Identifying steels

S

STIHL

Joined
Aug 12, 1999
Messages
427
Hey folks.I see lots of people trying to identify steels used in different tools.If you know any,can you name any applications in which knife steels are used,besides knife making?What kind of steel is a crank shaft,hammer,jackhammer bits.....so on??
Name as many as you know.We all come across these metals everyday and have no idea what we are passing up.Share your knowledge.
Thanks

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Jay
Life is like a box of chocolates,never know what your gona git!
 
Jackhammer bits are S-7, planer blades are D2, sometimes A2, leaf springs are 5160, bearings are 52100, large, older saw blades are L6 and old files are W2. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but Hrisoulas has a good list in his books. "The Master Bladesmith" has the most up-to-date list.

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Oz

Now, what other news did I have? Oh yes, IT'S A GIRL!!!
See her and my latest blades @
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
Mayoknives are out of 440V, 420V, BG-42, and Talonite...I have it from reliable sources that Jerry Hossums blades are from old Jeep leafsprings..........
frown.gif


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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
Thanks to Rex and his response to my post on chisels we now know that chisels are 4140 or 4135.-Guy T.
 
Heres one for ya! Say a knifemaker buys some ats-34, 440c, and has some 1095. Say that same maker screws up big time and gets the steels all mixed up and they're not marked. How would this absolute moron figure out what was what so the heat treater wouldn't be heat treating ats as 1095 or 440c as ats?????
biggrin.gif


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http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
 
if you send a small piece of each (1" sq) to paul bos he will send them back with proper markings......its not an uncommon problem... all that stuff looks the same sitting in the corner......write all over it or spray paint it when it gets there....actually...that isnt always the solution....bob loveless got a big shipment a while back that was supposed to be ats and about 2/3s was 440c.. and I got some 416 from the same company that was supposed to be 440C...
smile.gif
Paul had rockwell tester marks all over that knife... dont remember what i ended up doing with it.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
I spark test when I can't tell. It usually becomes pretty obvious.
What I'm wondering is what the color coding on some pieces means. I have some larger chunks of bar stock, (around 60lbs or so) with red or blue painted on the ends. The blue seems to be a ferrous stainless, the red sparks like 5160, but I can't be sure without a couple more tests. Is there a standard on this color coding?

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Oz

Now, what other news did I have? Oh yes, IT'S A GIRL!!!
See her and my latest blades @
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
There is no standard on color coding.
Most manufacuters make up their own and evan that can change.
To tell the difference between carbon and stainless do a couple of easy tests.
Most stainless is nonmagnatic. Carbon steel is magnetic. If the piece being tested is magnetic then put a few drops of salty water on it overnight.Carbon steel will show much greater rusting. It helps if you have a known piece of stainless to compare to.
Nothing hogh tech here just some down and dirty tips that might be of help someday.
Rex
 
Well, I've got a huge chunk of steel that's definitely ferrous. I had to pry my neodymium magnet off of it. And it doesn't rust. Vineagar doesn't discolor it. The next question would be, what kind of steel that falls in these categories would be sold in 8" round stock?

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Oz

Now, what other news did I have? Oh yes, IT'S A GIRL!!!
See her and my latest blades @
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
It is a very good suggestion to mark or paint the different steels. I use the same colours that Texas Knifemaker's Supply uses since it is uniform. This is by no means a standard, it is just that I buy steel from those folks usually and can't afford to get my other stuff mixed up.

This is just what I do. Use or make up your own standard if you want.
C Wilkins
 
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