testing steel

[v-6]

anyone know where to send a piece of steel to have it tested to see what it is?
any idea the cost to have it done, and what size to send.
vern

 

[Will Leavitt]

V6, do I need to mail you some "known" steel? lol

 

[Dan Seaver]

Talk with a scrap recycler. Some alloys are worth more when it is sold rather than smelted; so they have equipment that tells them the composition of the alloy and sometimes the alloys name.

-Dan

 

[v-6]

V6, do I need to mail you some "known" steel? lol

sure, will
i have a lot of 3/16 x 2' by 5' , so i don't know what it is. i made a knife out of it and the file skated across it fine.
i quenched it in oil and it did not warp or crack, but i did not know if i Quench was right.
vern
ps: this came from a jd auction.

 

[scottickes]

A John Deere auction in Ottumwa isn't surprising considering that John Deere makes hay balers and mower conditioners there. I used to visit the JD Ottumwa Works about once a month back in the late 90s and early 2000s. We were even "Supplier of the Year" there a couple of times.

v-6
I'd like to make a suggestion. Take up the offer for a known steel! Put your mystery steels in the corner for a few years. Pick one and only one, good, simple to work with known steel and learn on it. You'll have much more success. STEEL IS INEXPENSIVE! For a $1 investment in a good, known steel you can make a knife. The handle material and the time is the expensive part of making a knife. Why spend time on mystery steels, until you understand how to work with them?

 

[v-6]

well i bought 25' 3/16 x1 1/2 1095 from kellys, marks forge web site has the wrong price sheet so dont go by it. ya, i'll have some good steel next week.
vern

 

[scottickes]

The next time I come to Fairfield, Iowa to see my step daughter and the grandkids, I'll try to find some time to visit you, if you'll have me.