Gergely Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Dear Folks, Yesterday I tried to forge a piece of stainless steel - at least I thought it is that. It's a scrapyard piece rod, stainless looking, magnetic, not covered or painted surface. I put it to my coal forge and got it to bright red heat. When I started to hammer it on the anvil the rod left some molten chewing gum-like stuff which stuck on the anvil. I didn't like that so I cooled the rod and started something else. Does anybody know what this pasty stuff could be? Is this ok or dangerous? I haven't found any mentioning about this kind of thing in the stainless steel posts. Thanks and bests Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Sounds like galvanized. That stuff is dangerous, don't breath the fumes. The zinc coating melts off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Can you post some Photos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 No photos available, I'm sorry. I mean from that chewing gum like stuff. The rod itself could be pictured. I try to do it sometimes. It could be zinc. I have read about it a lot around here, and that's why I stopped working with it immediately. Although I did not see any fume or smoke or what so ever. This stuff just got spread on the anvil like a small quantity of silver/whitish toothpaste. Thak you JMC and Steve for the comments. Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 4, 2014 Author Share Posted February 4, 2014 The rod now looks like this: There is that whitish stuff, so I think it can really be the zinc. Is there galvanized material which is not only galvanized on the surface but through the very tissue of the metal? I just don't understand why the end of the rod looks so shiny. That made me think it is plain stainless steel. Thanks for your help. Greetings Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Generally speaking, the overwhelming majority of Stainless Steel is NOT magnetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 well... austinetic stainless is not magnetic true, but there are also many stainless steels that are martinsetic, and they are very magnetic. high end kitchen appliances for example.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Ivan Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Ferritic and Martensitic Stainless steel IS magnetic. Austenitic stainless is non-magnetic. So technically most stainless steels ARE magnetic,(those 3 are the different categories of stainless) it is just far more common to happen across non-magnetic versions. It has been a long long time since I brushed up on metallurgy but thats one thing I can remember being taught. -Crazy Ivan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefflus Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Gergely, Hot dip galvanized stuff is dipped after being cut to size as far as the situation allows it, so the end would be coated also. I'm not seeing the "shiny" bit in your pictures, and I'm generally not seing anything properly enough so as far as I know it could be an altogether different metal throughout, but first impression is that it's a hot dipped galvanized steel rod of the type they use to anchor down telephone poles etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptree Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Even 300 series Stainless gets magnetic when work hardened. Not extremely magnetic but will draw a magnet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Yup. 300 series stainless steel is what most people are looking for when they say "Stainless steel". Meaning it is very rust resistant. It is generally not magnetic or only a little bit magnetic. You can use a magnet as a helper to identify (sort of). There are other non-magnetic metals. Compare the magnetic attraction strength to a known carbon steel. If you have a weak magnet then you will have a weak attraction, thus side by side comparison... If it is a LOT less magnetic then maybe it is 300 series stainless. For most of us that means 304/316 stainless. BUt there are many 300 series variations. In the junkyard, if it is shiny and looks like 300 series stainless it may very well not be. Likely galvanized or other coating. Rust resistant yes but only as far as the very thin coating lasts. Which does not survive forging. And breathing zinc (galvanizing) vapors is not good for you. Stainless also has a 400 series which is much less rust resistant and more magetic. In other words when we say "stainless Steel" we are technically referring to a broad range of metals that may or may not mean what we think. Additionally, when you forge a 300 series stainless piece there are some issues to deal with. IF you forge a fine piece of non rustable 300 series stainless steel with a carbon steel hammer on a carbon steel anvil and grind or wire brush it with a carbon steel brush/grinder you will impart rustable carbon steel to the piece you are forging. So now the surface will show rust. If you wire brush a 300 series piece of stainless steel with a stainless steel brush that you have used on rustable carbon steel then you will impart some amount of rustable carbon steel to your stainless piece. Ditto with a grinding wheel. So I am not a Stainless expert by any means. There is some need for pickling which I have never done but there is something important there I think, Just know that if you forge a fine piece of stainless steel don't expect it to stay all pretty and rust resistant without some thought in how you handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The color looks like galvy to me, bright red isn't hot enough to melt let alone burn zinc so you may have heavily zinc plated steel cable. The end looks a little like 4 strand cable but it's hard to see in the pictures. At the right temp it certainly could be gooey and act kind of like gum and be driven out of the cable under the hammer. I've never tried forging zinc so that's just a guess. Whatever it is, it's not worth taking chances I'd leave it be. Take it back and see if you can trade it for something else. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thank you Guys for the comments and valuable info about stainless steel. And thank you Stefflus for the details. I agree, Frosty, it isn't worth any more try. I only have about 2 meters of this stuff, so not a big waste throwing back to the yard. By the way: do you think that zinc vapor can harm you when wearing respirator half mask? Bests Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefflus Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 If it's a properly used P2 or P3 mask it should be fine for accidental exposure over a short amount of time, like your incident. (Just stating a time-frame here, disregarding that you might not have produced very much fumes.) Intentional exposure is a whole other ballgame in both personal equipment and facilities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirator http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=66666UF6EVsSyXTtmxMX5XMaEVtQEVs6EVs6EVs6E666666--&fn=Resp%20Protection.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Zinc and Magnesium will both react to common household vinegar by fizzing on the surface. You can actually remove the zinc coating with a bath of vinegar, and leave your steel ready for safe forging. The vinegar test is useful on castings that need to be repaired by TIG welding. Aluminum will not react, so you have a better chance of getting the right filler rod for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hi Stefflus! I wear a P2, hopefully properly :) Thanks for the links. It's never tiring to read about safety. John, thank you for the vinegar hint. I'll try it on those rods, just to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Smith Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 If you can "lightly" scrape any metal off with your pocket knife held vertical it is probably coated with zinc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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