Oilfield Pipe Suitable for Hawks?

[olfart]

I have some used oilfield pipe (locally known as drill stem) which I believe is a Chrome Moly alloy. Wall thickness is about 1/4" except in the upset and threaded ends, where it's at least 3/8". Since I have maybe 50' of it left over from a building project, I'd like to use it for some other purpose. Hawks, axes and knives are of interest to me. Can anyone enlighten me to the potential of drill stem for these projects?

Thanks

 

[Jonah k]

If it's actual drill stem from a drilling rig (the pipe that goes down the hole to drive the bit) it should be a tough alloy. But if it's just oilfield piping with regular npt ends schedule 40/80/160 A333 it's just mild steel. 

[will52100]

I can't remember off hand what the alloy is, some sort of 8620 or something.  Something to remember as well, the "upset" ends are separate pieces that are friction welded on and may or may not be the same alloy, that's why most data books on drill pipe don't take the ends into account because they come from different manufactures.

Would probably be OK for the body, but I'd want a high carbon bit for the edge, never tried forge welding it so I don't know how well that'd work though.

[olfart]

Spark test looks good on this, as it produces star sparks when cut. I'll try a heat/water quench/break test on it when I get a chance.

[Michael Cochran]

Just because it sparks doesn't mean its good steel. It's gonna depend on how the sparks look as to a rough carbon content.

[ThomasPowers]

Having a set of comparison samples to check sparks against can help narrow things down a lot.

If you luck across some known steel cutting sample to trade with others can make a nice collection;

things like 1020, 1045, 4140, 4340, 5260, O1, W1, 1095, H-13,  real wrought iron, cast iron, etc...and STAMP what it is on the holding end!

[olfart]

I cut a piece about 1.5" wide, cut the ring and flattened it out. It forges well. I narrowed one end of it and drew it out, thinning it from 1/4" originally to about 3/32". I heated it and quenched in water, then put it in a vise. It breaks when struck with a hammer. Here's a photo of the end grain showing the crystalline formation. A file will cut it with some effort.

 

 

[Charlotte]

Question :   Are you sure it is not radioactive?

 

[olfart]

6 hours ago, Charlotte said:

Question :   Are you sure it is not radioactive?

 

!!!!??? Uh, I didn't know that was an option. Without a Geiger counter, how would I find out?

[SLAG]

Laboratory personnel wear "hot buttons" or badges and weekly they are exchanged for fresh ones. The badges have film in them encased in a light proof holder. "old' badges have the film developed. If the film shows exposure that exposure was done by radioactivity. (since the film was in darkness the whole week). Radiation passes through the film holder and exposes the film. The degree of exposure is determined by the degree of film exposure. This method is far more sensitive than a Geiger counter. (especially for low levels of radioactivity). Soooo you can place unexposed film in a light tight container and place it on top of your metal item and take the film to a dark room and develop it. Obviously, a Geiger counter (scintilometer) to hand is much more convenient. So take the scrap to a university lab, or the geology department, or a hospital lab or a prospector etc. etc. & have them take a reading. Bonne chance!

Cheers     SLAG.

Underlining removed

[Jonah k]

She is technically right if it has been down hole in oil and gas drilling could be slightly radioactive. It's known as NORM,s naturally occurring radioactive material. Could be covered in all sorts of other carcinogenic garbage too like benzine, and iron sulfides. Wouldn't worry about it all in small quantity, as long as it's not covered in gooey tar or chemical. If it's drill stem its probably pretty clean. Usually that stuff builds up in quantity in collection spots like vessels, old process piping, and filters. 

Sorry about all the doom and gloom it really is probably not a problem.

[arkie]

On 4/13/2016 at 10:34 PM, SLAG said:

Laboratory personnel wear "hot buttons" or badges and weekly they are exchanged for fresh ones. The badges have film in them encased in a light proof holder. "old' badges have the film developed. If the film shows exposure that exposure was done by radioactivity. (since the film was in darkness the whole week). Radiation passes through the film holder and exposes the film. The degree of exposure is determined by the degree of film exposure. This method is far more sensitive than a Geiger counter. (especially for low levels of radioactivity). Soooo you can place unexposed film in a light tight container and place it on top of your metal item and take the film to a dark room and develop it. Obviously, a Geiger counter (scintelometer) to hand is much more convenient. So take the scrap to a university lab, or the geology department, or a hospital lab or a prospector etc. etc. & have them take a reading. Bonne chance!

Cheers     SLAG.

Slag,

Your post with the text completely underlined is EXTREMELY hard to read.  I just skipped trying to read it.  Try to post with normal text, please.

 

[SLAG]

Arkie,

I do not know how that came about. And, unfortunately, do not know how to correct it. I am barely computer literate.

Sorry for the confusion

[olfart]

I would bet the guys where I bought this pipe check it. They work with piles of the stuff in a yard daily with several truckloads a day coming/going. If there's an issue with radioactivity surely they wouldn't be working around it.

Back to the original question, is this steel suitable for blades? What other tests could/should I run on it?

[Charlotte]

2 hours ago, olfart said:

I would bet the guys where I bought this pipe check it. They work with piles of the stuff in a yard daily with several truckloads a day coming/going. If there's an issue with radioactivity surely they wouldn't be working around it.

