Arkham Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I came across these pins and a cylinder rod, I believe they are case hardened, the fact is, I don't know what they are made of. Is it a bad idea to try and burn it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 It's always dangerous to burn off an unknown plating, and almost always dangerous to burn a known plating. Hexavalent chrome can give you cancer, and zinc oxide fumes can give you heavy metal poisoning. DON'T DO IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-1ToolSteel Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 What JHCC said. Kudos, though, for asking BEFORE you did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 25 minutes ago, C-1ToolSteel said: Kudos, though, for asking BEFORE you did it. Yes, indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 When one fellow reads the warnings on the site over and over, and then stops BEFORE he gets into trouble to ask questions, it makes all the safety warnings posted on the site worth the effort. The membership of IForgeIron thank you. The folks in the hospital that do not have to try to save your life thank you. Your friends thank you. Your family thanks you as you are still healthy, and they can still hug you, if they want. And all of this because you ask questions and confirmed the danger before you got hurt. Keep asking the questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkham Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 Thanks fellas. I will take your advice. Unfortunately I have access to an almost unlimited supply of the cylinder rods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Nobody want's to give "bad" advice, ... so the tendency is to overstate dangers. In reality, those parts can be heated in a WELL VENTILATED workplace, ... with no real danger. And again, ... in reality, ... the danger is NOT in working with commonly found materials, ... the DANGER lies in operating a poorly ventilated forge. Being aware of the potential dangers, is the first, best safety precaution. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 It has been said on here many times, Just because you have it, doesn't make it the right thing to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 First you have to recognize the danger. Then you must research and find a way to do it safely. This also means not blowing the fumes and dust into the neighbors yard. Or the neighbor blowing the fumes and dust into your yard. If you have an almost unlimited supply of the cylinder rods, take them to the junk yard and exchange them for cash, or something useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 17 minutes ago, Glenn said: If you have an almost unlimited supply of the cylinder rods, take them to the junk yard and exchange them for cash, or something useful. I've never tried this myself, but other forum members have suggested taking such parts to a shop that does plating and having them chemically stripped. Of course, you'd only want to do that if the metal underneath is worth forging, which it may not be. Glenn's advice here may well be your best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Another method is taking them to a friend with a heavy duty metal lathe and removing the plating with a heavy cut that gets below the hard stuff in *1* pass---hence the heavy duty lathe part. The shafting is generally a tough medium carbon steel and so good for many tooling projects---HOWEVER it may be cheaper to buy scrap/drops of 4140/4340 from a machine shop than *pay* to have the plating lathed off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 My limited experience on this subject says that these rods don't worth the trouble. You can easily find nice axles in different sizes at scrap yards or do what Glenn said: sell them and buy some known stock. I'm a scrap digger myself, but in the beginning you have more chance to success with the known stuff. And yeah, in rust we trust - is the #1 scrap yard rule. Shiny means you have to know more... or leave it... Bests: Gergely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starbits Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I picked up a couple rods from a hydraulic repair shop. Two inch diameter by 48 inches long for $5 each. The gal at the shop looked through her records and said it was 1045 or 1050 steel. The grinder test showed it was chrome plated and a medium carbon steel. I checked IFI about removing the chrome and didn't see anything that I wanted to tackle myself. Stopped by a chrome plating place to see about getting it removed. The first place said it was hard chrome and they didn't do that but recommended a second place. Talked to the second place and they said they could do it, but it would be a minimum of $165. So much for cheap steel. Plan for the future is to chop it up and make rollers for adjustable height extension stands. Starbits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Yea, hard chrome plating on cylinder rods is really tough stuff--not worth the trouble to deal with. They'd make really nice pins for the horse-shoe pit though Draggin something up from the past which applies to this kind of find: This is how the business cards from the long gone Mac's Surplus in Kirkland WA read 40 years ago "Official member of the society of scroungers and snafflers of real keen junk and neat stuff of inestimable value when use for any purpose except that for which it was originally intended" Bet with some thought you could find several uses as-is if you put some of that Mac's Surplus mojo in action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkham Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 12 hours ago, Gergely said: And yeah, in rust we trust - is the #1 scrap yard rule. Shiny means you have to know more... or leave it... Bests: Gergely Thanks for this witty bit of advice. I like it. Now to figure out what to do with all this shiny stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 You can get it on a T shirt---just ask Glenn! I'm wearing my "You hold the cold end and hit the hot end, Get it right next time" when I teach an intro to forging class tomorrow! (also available from Glenn) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 5 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: You can get it on a T shirt---just ask Glenn! I'm wearing my "You hold the cold end and hit the hot end, Get it right next time" when I teach an intro to forging class tomorrow! (also available from Glenn) I could imagine a T-shirt with the "In rust we trust" writing on it Of course I read this motto somewhere here, sometimes earlier... OK, I just found the T-shirt!!! Mail is being sent to Glenn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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