I have access to a few pieces of 3 1/2 diameter 9015 steel about 6" long (some more). What would the use of that size be appart from a massive paperweight? They are going to be recycled unless i grab em.... Would be sad to see such nice steel going....

Ideas , thoughts?

A few thoughts:

- slice them into 1/8" discs and use them under candle cups when making candle holders

- slice them into about 3/8" thick and weld to handles, drift a tapered square hole, to make tools for making nails

- slice them into 1" lengths and weld to angle iron to make one side of a bender for your vise(s).

- mount them on end as small anvils

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Now the silly thoughts:

- point then on the ends and make large lawn jarts

- weld them and other scrap into a random sculpture, put on a hat and scarf and insist that it is art worthy of a museum

- gather up some large plastic soda bottles and use them as bowling balls at the next picknic

- paint them to look like soup cans and put them discretely into the inlaws' pantry.

 

I bet that folks here can keep this thread going for the next five years! :)

9015 is a stainless with 1.0 nickle have never used it but sure you come up with. 3 1/2" is a lot to work by hand. Hope you have a power hammer.

Wasn't thinking of forging it.. my weee rivet forge couldn't even handle that lol

 

Just curious as I am new to this and was seeing what could be done.

 

I'm liking the idea of turning them into various "anvils".. they are pretty beefy chunks of steel.

I'm with Dave on the mount them on  end and use them as a small anvil.  It would work very well that way.

Use them as anvils.  By all means don't throw them away!  That way when a young buck comes along wanting to learn something about blacksmithing from you he'll have a nice hunk of steel to beat on while he learns how to swing a hammer.  Then, if you're feeling really generous, you can give him one of those pieces to use as his first anvil.  That would probably mean the world to a young guy trying to get started.

Definately paint a couple for the pantry!  16 pounds is quite funny!

 

Give them as "bench anvils" to all your friends for Christmas.

 

Phil

Quick update. I was mistaken, the material is actually 8620. 4" diameter and i got a few pieces 16" long. 

I was mistaken with another stock we run often around here.

May get one of em milled flat on two sides to get a flat surface to work with.

4 inch diameter 16 inches long is just shy of 60#. 

 

You can cut one into 1.5 inch thick disks so you can weld them to hardy shanks and forge swage shapes into them. 

 

Phil

Dang now thats a score....

Find a forging friend with a beefy hydraulic press, first heat press them to two flat sides. second+ heats lay rod of various diameters on it and press in for a mini swage block. Cold work: find a local VoTech and have them turn a couple into hardy hole cones

That swage block idea is good. Dont know too many smiths around my area, would have to find new friends i think!

I have a pc of 4" dia by 12" that i have scheduled to go on one of our lathes to turn into a cone mandrel.

Could I see some pictures? For curiosity's sake :).

I have some 4" cubes that I have used press on label disks to make "dice".

Take 'em now before they slip away, worry about what to do later! Put em in the stockpile or trade for some stock you can use.

 

Steve

So I grabbed 3 of the big ones, pretty sure i pulled something i my hand when i pulled them out of the scrap bin, they were in the bottom! They are sitting in the back of my car, which im pretty sure didn't like it too much on the drive back.

Ill grab a picture later for the curious.

I would deffinatly take one at least and stick it in a 5 gal bucket of concrete for a post anvil.  Many people use anvils just like that with great success.

That's a great idea! One of the ends is already pretty flat... with a nice chamfer all around.

 

In the back of my messy car... they had a 0.030"+ bend in them, which made them useless to our shop.

Does NFG stand for what I think it does? :D

Yes. I can thank my brother for that...

So I grabbed 3 of the big ones, pretty sure i pulled something i my hand when i pulled them out of the scrap bin, they were in the bottom! They are sitting in the back of my car, which im pretty sure didn't like it too much on the drive back.

Ill grab a picture later for the curious.

3.5 in diam equals almost 3 pounds per inch of length (actually 2.7 pounds) or 32 pounds per foot. Close to 100 pounds there.

They are actually 4".. and about 16-18" long... I estimate about 60# per bar. My car was feeling it.

Sorry, missed the diam correction. 4" is about 43 pounds/ft or 64 pounds for 18 inches.

If you have a metal band saw, you can make bases for small pieces of art...  I cut rounds at an angle, drill a mounting hole and sand with 36 grit sandpaper on a belt grinder.    Sometimes I just texture.  The candle holder and dragon have straight cuts.  Spray with lacquer, plastic or polyurethane and you have a great looking base.