Mystery Materials

J

J Dotson Bladsmithing

Joined
Jan 21, 2022
Messages
8
I have a ton of steel that I have no idea what the carbon content or anything else about it, but it is tough stuff, I've made a couple of knives out of it and it performs great, but id still like to know what its made of to get optimum heat treat. does anyone here know a place I could send some steel to get it tested to show me the properties of this steel.

Thanks,
Jacob Dotson
 
With 2000 pounds of it I would suggest sending a 2"X2" piece off for analysis. That will tell you what you have and how to HT it for the best blade use.

Filling out your profile would tell us where you live, which will help with answers. Right now, all we know is you are 16 years old.

Last I recall,
Fastenal did steel analysis testing
Tru-Grit did it a while back.
Metallurgical Technologies, Inc. is a steel testing lab
A search of the internet will give you places like Clark Steel Testing.

Some of the other chaps here may have places they use currently.
 
I really appreciate the response and the good advice, I will definitely fill out my profile better, as you could probably tell I’m somewhat new to forums. Thanks
 
Search for PMI (positive material identification) services, or XRF (x-ray fluorescence) spectroscopy analysis near you. A surprising number of places have handheld units that can give a complete alloy analysis in a matter of minutes on a clean specimen. EOS (electron emission spectroscopy) is another method that you can search for. Both can give you what you want, but XRF will most likely be cheaper, faster, & more readily available.
 
check out the local scrap steel buyer.. many of them have a hand held gun that tells them what the metal is..
i used to buy from a scrap yard and saw them use this often ...
 
Just a note that an XRF gun will tell you what the alloying is, but not the carbon content.

My understanding is that 1040 and 1095 would test the same.
 
Ah, yes I am looking for carbon content mainly, also wondering if it has chromium which would effect the type of heat treat I assume, what type of testing should I pursue to get these results, PMI maybe, like Bühlmann had suggested.
 
Stacy is correct. OES is what you’ll need for carbon equivalency testing. It strikes a small series of arcs, kind of like a fancy TIG welder with the ability to measure the wavelengths of the light spectrums emitted from the test material. You’ll probably need to reach out to an actual materials lab for that kind of analysis.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top