Not to be pessimistic :  I remember that there was a bunch of that pipe installed a guard rails at a school in Texas years ago and the stink it caused when the radiation was discovered.

 

11 hours ago, Jonah k said:

She is technically right if it has been down hole in oil and gas drilling could be slightly radioactive. It's known as NORM,s naturally occurring radioactive material. Could be covered in all sorts of other carcinogenic garbage too like benzine, and iron sulfides. Wouldn't worry about it all in small quantity, as long as it's not covered in gooey tar or chemical. If it's drill stem its probably pretty clean. Usually that stuff builds up in quantity in collection spots like vessels, old process piping, and filters. 

Sorry about all the doom and gloom it really is probably not a problem.

 Ignores induced radioactivity as in the above mentioned incident.  Not every vendor of stuff knows what they are doing.

I worked in a mill producing the above drill pipe 50 years ago. My recollection is that it was tough, strong, and corrosion resistant but machineable.  I'd guess ok for the body but you might have a difficult time forge welding a high carbon insert.

[Jonah k]

I am not a vendor i Work in the oil and gas industry we deal with this kind of stuff every day through atmophreic and industrial hygene testing. There is a big difference between opening or entering a vessle with a hazardous atmospere or working with said drill stem every day and hacking a couple of chunks off to make a couple of hawks.Filling your car with gas you are exposed to benzine, sunlight you are exposed to norm,s, the coal from your forge you are exposed to mercury and other carcinigenic materials the co from gas forges indoors even with proper ventilation affects you, welding fumes affect you. Acceptable risk maybe. There is a big difference between a school yard in the media and what you do at home on your own time. Or maby its just me,  Its your choice if you do test it i would be interested to know what you find.

And no offence meant

 

1 hour ago, Charlotte said:

Not to be pessimistic :  I remember that there was a bunch of that pipe installed a guard rails at a school in Texas years ago and the stink it caused when the radiation was discovered.

 

 Ignores induced radioactivity as in the above mentioned incident.  Not every vendor of stuff knows what they are doing.

I worked in a mill producing the above drill pipe 50 years ago. My recollection is that it was tough, strong, and corrosion resistant but machineable.  I'd guess ok for the body but you might have a difficult time forge welding a high carbon insert.

 

[olfart]

Thank you, Jonah K. I agree that in the amounts of this pipe that I'm using it probably is a minuscule hazard. I have used hundreds of feet of it in construction projects on the farm over the years and have not suffered any obvious ill effects.

Today's litigious society has everyone afraid to make a public endorsement of doing anything with any inherent risk lest they be sued by someone claiming injury due to their endorsement.

[ThomasPowers]

We may be a bit more gun shy down here as one of the major incidents occurred right over the border and in this area:

"scrap metal workers at a junkyard in Ciudad Juarez broke open a metal teletherapy container housing some 6,000 one millimeter pellets with cobalt-60. The pellets were dispersed throughout the junkyard and eventually made their way into numerous pieces of metal furniture and building materials, later transported into the US. Once authorities were alerted, all pieces of furniture were recalled and over 100 homes that had utilized the metal beams had to be destroyed."  As I recall this incident came to light when a truck driver bring steel for a Los Alamos construction project took a wrong turn and went in an out gate---which had radiation detectors on it to prevent radioactive materials from accidentally leaving the complex...

In the last 15 years 84 incidences of radioactive materials getting into the scrap stream have been reported.

There are downhole radioactive tools; but they don't get run through the drill stem.

In general I figure I'm more in danger from old explosives down here than radiation.

[Jonah k]

It definitly can be a problem in certian situations. And im guessing Charlotte is talking about the drill stem being contaminated from norm,s in the oil and gas formations in the ground not from down hole cable tools that emit radiation.

But yes i agree the chances are very small.

 

Also back to the matter at hand i just completed a hawk from scrap pump shaft from work i am guessing that the steel could be pretty similar to drill stem. Probably has good torsional resistance, some corrosion resistance, and very tough. Probably not as good for taking an edge but this seems good for a hawk to me where mostly you are worried with shock resistance and is tough so it wont bend. That is if you commonly throw the hawk like i do. Thats just my take may be wrong.

[Charlotte]

Jonah k    no offense taken!  I agree that it is probably safe enough to use for normal blacksmith purposes.  I had in mind that there are many people reading here and not all have years of familiarity with hazards accompanying recycling metals.

[Jonah k]

Completly understood

[olfart]

I decided to go ahead and make a "knife-shaped object" out of my test piece just for practice. When I get it cleaned up I'll post a pic. This is my first attempt at a knife (other than the one I carved out of wood when I was 10 years old), so there's a LOT of cleanup to do.

 

[ThomasPowers]

Nothing like forging a blade to teach you about hammer control and keeping the scale cleaned off the anvil face!

[olfart]

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Nothing like forging a blade to teach you about hammer control and keeping the scale cleaned off the anvil face!

Exactly! That's why there's so much cleanup to do on this one.

[olfart]

I realize this puts this thread into the wrong group, so if it needs to be moved, feel free. Here's what I started with Tuesday afternoon, along with the cleaned-up version.

I ground enough off of it to make another one like it. It'll look a little better when I get some wood on it.