natenaaron Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 When people talk about bearing steel are they referring to the Race, the ball or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beammeupscotty Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 1 hour ago, natenaaron said: When people talk about bearing steel are they referring to the Race, the ball or both? I believe both are high carbon and can be used, assuming you have the wherewithal to forge them into useful forms. Don't forget roller bearings... pretty much the same thing as balls but closer to a usable form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Some bearing balls are made of 320 stainless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Bearing steel generally refers to 52100, but bearings can be made from high speed steels to case hardened junk. It can include the balls or rollers and races. Always check them before starting to forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everything Mac Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Pretty much as JMC says. I got lucky on a bearing race and got some superb steel that has made for a fantastic knife. On the other hand I forged a much bigger bearing race out and got a lot of cracks. Likely operator error but I believe it can be hard to forge at times. Cheers Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted February 27, 2016 Author Share Posted February 27, 2016 Thanks. A friend has access to lots of old bearings. He gives the balls to another friend for paracord stuff, but the races will come to me if i want them. I also know where there are two 55 gallon drums of old rock crushing bearing balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Old rock crusher balls? As in ball mill balls? These are usually steels with a high manganese content and they are intended to self harden. I have a few , however I have been somewhat leery of putting a ball that's incredibly hard under a press or power hammer(call me a wuss for not wanting to catch a super hot cannon ball in the nether regions ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Ian is right, ball mill balls are high manganese steel and don't forge well if at all. Manganese steel was the hardest thing to deal with learning hard facing. Yeah, I've actually taken classes in hard facing even though about 90% didn't apply to what I was hard facing but it was paid for by Lincoln so the bosses sent me. It wasn't wasted time though I've used the schooling far more repairing anvils than I ever did on drill steel. Manganese and HOT are not a good combination Mg steels have a limited hot time after which the crystal structure self destructs. I never thought about it before but I bet a person could put a mill ball in a forge at red heat and watch it happen, it'd last a couple minutes max, maybe. Heck it might not even last long enough to soak to the center of a large ball. Be aware if you want to give that a try, Mg. steels can break violently so rig a scatter shield, something to keep the HOT pieces from scattering to the flammable stuff. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 50 minutes ago, ianinsa said: Old rock crusher balls? As in ball mill balls? These are usually steels with a high manganese content and they are intended to self harden. I have a few , however I have been somewhat leery of putting a ball that's incredibly hard under a press or power hammer(call me a wuss for not wanting to catch a super hot cannon ball in the nether regions ) so your press is not designed to have several layers of steel between you and the work? even with my tiny press there are 2 layers of metal between me and the hot metal most of the time, if anything comes out it can go right or left but is less likely to go towards me. I tend to look around the side post most of the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Larger bearing races tend to be case hardened with the base alloy being something like 9620 and so not good for blades. Mill balls are often sought after by SCA armour makers to use for ball stakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 May have to rethink the mill balls. That is what they are. Fun to roll around and fidget with. I three 1.75 inch ones in my desk I fidget with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist58 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Natenaaron - are those mill balls yours to do with as you please? If so, would you care to sell some to me? Robert Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 got ball bearings here up to 4" diameter, mild steel balls up to 8" diameter ( just cut an 8" in half to make 2 stakes ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Robert, they are in a scrap yard. 35 cents a pound on a good day. 50 cents a pound on a bad day. Really rusty and beat to xxxx. Very few of them are still round. Some look like beans or nuggets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Natenaaron; you are making the armourer's drool now, lot harder to get oblong stakes than spherical ones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anachronist58 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 (edited) Natenaaron, thanks for the response. My application calls for the nearly spherical condition - but as Thomas Powers says, some may drool for that "just right" shape. If you ever found it convenient to acquire an image or two....... And yes I have read some of your other content and know that you have plenty on your plate as it is. Robert Taylor Edited February 29, 2016 by Anachronist58 remove superfluous text field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 for that application look for ball bearings be sold cheap because they are "out of spec" A few thousands out may not matter to you but will cut the price a *LOT*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 On 2/29/2016 at 0:07 PM, Anachronist58 said: Natenaaron, thanks for the response. My application calls for the nearly spherical condition - but as Thomas Powers says, some may drool for that "just right" shape. If you ever found it convenient to acquire an image or two....... And yes I have read some of your other content and know that you have plenty on your plate as it is. Robert Taylor I am planning a trip to the scrap yard next week and will get some pics. On 2/29/2016 at 11:44 AM, ThomasPowers said: Natenaaron; you are making the armourer's drool now, lot harder to get oblong stakes than spherical ones! I don't understand what this means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 A stake I made for an armourer, mild steel 8" dia 200mm, up to 4" I make from ball bearings and some twisty turney things too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Nate, few parts of the human body are perfectly circular/spherical (even hemi) So if you are trying to make plate armour that is supposed to fit well on a human body having nothing but circular/spherical tools makes it harder rather than easier. Most folks with experience know how to make a human shape using the round/sphere tooling but a lovely stake that "just right" can really speed up and make it easier! As an example look at helmets and compare the hemispherical ones with the shaped ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natenaaron Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Okay. I get it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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