Getting steels analyzed

[BloodrootBlades]

I have some batches of steel that I would like to put through a spectrometer for accurate readings of their chemical composition. The one company I found that does this won't return my emails, probably because I'm not a big enough industry. Do any of you have recommendations of who to send steel to for analysis?

~Luke

 

[BloodrootBlades]

Really? I know that some of you guys send steel off for analysis when you get batches of steel in. . .

 

[Leethal Cutlery]

Just google a metallurgic lab and find one closest to you.

 

[elementfe]

Or try local recycling yards, they often have the capability.
Ours has a "gun" but trying to get them to use it is like pulling teeth...

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

A PIM gun won't tell you what type of steel it is. It will tell you the alloy ingredients. That's a lot of help sorting stainless fom carbon, but no help sorting 1095 fron 1030.

 

[elementfe]

Oh, very interesting, thank you Stacy.

 

[sunshadow]

The gun is not particularly accurate and will not really pick up low mass elements like carbon that don't scatter X-rays. A good lab will have an X-ray spec, a mass spec and a carbon/sulfur analyzer

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