"JRJohnson" wrote in message
...
| Guys, I picked up a rusty piece of steel and needing to turn it down I
tried
| cutting it in my band saw. Lo and behold, it would only cut about 3/16"
| deep. I tried to cut a section off with my acetylene torch and it
wouldn't
| even get red!!!! Finally had to grind it in two. It looks like a 1 5/8"
| diameter rod with a half inch hole down the center. Further examination
| reveals that it is a piece of soft steel (1018?) surrounding a harder
| (obviously) tube. Specs follow:
| OD 1.630. Diameter of core piece 1.245. Diameter of hole is .535. The
| core is packed with with what looks like rusty swarf, or chips. But they
| are only mildly attracted to a magnet. The hard core piece machines
nicely
| with carbide, and the chips are magnetic. The outer tube appears to be
mild
| steel. On a polished end, there is apparently a very thin layer of copper
| or brass between the outer and inner pieces. But the most remarkable
thing
| is that I held the flame of the cutting torch on the core piece for at
least
| 5 minutes without it getting hot enough to cut. Oh, color of the grinding
| sparks is almost the same as the sparks from the outer tube, IOW low
carbon
| steel sparks.
|
| For the life of me, I cannot figure out what the material is, what it is
| used for, or how it was made. Anyone have any ideas?
|
| Thanks, James Johnson
| Bewildered in Texas

I haven't checked my brain before engaging my mouth here, but doesn't
steel alloyed with zirconium do something like this or am I all wet?