What kind'a steel is this????

anvilring

anvilring

Joined
Nov 29, 2000
Messages
2,869
A friend of mine,(knowing I'm ever the "forager" of scrap steel) said he'd bring me some ball bearings, big ones, from the manufacturing company he works for and, indeed, the other day he made good on his promise and showed up with these...


<img src=http://www.main.com/~wilkins/knife/steel1.jpg>

<img src=http://www.main.com/~wilkins/knife/steel2.jpg>

<img src=http://www.main.com/~wilkins/knife/steel3.jpg>

Now, do you suppose this huge bearing is 52100??? If so I don't even know how to work the stuff; does it oil quench? temper like other steels? Any hints would be helpful. I worked up a bar( took about 45 min...); there must be 4 pounds of steel per "do-dad"... I sure hope it's something cool cause it's free!!!!!

compliments & regards,
mitch
 
WOW!......those are huge! I'd love to see the whole bearing assembly with races and cages....

I'd really like to see the machine that it went to. You'd need a crane to set the bearing....I love machinery!

Sorry about the type of steel...I dunno....but those are huge rollers!

Have fun with them,

-Rob

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Robert Frink
Beaumont Metal Works
 
They might be 52100 but you can never really tell. Some roller bearings are only case hardened. The only way to tell is to forge one out...spark test it to get some idea of the carbon content then heat it up and quench it...after it is cool put it in the vise and see how it breaks. 52100 has a very small grain.
They say that the best way to heattreat 52100 is with a triple quench and a triple draw...each quench is at a lower temperature to refine the grain. I only use coal or charcoal so I have to do it by eye...so even without the triple quench it still makes a fair blade...I do use a toaster oven for drawing though. I use a mix of hydralic oil and diesel fuel
 
What exactly is the spark test? The only test I know of is to heat something to non-magnetic and see if it hardens, and that can only tell high-carbon from low-carbon and iron. I'd love to have a better way. I have a piece in the garage right now that would be a great anvil if it's hardenable steel.
Thanks!
 
grind on some and the more carbon there is in the steel. the brighter/ whiter the sparks, good stainless like ats-34 throws a three part tail in the sparks. these my be addressed in the FAQ's

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Laurence Segal www.RHINOKNIVES.com
 
Rob Frink, we had roller bearings for the trunion on the Ball mill at the Gold Mine I worked at that were about 5" diameter and 7" or so long! It took a 5500 HP motor to turn the mill. You would have liked that!
 
What brand are they? I read on the swordforum where a smith, called Timken Inc., and Timken does not use 52100. For more info on 52100 check the Ed Caffery forum on the ckd that;s one of his favorite steels.

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Sola Fide
 
Hi Mitch!
Just got back home this evening from my "around the world" jaunt. Germany, Italy, and Wash. D.C. in 10 days, boy am I pooped! Anyway, I'm inclined to suspect those bearings are case hardened. A few years ago when companies wanted to cut costs, one of the first things they did was go from bearings that were pure 52100 to the case hardened cone bearings. Case hardened bearings are approx 1/3 the cost of pure 52100 bearings. They only last about 1/2 the time in their applications, but 1/2 the time at 1/3 the cost was enough to make most of the companies go that route. The only realy way to be sure is to test a piece of one by forging it down to around 1/8" thick, and quench test it. Otherwise the best I can give you is an educated guess.

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Ed Caffrey "The Montana Bladesmith"
ABS Mastersmith
www.caffreyknives.com
 
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