introduce air
through a clay pipe as Bessemer did it originally (google "Henry Bessemer
Autobiograpy", neat stuff).

For specs, www.matweb.com has a rich database, and you can probably find
information on brittle-ductile transition temperatures for some alloys, too.

Tim

--
Deep Fryer: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms