Bed Rails

[rstegman]

I got my brother some Bed rails. He has since found they are extremely hard to cut.
What kinds of projects is the bed rails used for?

Could they work for tool steel such as for working with wood?

Thanks

[nc_cooter]

Bed rails fall in the mystery metal catagory. Heat a piece to non magnetic and quench in water or light oil. Put it in a vise and whack it . If it breaks it has at least 60 points of carbon. But it's still a mystery.

[oilfieldtrash]

It's a pretty high carbon steel but will cut fine (band saw) with a little patients . It's a little of a pain to work with, but the price is usually right. They will sometimes give them to you at garage sales. Comes in handy for making stands for drill presses, chop saws etc.

Good Luck!

[evfreek]

Hi. My spark testing guru tells me that they spark as simple high carbon steel, about 1070. Standard cautions apply on cutting or welding. Careless welds can crack. Can be hard to drill without annealing. I have never tried using them, but have heard that they make a good quickie hot cut.

[ThomasPowers]

Quick, light duty corner chisels

[Jacob]

They're good fabrication material for things around the shop. I'm making a new coal forge using them and some plate for the table. The only thing I bought was the firepot. Mine were probably medium carbon, cut with a chop saw. I still need to weld on the legs and some nuts for adjustable feet. If I find more, it might become a stock or tool rack.

[ApprenticeMan]

Gypsy says forge them flat and add an edge, and use Super Quench, they make great swords.