I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was given to me
by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple projects for it that are
going to require machining. What would be the best guess for the alloy to
machine conservatively but without killing cutters? A36? 1018?







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On 2/20/14, 6:05 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was given to
me by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple projects for it that
are going to require machining. What would be the best guess for the
alloy to machine conservatively but without killing cutters? A36? 1018?

Do a spark test...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_testing


A bunch of videos are here... But I don't have time to wade through them
right now...

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...ng+metals&sm=1

Erik

I may be the king of mystery metal. Bought more than 20 tons at a
machine shop estate auction a few years ago.

I drill it to see how hard. Then I can tell what cutter to machine
with. For me, sparks only tell me, yes its a tool steel. can't tell
which one.

I did figure out the steel with green paint was low carbon, the yellow
paint was S7, and the red paint very likely 4140. I have 1000lbs. of
S7 and 4000 lbs. of 4140, maybe ten tons of green paint I'm calling
cold rolled. At least five tons that's likely for molds but I'll never
know for sure.

P.S. If you decide stick hardface will work for ya, I'll mail you a
care package. I've got 20 different kinds of hardface if you have a
specialty need. - Another auction, bought the whole inventory.

Karl

"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
...
I may be the king of mystery metal. Bought more than 20 tons at a
machine shop estate auction a few years ago.

I drill it to see how hard. Then I can tell what cutter to machine
with. For me, sparks only tell me, yes its a tool steel. can't tell
which one.

I will drill, spark, hack and if its hard I'll cut it like tool steel, and
if its soft I'll cut it like hot rolled.

I did figure out the steel with green paint was low carbon, the yellow
paint was S7, and the red paint very likely 4140. I have 1000lbs. of
S7 and 4000 lbs. of 4140, maybe ten tons of green paint I'm calling
cold rolled. At least five tons that's likely for molds but I'll never
know for sure.

P.S. If you decide stick hardface will work for ya, I'll mail you a
care package. I've got 20 different kinds of hardface if you have a
specialty need. - Another auction, bought the whole inventory.

Karl

I'm not a great stick welder, but I do have an old Lincoln Tombstone AC
cracker box. I could try it I suppose.





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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
....

I will drill, spark, hack and if its hard I'll cut it like tool
steel, and if its soft I'll cut it like hot rolled.


Recip saw blades are cheap enough to waste, though their speed in FPM
is hard to determine and relate to a bandsaw. I leave my bandsaw on
the tool steel speed which is the least damaging if I forget to change
it on a quick job.
jsw

"Bob La Londe" fired this volley in
:

I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was given
to me by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple projects for it
that are going to require machining. What would be the best guess for
the alloy to machine conservatively but without killing cutters? A36?
1018?

Man! Bob, that's a honkin' beeg chunka metal for a small shop guy!

Bob, inspect it fully before guessin'. Can you scratch it easily with hand
tools? Is the surface perfectly smooth (ground) or does it look rolled.
Was it sawn off the mother stock, or does it show a shearing snipe on one
end.

Does it possess any gray mill scale on the surface, or is the surface
completely clean and rusting? Does it rust?

Pick and edge, and just start to drill a hole with a 3/16" bit. If it cuts
nicely with a little oil, you can consider it plain A36 hot-rolled, even if
it is 1018 really. 1018 machines a bit more easily than A36, so if you go
with the recommended feeds-n-speeds for A36, you'll be safe.

Both alloys can be had in ground flats, but that's expensive and unusual to
find in pieces that wide. Now... if it's ground, doesn't rust much, and is
hard to mark/drill... you're on your own! G

LLoyd

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" lloydspinsidemindspring.com
Sent: Friday, February 21, 2014 4:52 AM
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.metalworking
Subject: Best Bet for Mystery Steel

"Bob La Londe" fired this volley in
:

I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was given
to me by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple projects for it
that are going to require machining. What would be the best guess for
the alloy to machine conservatively but without killing cutters? A36?
1018?

Man! Bob, that's a honkin' beeg chunka metal for a small shop guy!

Bob, inspect it fully before guessin'. Can you scratch it easily with
hand
tools?

Grabbing a scratch awl right now.... BRB ~~ I can scratch it some, but its
hard to tell if I am scratching the base metal or just the rust and paint.

Is the surface perfectly smooth (ground) or does it look rolled.

Its hard to tell. It was paited at one time, and now its about 50% rust and
50% painted surface. The rrust is not heavy scale rust, but in SQ Arizona
tat doesn't mean much. I know of unpainted homemade trailers with just a
surface layer of rust.

Was it sawn off the mother stock, or does it show a shearing snipe on one
end.

Both long sides were cut with a torch. The up end has a slightly concave
surface that looks neither sawed nor sheared to me. I can't look at the
other end easily. If I lay it down I'll need help to stand it back up. I
figured when I was ready to work on it I would rearrange some equipment and
move it with the tractor.


Does it possess any gray mill scale on the surface, or is the surface
completely clean and rusting?

Can't tell, but it has a light layer of rust and paint.

Does it rust?

Yes, but the exposed surfaces are not completely rusted.

Pick and edge, and just start to drill a hole with a 3/16" bit. If it
cuts
nicely with a little oil, you can consider it plain A36 hot-rolled, even
if
it is 1018 really.

I used a TiN coated 3/16 bit and some Tap Magic. It drills it ok, but I had
to lean on it pretty hard. I thought it wasn't going to start at first, but
the tip of the bit could be a little dull.

1018 machines a bit more easily than A36, so if you go
with the recommended feeds-n-speeds for A36, you'll be safe.

Both alloys can be had in ground flats, but that's expensive and unusual
to
find in pieces that wide. Now... if it's ground, doesn't rust much, and
is
hard to mark/drill... you're on your own! G

Its got a *very* slight bow to it in the long direction, but there is no
telling what it has been used for over the years. I was thinking about
torching out a section to make a lathe chuck adaptor plate for my new
independent jaw chuck. (and some other projects). I don't have anything
else laying around big enough to make the adaptor plate. Figured I would do
everything on the mill, and then turn the final boss for the new chuck on
the lathe its going on.




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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...

Its got a *very* slight bow to it in the long direction, but there
is no telling what it has been used for over the years. I was
thinking about torching out a section to make a lathe chuck adaptor
plate for my new independent jaw chuck. (and some other projects).
I don't have anything else laying around big enough to make the
adaptor plate. Figured I would do everything on the mill, and then
turn the final boss for the new chuck on the lathe its going on.

I have some flame-cut steel scrap that looks and cuts like HRS and has
some sheared edges, but is very hard where it was torched. I had to
leave it annealing in the wood stove overnight before I could bandsaw
it.
jsw

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was
given to me by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple
projects for it that are going to require machining. What would be
the best guess for the alloy to machine conservatively but without
killing cutters? A36? 1018?

I check scrap steel with an old file or hacksaw blade before risking a
bandsaw blade on it. You can calibrate your touch by filing 4130 or
O-1 or whatever else you have that requires extra care to machine.
jsw

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I've got a piece of mystery steel about 2' x 6' x .78". It was given to
me by a friend when he was moving. I have a couple projects for it that
are going to require machining. What would be the best guess for the
alloy to machine conservatively but without killing cutters? A36? 1018?

I check scrap steel with an old file or hacksaw blade before risking a
bandsaw blade on it. You can calibrate your touch by filing 4130 or O-1 or
whatever else you have that requires extra care to machine.
jsw

I do have some O-1 left from a punch project I can use for comparison. I
also have some known 1018 round bar I can compare to.

~~

It notches easier than 1018 with a file test. I checked three edges to make
sure I did not have a hard spot or a soft spot.


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