Thread: Round bar identification

Hi guys, I recently was given some round bar stock stamped fcn150. It came from a gun Smith shop that closed. I'm wanting to learn more about the grade of steel and what its suitable for.

Originally Posted by Ben jammin

Hi guys, I recently was given some round bar stock stamped fcn150. It came from a gun Smith shop that closed. I'm wanting to learn more about the grade of steel and what its suitable for.

I would take it to a scrapyard that has a xrf gun and ask them to shoot it for you. Most bigger yards can do this for you

Okay, thanks for the information.

Be careful with that....

The XRF gun will tell you composition of the material. It won't tell you if it's been heat treated, annealed, etc. and they can give incorrect readings if you don't have a good clean surface to shoot it against.

Now, someone who was properly trained to use an XRF gun should know all this and advise you of it. But woulda, coulda, shoulda...

Pet peeve of mine, proprietary end paint symbology. Will the society of engineers ever standardize bar end colors?

I'm going to make an almost totally unsupported speculation, and encourage you to get the sample XRF-gunned as was already suggested.

I speculate that this is a modified 4140 with an approximate tensile strength of 150,000 psi, quite possibly developed by drawing at an elevated temperature but well below the critical transition temperature.

If it turns out to be something totally different, it will not be surprising.

Originally Posted by partsproduction

Pet peeve of mine, proprietary end paint symbology. Will the society of engineers ever standardize bar end colors?

Our tool steel supplier is required to spray paint the whole piece.

A11 White
A2 Orange
D2 Yellow
S7 Blue
4140 Red
4140 PH Purple

But yes, they should standardize the colors.