I went to a local Mechanic and asked if I could have any broken axels that he came across. He had no problem with it and he gets plenty as he deals with a lot of off road specialty guys. well I went to see if he had any and he only had one at the time and its a specialty axel made of Stainless Steel. Can I forge this into anything? Is it possible to heat treat it? I am told that Stainless Steel is just too much of a pain in the butt to mess with. I have plenty of other stuff to use I was just curious.

no matter what it can't hurt to stick it in the fire and fool around with it. you've got nothing to lose and when you get done with it you will know what it's like to forge stainless.... at least somewhat. give it a try. report back. a picture would be okay too.

Yes, No, Maybe;  knowing what alloy would help a lot.  However the original use says it would probably be good for anvil tooling (and are you sure it's stainless and not "chrome molly"?)  Probably not an alloy for slitters, may make good punches.  What size?  Hammers are a possibility too.  Note that it will probably be a bear to forge---have a friend hold while you sledge.

The only reason I know its in fact Stainless Steel is that It was a specialty after market replacement Installed by the mechanic and was bought as Stainless Steel. It is 1 1/2 in.

Good size for some hammers and if he bought and installed it you should be able to track down what alloy it is.

Do a search here on working temp for stainless mate, might save you some grief right at the end.

I can tell you from experience, it's not easy to forge and takes a lot of time to heat. I luck up on a 6ft rod about 1 5/8" a couple years ago and spent a while trying to cut it. I barely made a difference on it while trying to forge a hammer. Of course you might have better luck than I did.

Mad Max,

Keep in mind what several others above stated, it's material you were able to secure with little time or effort. You can mess with it to learn the hard way on how to work stainless steel, and not be out anything in material that you didn't have before, gaining instead, a working knowledge of the difficulties of this alloy.

Another option, should you have the resources nearby, is to take it to the local scrap yard, (hopefully one you have a working relation with) and either scrap and get something from their pile that you know how to work, or do a trade, depending on the scrap rates in your area. Sometimes a easily fashioned bottle opener or a six pack for the workers will open doors you never knew were there.

However, should you decide to forge with the stainless, please let us know how it goes! We LOVE to see pictures and read stories of how each other did what we did. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing what you decide and how you do!