Found this at the scrapyard, any idea what it came from ?
Can any one recommend a shop that will do a cheap chemical analysis ?

probably 1085 or 5160

Good stuff!

I can save you some trouble.

It's iron.

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. :)

great find!!!! i would not worry about exact comp forge some tools with it!!!

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 ?

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..

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.

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...

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.

That little piece looks like a ready made double horn striking anvil, just add legs.

Phil

I would guess its off a railcar, looks like some I have seen on them.

It's a monster xylophone. Obviously.

Could make a killer wind chime but it might only work in hurricane/tornado areas or Wyoming.

Windily,
George M.

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

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.

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.

George, you may be right, although the low level of corrosion makes me think they aren't particularly old.

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

maybe off a euklid (sp?)or cat dump trks? what ever it was off of was huge. good score if you can work it!

Or you could use it to make a heave hammer or two. :D

George and Meancoyote, this one looks similar.

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

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.