Mystery steel

S

sircantaloupe

Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
399
This is a piece of steel used in the construction of the Phoenix light rail system. The tracks sort of sit on a buffer bed of these, rather than on ties. I have a sort of foolish hope that a knife could be forged from it, but chances are it's not suitable. That aside, can anyone make sense of the stamp on it or offer any information on it?

img1568y.jpg


img1572f.jpg


img1570.jpg
 
I've read of a few people using various railway spring clips for blade and it seems to be pretty solid blade material.
 
Hi Friend,

Have you worked with any of it yet? Spark test? Heat, straighten, quench and snap/crack it? That kind of stuff might likely inform you as to whether or not you wanted to pursue further discovery. Do you have access to a fair amount of it?

All the best, Phil
 
Farmer Phil said:
Hi Friend,

Have you worked with any of it yet? Spark test? Heat, straighten, quench and snap/crack it? That kind of stuff might likely inform you as to whether or not you wanted to pursue further discovery. Do you have access to a fair amount of it?

All the best, Phil
Click to expand...

I have some steel I would like to find out if it would work. can you point me in the direction of a description of these test?

MG
 
MG, what part of Bama? I may be able to point you in the direction of a nearby maker. I understand the desire to make blades out of found stuff but you'll often be better served by just buying some steel from a supplier.
 
sircantaloupe said:
This is a piece of steel used in the construction of the Phoenix light rail system. The tracks sort of sit on a buffer bed of these, rather than on ties. I have a sort of foolish hope that a knife could be forged from it, but chances are it's not suitable. That aside, can anyone make sense of the stamp on it or offer any information on it?

img1568y.jpg


img1572f.jpg


img1570.jpg
Click to expand...

I don't have a clue what the stamp means. Someone connected with that rail line may be able to tell you more. If you can find out what they are then you will know for sure how to treat the steel heat wise.
If I am understanding the purpose of those clips I would bet they are some kind of a good spring steel. They might just make a real good knife. But like Will said, without knowing for sure its a shot in the dark as how to go about treating the steel. :confused:
 
Will Leavitt said:
MG, what part of Bama? I may be able to point you in the direction of a nearby maker. I understand the desire to make blades out of found stuff but you'll often be better served by just buying some steel from a supplier.
Click to expand...

about 10 minutes from you, prattville

MG
 
Hi __________(sircantaloupe) and Folks,

There are a dozen or so photos of portions of the rail construction at this sight, http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/4528/1/14. (There were several breaks that developed and needed repair.) I didn't catch sight of any of those spring looking clips though. Sure seems like it would be fun to find out what they are. The reason I asked if you have access to a fair amount of them is, that if you wanted to, you could easily get an alloy analysis done and know exactly what you had. It all really depends on what you have fun doing. Many folks would not enjoy exploring found steel like that at all. Many others would.

Those who do like to do that sort of thing often fall into a few camps (from my observation): the naive amateur, the primitive-crafts craftsman and/or the seasoned skilled veteran who has an intimate, experienced, even intuitive knowledge of steel. We all start somewhere right. It's just a matter of deciding where one wants to start. Many folks will suggest not starting where you are making your inquiry and encourage you to get a piece of steel of a know alloy that you can then know its HT recipes for, etc. Folks will often report that the two can meet, such as by getting an analysis done, for instance.

MG: I have not made much of a study of the spark test, but many folks have. Here are a few links...

As to the heat-quench-and-snap "test". I have done that one a "few" times. It's not foolproof (now there's a term) but can sometimes put you in the ball park (or not). You know how if you took a drill bit, clamped it in a vise and hit it from the side with a hammer it would snap right in two, but if you did it with a nail the nail would just bend? It's like that.

Many high carbon steel alloys will act like the drill bit when you heat them to red hot (past it's becoming nonmagnetic) and quench it in water. If it still bends then its probably mild steel. Anyway, this can often help you discover some stuff about the steel. If you have a bunch of it and it hardens up, then it may be worth getting an analysis done so you can find out the exact composition.

You should probably take all this with the proverbial grain of salt, as it's coming from a somewhat naive amateur!

All the best, Phil
 
I hail from the extreme end of "naive amateur." Sadly, I only have the one piece - I picked it up while the light rail was under construction and they were lying around discarded. This is where I picked it up from - an overpass, where the rails sit on a raised buffer of this clips.

As for testing, well, this piece of steel is 3/4in thick, so no bending is happening, and there's no kiln or furnace available for heating it. Spark testing is out as well, unless I use my wall current; not something I'm eager to play with.

If any makers want to play with this, I would be happy to ship it their way, with no expectations other than learning what they discoveries.
 
Sorry to bring up an old thread but reading through some other forums gave me an idea of what this is. It's a rail clip, some guys make monosteel Japanese style blades with them, supposed to be 1060 or so, would make a good chopping type of blade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top