A nice XRF runs something less than $20K USD and the periodic
certification runs a bit as well.

Wish I had one - my scrap guy has one and sets the percentage to ignore
below. So exotic steel sells for steel unless you can show the mix.

I get QA papers on the armor plate / ballistic steel. Different mills
have their mix to make the same general spec.

Martin

On 6/25/2014 8:45 PM, DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2014-06-25, wrote:
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 11:10:56 PM UTC-4, PrecisionmachinisT wrote:




Without certs, you won't know if it "behaves like 4140" until it doesn't.

For a *hobby* user (most of us here) -- "behaves close enough to
4140" is sufficient for most applications.

And usually -- a spark test, and a rough feel for how difficult
it is to machine would be sufficient.

If it *really* matters (if you are designing close to the limits
of the material), buy material with certs. For the rest of the time,
use "close enough" to play with.

http://www.oxford-instruments.com/in...identification

Dan

I note that the above URL doesn't give any clue as to the price,
which suggests that you don't *want* to know the price. :-)

And based on that -- how much "close enough" would you have to
process to make a match for the cost of the tester?

Enjoy,
DoN.