Phillip Patton Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Hey all,Almost five years ago, I acquired a #75 Bradley hammer, and since then I've been using the dies that came with it. The upper die works fine, but the lower keeps deforming on me. I suspect it may be mild steel. Anyway, I decided recently to make a couple sets of dies out of a forklift tine that I have since I've read that they are usually 4340 or 4140. So I chopped it up into sections with my bandsaw, but decided to slice off a thin piece and try heat treating it first, before going to any more trouble.I soaked one sample piece at 1575 F for 30 minutes, then quenched in oil. After it had cooled to room temperature, I tried to break it in a vise, and couldn't. Tested it for hardness, and it's 23 RC.I have another sample soaking at 1475, and I'm going to water quench it. I expect similar results, though.So, what do you guys think? My data sheets for 4340 and 4140 say they should have an as-quenched hardness in the low 50's RC. Have there ever been forklift tines made out of mild steel? Thanks for your help,Phillip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Heat Treaters bible said you did things right...1575 f and oil quench for 4140 so I'd look at aspects of your process---longer soak? Better quench? Temp control?4340 effectively the same except 1550 f and what appears from the graph to be a MUCH longer soak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Manufacturer's can make *anything* out of any alloy that will work for the intended use. Still got that slice? try a brine quench and check it again. Old forks were more like 1050 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 They use different alloys depending on the capacity of the lift too. I contacted some lift manufacturers, and I believe that Glenn put their info in the scrap steel sticky. It has to be good steel due to what it is used for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kahn Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 I used to try to guess what a particular batch of steel was, but too many times I discovered I'd mis-guessed only after spending dozens of hours working on a piece. Now, if I'm going to use a batch of mystery steel for something important, I chop off a small piece and send out it to be tested first. I've used these guys in the past: http://www.labtesting.com/services/metal-testing/, but a google search for "steel alloy content testing" will bring up lots of options. Usually, you can get a definitive analysis, that is full alloy content and tool steel type, for under $100. Might seem like a lot of money, but if your time has any value, it's easy to spend much, much more by being mistaken about what your working with. (In fact, I have an absolutely beautiful tanto sitting on my workbench, forged, clay quenched and almost finished. The dozen or so small cracks weren't apparent until I got to the final finishing stages. Turns out, what I thought was S2, was in fact S5, which, as it happens, doesn't appreciate being quenched in water.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain ol Bill Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 300 BPM is quick! My Sahinler runs at 230 and I'm too slow to turn stock 90 degrees between blows when drawing. But that is just slow ol me. Congrats you got a good un. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
territorialmillworks Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Good for you...I live in Yuma AZ, the lettuce capital of the world. So there are lots of fork truck rental/repair shops in town. Using every bit of my persuasive charm, I haven't obtained a singe piece of broken tine. The standard reply has been "sorry, there is too much liability to "give/sell". A broken tine is...well ..broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Tell them to torch it in 1' sections and you will pay 2x scrap rate for it for blacksmithing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeeko Posted November 16, 2019 Share Posted November 16, 2019 I scrapped some tines from a big industrial Taylor forklift last year. They tested as 1144 stress proof steel. I treat it like 1045 for heat treating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broad River Forge Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 i have fork truck tines on my 60 pound tire hammer for about a year and i use all different tooling as well, dies are holding up really well with about 20 hrs of use on them a week for about a year now and no deformation or cracking. I used them as is figuring id replace them easily enough if they didnt hold up but theres been no issue. i make damascus and forge mostly tool steel under my hammer too. All tines are different so try it out, dont expect much and you may be pleasantly surprised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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