are these hot-rolled or cold-rolled?

D

DB731

Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
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I have two bars, one is 1/2" and the other 5/8".

Based on appearance alone, would you guess that these are HR or CR? They both feel concentric, but the rust throws me off as far as texture. Btw, the "blue" surface on hot-rolled pieces, if left alone, does that last indefinitely? Also, the file easily marks both bars.

I would bet on both being C1018, but I wanted to run it by folks who handle steel every day.

Thanks

(apparently imgsafe doesn't like my photos) :confused:
 
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Hard to see definitively from the pics, but it looks to me like there's some mill scale on the bottom bar, which would indicate that it's likely been hot rolled. The top bar seems to have a shiny finish (although somewhat dinged up), which would indicated that it's either cold rolled, or it was polished/cleaned up after the fact. A mic reading could give you some insight, as cold roll is often finished at a slightly tighter dimensional tolerance, and hot roll is usually a little larger in common dimensions. This isn't always the case, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

As for the steel type, it's likely A36 or 1018. More most applications, the difference in HR vs CR is pretty negligible. What did you have in mind for end use?
 
knife to a gunfight said:
As for the steel type, it's likely A36 or 1018. More most applications, the difference in HR vs CR is pretty negligible. What did you have in mind for end use?
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Fishing: long distance slab casting spoons...and free exercise since I use a hacksaw. I read a post from a guy who complained that the hot-rolled stuff periodically ruins his band saw blades, since there are hard chunks inside, so that was my main concern, and curiosity.
 
DB731 said:
Fishing: long distance slab casting spoons...and free exercise since I use a hacksaw. I read a post from a guy who complained that the hot-rolled stuff periodically ruins his band saw blades, since there are hard chunks inside, so that was my main concern, and curiosity.
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Cold Rolled is often annealed after rolling, which does make it easier to cut than Hot Rolled. Keep a little bit of cutting oil on your blade and use quality blades, and you should be ok, though it does tend to wear blades out a bit faster.
 
Are you forging these into fishing spoons or using them as weights? If you are forging, it won't matter. Cold work is another story.

HRS is less likely to be work hardened. A Master Blacksmith friend of mine told me he sent back a whole shipment of bar stock because it was CRS. He claimed it was to inconsistent for decorative iron work(as he does most of the bends and scroll work, cold). He also has a big honkin' set of bolt cutters that makes short work of 3/4" round.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Are you forging these into fishing spoons or using them as weights? If you are forging, it won't matter. Cold work is another story.

HRS is less likely to be work hardened. A Master Blacksmith friend of mine told me he sent back a whole shipment of bar stock because it was CRS. He claimed it was to inconsistent for decorative iron work(as he does most of the bends and scroll work, cold). He also has a big honkin' set of bolt cutters that makes short work of 3/4" round.
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I slice them, for the lack of a better term. There are several names associated with lures of this general type (Kastmaster, Deadly Dick, Point Jude, Halco..and a few generic/store brands). A person can also buy the cutout blanks and put them together. Typically brass is used, and sometimes materials of lesser quality. I try to keep mine different from theirs, which also allows me to come up with pieces in my desired sizes, proportions, angles, profiles, and colors (Rustoleum spray paints).

Due to my crude and primitive methods, I am guaranteed to never have two that are the same, which is also good as far as the fish are concerned, plus it adds a bit of an artistic flavor to it if you will. If nothing else, it's free exercise. Very effective free exercise.

3/4" bar with bolt cutters? Damn.

Example of a failed generic (saw it on Amazon)

My stuff (my shop was made possible by generous grants from NASA and Boeing):

What gives, imgsafe? :confused:
 
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12345678910 said:
303 cuts beautifully. 304 is miserable.

Also consider
http://www.onlinemetals.com/productguides/stainlessguide.cfm



I found the supermarket to be very expensive
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Cool, thanks for the wise words.

The only reason the supermarket is my first place to look is because there are 3 of them in my area, so that cuts down on shipping. However, between my 3 local ones, I noticed they charge different prices for the exact same item. Struck me as kinda odd since they are the same company. Also, when I ask the guy on the phone how much a certain item is, it sometimes feels like he is making up prices as he goes..could be a misperception on my part.
 
12345678910 said:
303 cuts beautifully. 304 is miserable.
Click to expand...

I did get a bar of 303 last night (1/2" round, 2 feet) and when I got home noticed it is somewhat magnetic. I used the same small magnet on the flat handle of a regular spoon (?304) and it demonstrated a much stronger attraction. Is this a normal finding for 303? The reason I ask is because the source states "non-magnetic in the annealed condition" and I did ask the guy if it was annealed before getting it and he said yes. Magnetic properties matter not to me, but I would like to avoid any surprises when I start cutting this thing...

Thanks again

PS I just learned this. Cool. :D:D

"303 could be slightly magnetic if the bar is annealed and cold finished, which is very common. The magnetic attraction is a function of the amount of cold work in the material, so a small amount of cold work would support a small magnet but not a larger one. With a larger magnet, it might be difficult to detect the attraction if the amount of cold work is small. The better method for determining the condition of the material is a hardness test. Can the supplier provide you a material certificate that shows the hardness and tensile strength? If you have access, a Rockwell B hardness testing could be easily performed on your bar to verify. The hardness should be less than 90 HRB if the bar is annealed."

PS I did the simplest test of all (DUH) by running a file across the cross section. Bites in nicely. :cool::cool:
 
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