trying to identify shaft material

chassis_builder · Oct 22, 2011

I picked up some shaft from an engine repair machine shop that closed. It appears to be cold rolled mild steel but does not machine like that. It came in a wrapper that had Storm-Vulcan on it and they are about 1.25 in diameter and 12.25 " long. They machine like very fine grain cast iron with a good surface finish. Given the Storm-Vulcan name on them does anyone have any idea what they might be?

TDegenhart · Oct 22, 2011

What you have is probably nodular iron sometimes also known as semi-steel.

Tom

rockcampbell · Oct 22, 2011

like cast iron only better

If it machines like cast iron with a better surface finish it could be a ductile iron like 80-55-06 durabar. Where a typical class 40 or 50 iron will be very brittle short chipping and dusty with tiny open pores in the surface the ductile irons leave a lot smoother finish and will make a chip that holds together better into short spirals.

Ductile iron bushings have superior wear properties to plain cast iron and will roller burnish to a near mirror finish so if they were repairing blocks or other cast items by boring and bushing holes it is a possibility.

Of course to be sure you could have a piece tested by somebody with a Niton XRF gun. Check around your local scrap yards to see if one has a tester and what they would charge to check a piece.

chassis_builder · Oct 23, 2011

rockcampbell said:
If it machines like cast iron with a better surface finish it could be a ductile iron like 80-55-06 durabar. Where a typical class 40 or 50 iron will be very brittle short chipping and dusty with tiny open pores in the surface the ductile irons leave a lot smoother finish and will make a chip that holds together better into short spirals.

Ductile iron bushings have superior wear properties to plain cast iron and will roller burnish to a near mirror finish so if they were repairing blocks or other cast items by boring and bushing holes it is a possibility.

Of course to be sure you could have a piece tested by somebody with a Niton XRF gun. Check around your local scrap yards to see if one has a tester and what they would charge to check a piece.

This is exactly how it machines. I can get some chips that come off as short spirals and it doesn't make the dust that you usually get from cast iron. How will this compare in strength to CR mild steel? I was going to use it to make some cross-shafts for suspension a-arms.

johnoder · Oct 23, 2011

going to use it to make some cross-shafts for suspension a-arms

Nothing like mild steel for ductility. If you actually want to make suspension parts from it, it should only be on your privately operated vehicle that is not used on public roads.

J.O.

gbent · Oct 23, 2011

chassis_builder said:
I was going to use it to make some cross-shafts for suspension a-arms.

Like Johnoder says, not on public roadways.

Never make any critical part from mystery metal.

LKeithR · Oct 23, 2011

gbent said:
Never make any critical part from mystery metal.

I think this is something which should be drilled into every apprentice machinist--or fabricator, for that matter. I suspect that many of us have "gambled and lost" on a piece of material of unknown origin and now have the scars, either physical or mental, to prove it. I had an incident many years ago that taught me this lesson. Fortunately the only consequences were a blow to my pride and a few hundred dollars worth of rework to make up for a momentary lapse of judgement. Still, a lesson well learned...

chassis_builder · Oct 23, 2011

I was going to use it for the cross-shafts when I thought it was CR but now that I know it isn't I will be getting some different material. Thanks for the responses from everyone.

Turnaround007 · Jan 20, 2020

I am guessing the rounds are for inserting into the tail stock and the head stock, and grinding test pieces without changing the "plunge settings" once you grind the head stick's piece of round. That is how one tests to check for wear on the table's ways, and tells you if both head and tail stocks are on the same centerline.

Turnaround007 · Jan 20, 2020

The old guys used a spark test which is pretty accurate actually. You use your bench grinder to grind some known cheapee bolts (SAE 1020?) and on up through grade eight bolts, then grind some engine block type cast iron, some farm gate hinge wrought iron, some good fine grain cast iron, and some alloy steel with Moly, nickel, etc. You will see red with greens, blues, etc, when you grind the high strength steel alloys, and you with see red/orange sparks when you grind steels and cast irons. The star burst patterns of the grinding sparks are vastly different from mild steel (SAE 1020-30), to medium carbon steel (SAE1030-1060), to high carbon steel (SAE 1060-1090), and finally the different grey - white - pearlitic - and wrought irons.

janvanruth · Jan 20, 2020

in future before answering to a thread have a look at how old it is

Search

Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web

Search

trying to identify shaft material

chassis_builder

Aluminum

TDegenhart

Diamond

rockcampbell

Aluminum

chassis_builder

Aluminum

johnoder

Diamond

gbent

Diamond

LKeithR

Stainless

chassis_builder

Aluminum

Turnaround007

Plastic

Turnaround007

Plastic

janvanruth

Titanium

Similar threads