a lifetime of making & repairing beginning w/ straightening bent nails , scrounging scrap from construction sites during the preWW2 depression , so i cud build what i wanted ( still have a set of dumbells made at age 11 from mobile oilcans ,pipe & left over concrete from a sidewalk pour , & a kitchen knife i rehandled for mother w/ disintegrated pine wood ,hammered & filed stove bolts, that i made a year earlier...showed the dumbells to 6 grand sons , but they all had nice new ones & were not impressed , cans are 1/2 rusted off of the concrete ).... ....& later when such things were no longer a necessity , i cud not seem to break the habit ofmaking / repairing instead of discarding or farming it out ...i thot that if some one else made / repairs it , well ,i shud d be able to as well ., & i attempted it , economically feasable or NOT....
..i make no claims for originality , although i may have improved upon some one elses creativity a time or two ....what i have learned is from experience ( read that w poor judgement as a component ),taking ANY job i cud get as a youth ,reading everything i cud get my hands on & picking the brains of every old man that wud talk to me ....from stock making & checkering /carving , barrel fitting ,reamer making chambering , thru brass /string instrument repair ,professional musician for 15 of those years,20 yrs as a dentist ( i DID have some formal training there) to the last 30 yrs of farming , farm implement reconditioning ,framing , masonry , electrical & plumbing homes. (southern comfort constructiion co) ,& filling a basement /garage w/ multiples of 50 yr old thru pre civil war machine tools , & returnning them to function. ...the more i got into varied machine tools the more fascinated i was .....spent the llast 10 + years trying to become as competant as i can w. all the standard toolroom machines , cutting gears , making tooling ,, machine tool accessories , (stdy rests, follower rests , threading dials ,etc..)., attempting to mentor to some , & RETURN what knowledge i have to those w/ less , thereby REPAYING some debts i feel i have to those that are now gone.
now you know more than you wanted to know .............that great line from "Me & Bobby McGee"..."..freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose "..... keeps running thru my mind ....
best wishes
doc....
-----Original Message-----
From: Jacjie <irene4pops@yahoo.com>
To: atlas_craftsman <atlas_craftsman@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Jun 18, 2012 6:41 pm
Subject: Re: [atlas_craftsman].. M HOY.. steels by SPARK TEST
Great stuff, Doc. Must have taken a lifetime to learn.
--- On Mon, 6/18/12, Doc <n8as1@aol.com> wrote:
From: Doc <n8as1@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [atlas_craftsman].. M HOY.. steels by SPARK TEST
To: atlas_craftsman@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, June 18, 2012, 4:47 PM
> . When you come across scrap it would be nice to know
> what you are looking at.
-----Original Message-----
To: atlas_craftsman <atlas_craftsman@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Jun 17, 2012 6:10 pm
Subject: Re: [atlas_craftsman] C
On Jun 17, 2012, at 6:51 PM, ML_Woy wrote:
> Now can someone tell me how to tell the difference between Cold Rolled Steel
> and Hot Rolled Steel?. When you come across scrap it would be nice to know
> what you are looking at
here is my way :
a spark test is the simple test for scrounged steel , sparking it on a grinding wheel ( moderate push on wheel)
......rule one- .always take a sharp file to unknown steel before destroying a hacksaw blade or a cutter ...think abt why i made that rule ...
lo , med & high carbon ----..high carbon has white /light yellow streaks w/ carbon star bursts at the ends EVERY WHERE ...moderate bursts for 1045 or so & scanty bursts for 1020 .....shove a file against the stone in dull light & remember what you see ,.high carbon,-.abt 1% +/-..(W-1) ....do same w/ known cold rolled 1020 & note the difference ...1045 is between the two ....oil hardenening steel ....... 0-1 has alloys & wants to hide the bursts...... you need to spark some known 0-1 drill rod ......other alloy steels have orangish yellow streaks w/ few carbon bursts ...again spark some 4140 & mark it for when you forget what it looks like ( do that for the others you sparked)..hi speed M2 has long orange streaks w/out the bursts .... spark your high speed lathe bits ,& remember .......sharp file on dead soft steel is easy to tell...... as is glass hard....w/ some
practice you can estimate 1/2 hard ( spring steel , tempered at abt 550 -575 F.....take a file to strapping steel or a flat spring & remember how it bites....
steel rod better finished than cold rolled is a good chance to be 1045 steel shafting ...if polished up more , a good chance it is HARDENED shafting if you have THIS stuff , throw it in your roaring fireplace next winter & leave it there in the ashes to cool down all nite ....
rear axles are tough steel but usually machineable ...slightly .bent ones are scrap form autio repair places...w/ hi speed bits , around 45 SFM speeds on the ones i have had. years ago ..
..
i expect this can be refined for different alloys & different high speed steels , but this has served me adeqautely for abt 50 yrs
hope this helps
best wishes
doc
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