DrollTroll wrote:
Awl--

Went to cut a worn-out caster the other day to salvage the balls in
the bearing raceway, and was shocked to find that my 4x6 bandsaw
simply skated over the shell -- the sides that are formed/bowed, that
eventually contains the axle for the wheel.

Looked like run of the mill galvaninzed soft steel, but which seem
tough as concrete nails, with a rockwell!

Whazzup?? Is this some kind of special alloy, for strength?
Hardened too? Seems like overkill on a pretty light duty small caster
-- I think it came off an old stereo cabinet or such.

I also found out the hard way how hard speaker magnets are -- ruined
the not-so-cheap blade on a 16" DoAll.
In particular, this was a black ring surrounding the yellow-zinc
back, which I think houses the "main" magnet, which is what I was
after. Didn't hardly dent this black ring, which "looks" super-soft.

Beware!

Put torch to that "yellow-zinc back," and it will pry off. It's just
glued.