tommerr Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 (edited) I have worked in an aerospace materials laboratory for 35 years. I know a bunch of world class engineers. I do not forge, I form, I shape and I machine. I have been building guns for 40 years. I have done machining for 40 years. I have done firearms engraving for 35 years. So far that makes me 150 years old. I have access to lots of equipment to analyze steels and to heat treat them. I'm getting back into flintlocks. May I have your forming suggestions? I plan to form V springs. NEVER use a car spring that has broken in use. It's a bad piece of metal. Most flat springs are 6150 but some are 9255. There are spring benders locally. I will gladly buy their scraps rather than put many hours into an old piece of metal. That is not to say that most of the old springs out there are not just fine but they have been fatigued over a lot of miles. Every bump in the road is a stress. Edited June 20, 2009 by tommerr spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Welcome to the Nut house! I Forge Iron has members from just about every walk of life and country you can imagine. I have preached warnings about "found metals" for years but I still see people ignoring the warnings and some have been hurt when a blade fails in use. I never heard of a law suit from the end user taking the maker to court, but I am sure it has happened.. I can only assume the maker may not want to advertise that when it happens. Glad to have you, You may be able to pick up some side work testing metals for people around here also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommerr Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 I analyze metals by x-ray fluoresence. That gives you everything but % carbon and sulfur. A full chemistrytakes a couple of hours. I must drill chips which get burned to produce carbon and sulfur dioxide. The instrument is basically a gas analyzer. Hardness testing is quick and simple but it leaves an indent. Therefore you supply a sample block which gets heat treated along with your work. The sample should be polished before hardening or the surface roughness can give a false "soft" reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Welcome aboard Tom, glad to have you. Testing is a subject that comes up frequently though I think most of the guys would like a set of standard shop tests a person could do without specialized equipment so the results could be compared in a meaningful way. Have they changed leaf spring steel? Last I heard it was 5160 or is "6150" a simple transposition? I do that often enough but you have me wondering. If you'll click "User CP" and edit your profile to show your location it can make a big difference. IFI is represented by members from more than 50 countries and a lot of info is location specific. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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