4140 swage blocks

[Steeltoe762]

I have recently aquired four 8" round pcs of 4140 about 2" thick and are 30lbs each. Im wantin to weld em togeather so I have 2 pairs and milling the features into both sides. Anyone have any advice on heat treating em?

[Sweany]

http://www.metalsuppliersonline.com/research/property/metals/25.asp

[monstermetal]

My advice would be if your going to spend a bunch of time machining them pay to have them professionally heat treated ( actually I dont think you need to heat treat them at all... but if you want them hard then the $100 or so it will cost will be well spent)


Welding them together seems like a issue to me as well... 4140 is a weldable alloy but I think it would be much easier to have 4 separate swages rather than one you have to keep flipping over... Make a holder that they drop in and a rack that holds the three not being used below... that way they are easy to handle and transport and can be updated and modified as needed....

[ThomasPowers]

I'd go with the 4 separate ones---each one could be set up with different edge shapes so if you travel you could only take the set(s) you needed.

Or were you thinking of making them 4" thick instead of 2"?

I'd still go with the 4 separate ones unless you do a lot of work with stuff that is wider than 2"!

[pkrankow]

If you are welding for the sake of machining, then I would drill 2-4 holes and bolt with substantial bolts and nuts. This will give you a secure set to mount. You can drill different sizes so you have the finished size you desire, even though it would require different bolt sizes for location purposes.

Phil