So my neighbour came back from a camping trip and brought me these steel rings.  The diameters (OD) range from about 15" to 4".  They are allmost all the same cross section:  about 3/4" thick by 1" deep.  (The matchbox is there to help show size.) I think they are oil patch related.  (This is Alberta, after all.)

 

So some rings are marked S316.  I know that as pretty high grade stainless steel.  But the others are marked S4.  They look like regular carbon steel (not SS).  I think they may have a thin nickle plating.  Anyway, is S4 a hight carbon steel?  That sort of rings a bell in my head.  What I am really getting at is would the S4 stuff be good for making drifts and punches?  

 

Thanks in advance.   

David

I know for sure, they used to be part of a rock. Knowledge stops there.

Well I googled S4 Steel Composition and the first hit pretty much had all the info needed:

http://www.steel-grades.com/Steel-grades/Tool-steel-Hard-alloy/s4.html

I know for sure, they used to be part of a rock. Knowledge stops there.

 

It's star stuff, I believe the last in the main sequence fusion products, gotta go super nova for the better stuff.

 

Oh wait, am I thinking hydrogen-oxygen-carbon sequence? Maybe we have to go super nova to get iron. Of course that'd make the other elements to make the really neatO steel alloys too.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Well I googled S4 Steel Composition and the first hit pretty much had all the info needed:

http://www.steel-grades.com/Steel-grades/Tool-steel-Hard-alloy/s4.html

Thanks Thomas.  Oh, and thanks to the rounders Swedefiddle and Frosty for their very thoughtful 'help.'  <grin>  

 

On a less prosaic (or goofy) note, it looks like Thomas' link lists it in the tool steel category.  I did some other searching and saw some references to it a useful for impact-type tools such as loader bucket teeth.  I think it should be dandy, therefore, for making punches and drifts.  Anyway I will try it out for that.  What's the worst that could happen? 

 

My neighbour told me these are rings that are 'keepers' or 'gaskets' of some form to protect elements of oil/gas field pumps during shipping.  When they arrive at site, the rings are stripped out and thrown into the scrap bin for pickup by the steel recycler. 

 

Ciao, y'all

David

If that is all they are I would not see them being made out of any high grade alloy. Take a piece, heat it up, quench it, and see if it gets hard. 316 stainless won't heat treat, if it even is 316. More than likely they are just basic alloys.

I would be tempted to weld them up into some artistic project, or use them as is for bending, etc.

Could the numbers be for the sizes, do they match up?

Could also be a stock number. Testing will show!

Thanks Doc.  I did some more research and found the manufacturer and products made by similar companies.  They are compression rings--called ring joint gaskets--used to effect a seal where two pipe flanges come together.  These particular flanges are for extremel high pressure applications upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 lbs per square inch pressure.

 

I will test the non-stainless ones for hardening.  I will likely end up stick welding them into some sort of garden trellis, I think.

 

Thanks again all.

Thanks Doc.  I did some more research and found the manufacturer and products made by similar companies.  They are compression rings--called ring joint gaskets--used to effect a seal where two pipe flanges come together.  These particular flanges are for extremel high pressure applications upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 lbs per square inch pressure.

 

I will test the non-stainless ones for hardening.  I will likely end up stick welding them into some sort of garden trellis, I think.

 

Thanks again all.

Wine bottle rack with the smaller ones, forms to bend stock around, or maybe even sell them. They are probably fairly expensive, and then you might be able to sell, or trade them for something you can use easier.

Those are definetly ring joint or lens ring gaskets. Chosen by material to be compatable with the media and service. should be very high quality metal. I would think the S316 is stainless. I would be surprised if the S4 is S-4 shock steel. In the valve and fitting trade as well as the piping industry many material designations are not as those in the steel trades expect.

valve material           steel industry

a-105                         C-1023

F-8                             316/316L

F-11                             Cr/Moly steel

and so forth

ptree, I did see S4 listed as 'shock steel' and hardenable in a general steel industry listing.  But then I also saw S4 listed in the mild steel category by a ring gasket maker.  So your point about incompatable material designations makes sense.  Thanks.  It also makes more sense to me to think that some form of mild steel would be preferable for a compression ring--expected to deform to create the seal.

 

And yah, the stuff marked S316 is stainless.  I have some S316 stainless tig rod in my little shop's inventory. 

When I worked for Vogt, We built Valves and flanges with lens ring gaskets and most were either 316 or "soft ARMCO iron". The design of tjhe joint lends itself to softer materials