Ht 4130?

S

SGerman

Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
55
I have an off the wall question for you. I'm a machinist at a company that makes sprint car frames and everything we make is out of 4130 tubing. I can get all the scrap I want, but I'm not sure if it's even worth bothering with so I'm asking the pros here about it first.

I know it can be heat treated, but would it get hard enough to be serviceable for forging and general knife making?

thanks in advance,
Steve
 
i think the carbon content might be too low. mete would be the one to answer this question though since he's the resident metallurgist.
 
I personally won't use any steel that has less than .6% carbon for a knife. I don't if you could get the steel hard enough with less carbon, but if you can, the heat treat would have to be just about perfect. I am no where near perfect, and stick with steels that are easy to heat threat, easy to get hard and easy to temper back to the proper hardness and toughness that is desired. The 30 at the end of the steel number is the carbon content, thus it has .3% carbon. 5160 has about .6% carbon, 1084 has about .84% carbon, and on and on. 52100 has about 1% carbon.
 
scottickes said:
I personally won't use any steel that has less than .6% carbon for a knife. I don't if you could get the steel hard enough with less carbon, but if you can, the heat treat would have to be just about perfect. I am no where near perfect, and stick with steels that are easy to heat threat, easy to get hard and easy to temper back to the proper hardness and toughness that is desired. The 30 at the end of the steel number is the carbon content, thus it has .3% carbon. 5160 has about .6% carbon, 1084 has about .84% carbon, and on and on. 52100 has about 1% carbon.
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this is why im amazed that INFI has only .5% carbon

It would make a good hammer think.
 
I already knew the designation for the carbon content, I just wasn't sure if .3 was usable enough to make anything more than a butter knife or not. =)

"It would make a good hammer I think." After our customers get through playing with our frames they look more like (very expensive) wadded up spaghetti.

Thanks for the verdict Scott, That settles that question for me.

Steve
 
4140 makes good hammers and 'hawks ,4130 might not do that well .Besides you'd have to forge it to a solid rather than tubing.....Since I work at Rally New York I see that type of tubing before and after !! Since you work with 1.5-1.75" tubing you could send some to Scott to use as a canister for his damascus !
 
mete said:
4140 makes good hammers and 'hawks ,4130 might not do that well .Besides you'd have to forge it to a solid rather than tubing.....Since I work at Rally New York I see that type of tubing before and after !! Since you work with 1.5-1.75" tubing you could send some to Scott to use as a canister for his damascus !
Click to expand...

I think it would cost more for shipping than it would cost me to go to the local metal supplier and buy what I need.

I like the sense of humor though. ;)

Ickie
 
I was out in my garage/smithy looking to see if my copy of "IT Diagrams" from US Steel, had any info on W2, didn't find any but I did run across 4130. Check out the pic. it shows a top as quenched HR of 50.

PICT2509.jpg
 
Implied, but not specifically said:

No, 4130 will not work for a knife. Carbon is too low, won't get very hard.

I believe INFI achieves the hardness it does by substituting nitrogen in place of carbon. Similar mechanism, different element, similar final result.
 
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