Andrew T Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Found this at the scrapyard, any idea what it came from ? Can any one recommend a shop that will do a cheap chemical analysis ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 probably 1085 or 5160 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewed Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Good stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob S Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I can save you some trouble. It's iron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 I can save you some trouble. It's iron. That must have been reason the crane operator was able to pick it up with a magnet. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 great find!!!! i would not worry about exact comp forge some tools with it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 great find!!!! i would not worry about exact comp forge some tools with it!!! I probably will, though it would be fun to know the alloy as there is a fair amount of it. I was thinking of some hard use bolt on die faces, I would treat 1060 differently than 5160/6150. A local tech college instructor said he could do it (if he'd return my call). Any guesses what it came off ? Highway, off road, giant dump truck, crane, earth mover ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I got a local shop that does material analysis, its $80 to do a single sample but $100 for two (if you had anything else you wanted to know what it is) You get certified results.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george m. Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Just as a SWAG (Scientific Wild xxx Guess, more accurate than a WAG) I would say that it came off of a steam locomotive or something similar. Heavily, George M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Andrew are you willing to pay international shipping to the place or will you give us a hint on what continent you are on when you ask for something that probably needs to be "local" to you....(why we suggest folks put a general location in their profile) I would go over to my friends in the MatSci department of my local university and see if they will do it---maybe use it as a lab specimen. (I've always wanted to make up a billet with each side a different steel and sneak that into a lab test...) Anyway should be great tooling material, probably good for larger blades too. You can do the heat treat testing to see what it likes/profits from. Too heavy for hand hammering but I see a powerhammer in the back of pic 1... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Looks like a life time supply of mystery steel. You would be better off finding a local spring shop that does heavy trucks, bring beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 That little piece looks like a ready made double horn striking anvil, just add legs. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meancoyote Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 I would guess its off a railcar, looks like some I have seen on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wroughton Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 It's a monster xylophone. Obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george m. Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Could make a killer wind chime but it might only work in hurricane/tornado areas or Wyoming. Windily, George M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Only springs I can remember on a rail car are coils. When a crane lifts the trucks and axles the springs sometimes separate. They are easily re-inserted into the proper location using cranes etc. In our area we have witnessed several train derailments so watching the cranes work along with their properly trained crew was an interesting event. Most impressive to me was their large cranes they used although they were very short. At the same time I was working with cranes and draglines that were longer yet lighter in activity. Carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Only springs I can remember on a rail car are coils. When a crane lifts the trucks and axles the springs sometimes separate. They are easily re-inserted into the proper location using cranes etc. In our area we have witnessed several train derailments so watching the cranes work along with their properly trained crew was an interesting event. Most impressive to me was their large cranes they used although they were very short. At the same time I was working with cranes and draglines that were longer yet lighter in activity. Carry on David, that's what I've seen. I got a pile of springs from a train derailment, each unit was a set of three. A large, medium and small coil spring nested together, same length, different diameters. Several units on each axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george m. Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 While most modern railroad equipment uses coil springs the old steam engines used leaf springs. The size of this spring suggests to me something pretty heavy, like steam engines. Leafily, George M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 George, you may be right, although the low level of corrosion makes me think they aren't particularly old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meancoyote Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 https://www.google.com/search?q=rail+car+leaf+spring&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS439US439&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hPWVUO60Oob8igLa5IGQDg&ved=0CGUQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=721#hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS439US439&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=railroad+leaf+spring&oq=railroad+leaf+spring&gs_l=img.12...29547.31409.0.33152.4.4.0.0.0.0.110.423.1j3.4.0...0.0...1c.1.GxrD1VmJZuU&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=70af8b6b99e508a3&bpcl=37189454&biw=1600&bih=721 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 maybe off a euklid (sp?)or cat dump trks? what ever it was off of was huge. good score if you can work it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Or you could use it to make a heave hammer or two. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 George and Meancoyote, this one looks similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Gaddis Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Funny thing about springs and suspension with a great example being shown above with the locomotive. Their springs are there to allow for minute differences in tracks and manufacturing abnormalities. The view shows where the spring has been over-weighed a bit as the springs are taking on a reverse camber that is witnessed near the top extreme ends. a comparison to a far extreme is a race car, whose springs are designed to support the vehicle in straight and level travel PLUS the amount of energy it receives in the most compressive points in a curve / braking solution. in the past we used rubber o-rings on the shock struts to witness the amount of travel the suspension travelled in such situations. So if a locomotive weighs sooo many tons and there are only a few suspension points, how much calculated weight would be supported ...like as in the photo? carry on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew T Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 It's 8660. http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?MatGUID=34b70d0935204621a71abb8ea4aaf4f4 I had it tested here http://www.qcml.com It's a nickle, chrome, moly, steel with .60 carbon. I've heard of 8620 but not 8660. It's interesting to learn what was actually used in an industrial application. It will make heat treating this steel more enjoyable for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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