Evan Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 I went to ace hardware today to check out some hammers, and while they were complete xxxx, i also noticed that they sell steel. cold pressed and hot pressed, or something like that, just bars of sheet steel, in various sizes, not very thick but wide, some angle iron, and rod steel. they call it 'weldable steel' and have no real other information on it. am i to assume it is low-carbon steel, or just not very high quality in general? i bought a 1/8"x1"x3' bar and a 3/8"x3' rod, i figure ill just xxxx around with it, make some tongs or something. anyways, i wanted to know if you guys knew anything about this steel, or if any commercial steel from hardware stores is any good, or if its all just xxxx thanks again for all your help, Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny99 Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 It's A-36. What you would call mild steel. Fine for forging,albeit rather expensive to buy at the hardware store. You could just about buy a twenty foot length at a steel yard for what you pay for three feet at Ace. If you were thinking you could make knives out of it, your out of luck, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 sounds good, thank you. i'm sure i'll find plenty of things to make out of it. i got some rr spikes i found that i'm going to use for knives anyway. :> thanks again johnny. knowledge is power, heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 RR spikes do not make a great knife either---according to published spec they top out at the very bottom of "medium carbon steel" at 30 points of Carbon---and that's for the "HC" ones! A piece of car coil or leaf spring will generally have *twice* as much carbon as a RR spike and are generally able to be found for free too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 i always hear people saying they are easy to find, but the only way i could think to get them was by going to an autowrecker shop at which point they're definitely not free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BT Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Evan Check with the local car and truck repair shops and tire places that do repair work. They usually throw away any broken spring sets that they replace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Evan, I picked up on a part of your post that I thought I should comment on just for clarification. they call it 'weldable steel' and have no real other information on it. am i to assume it is low-carbon steel, or just not very high quality in general? anyways, i wanted to know if you guys knew anything about this steel, or if any commercial steel from hardware stores is any good, or if its all just xxxx thanks again for all your help, Evan I get the impression that you're equating carbon content to a steel's quality. Don't confuse them, they are very different concepts. It's more about a particular steel's appropriateness for a particular use. Sure mild steel like the A36 that you bought at Ace is not a good choice for a knife blade or punch. But by the same token a piece of air hardening tool steel would probably not be a great choice to make a pair of hinges out of. Not trying to be preachy, just want to make sure you're getting started off with correct information. However, as others suggested you probably got robbed as far as the price you payed. I've done it in a pinch 'cause none of the steel yards are open on weekends, but it's a last resort, jut for that last piece so I can finish some larger project. Oh yea. The dumpster at Les Schwab's Tire Centers is a veritable mother lode as I'm sure any such place would be. Springs (leaf and coil), axles, torsion bars, drive shafts, tie rods, wheels, etc. etc. etc...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Yes buying auto springs from a junk yard usually costs more than asking for them at any auto repair place. To get really good steel of that ilk find a spring shop that *makes* them and ask for their scrap as it will be un-damaged by use. I had a student who worked at a place that converted trucks into EMT ambulances and the first thing they did was to throw out the brand new springs and replace them with HD ones. Doesn't take too many stacks to get a supply that will last a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mills Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 For reference, I needed to replace a couple of pickets in a fence 36" each. Was at the local big box so I thought I may just snag a 6 footer and go. 18+ dollars. I knew that was high for tubing so when I went to my normal supplier I picked a up a stick (20') for $12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 k cool, the more info the better. so if i understand you correctly mcraigl, you're saying that it isn't necessarily bad just becuase it is low carbon, its just not good for knife making, and varying degrees of carbon steel simply have different uses, all quality issues aside. thanks for all the resources people.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny99 Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 That's Correct. Different carbon content, and alloys for different applications. Quality of the steel is a seperate issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 That's Zactly the point! You got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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