Hi, picked this up at the scrap yard today.  does anyone recognize what it is.  about 9 inches long, 1.6 inches in diameter, shows a broken end.  was in a pile of rail car suspension components.  springs, trucks, spring seats and such. seems to have been machined as there are fine tool striations.    will it make a good hot cut?

 

 

Probably a medium carbon steel and so better for drifts than hot cuts and punches; how does it spark?

One of my hardies is made from 1050; works fine I just have to dress it more often than a harder steel---and it doesn't bite hammer faces when students mess up using it!

thanks Thomas.  wondered about the clean break and that it did not appear to bend the piece in the breaking.  Had me thinking it might have been harder.  as Medium carbon will it work any easier than a higher carbon?   that fat drift I made about wore me out.  I will give it a spark test.  I am not confident in my ability to discern what the sparks are telling me.  will they photograph well enough for you to make an educated guess?

 

 

Ha the interweb.  I think this is the part.  sounds like you were exactly right Thomas.  Part 212.

 

National Trackwork, a DBE and ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturer in Itasca, Ill. supplies quality freight car and locomotive fasteners and pins such as C10 Knuckle Pin. They are made from AISI C1060 or equal steel, tensile strength (ksi) 135, yield strength (ksi) 75.2, elongation (%) 18.5, reduction in area (%) 44.8, and machined to RMS 125 straight within 0.050-inch.

So yeah that will make a fine hot cut hardie. Probably won't even need to harden and temper- just forge and normalize.

Steve

Hot cuts which are handled and used to cut hot steel profit from being made from a higher order steel to keep their edge and shape like a slitter or punch.

Hardies (which do come hot cut and cold cut---major difference is the angle or the edge) do fine with a medium C steel as they are easy to dress---easier to dress than a hammer face for sure!  You certainly have enough to make several from that chunk.

And you are learning that the perfect steel for a certain job depends on the job and an excellent steel for some uses may be terrible for others. (People keep wanting to make knives from steels that are designed to be "tough and chewy" when they want something that is hard and wear resistant to hold a good edge. (not take a good edge, I knew a fellow who once bent over and flattened and hones an aluminum beer can until he could shave with it---a razor edge, but it wouldn't hold it long in use!)

Depending on the manganese content that might be interesting to try the Japanese clay differential hardening technique with.  They tended to use fairly low C for a blade but then harden in warm water often not tempering and using the soft back to hold things together.

Thanks fellas .   since I have it all $2.40 cents worth, I'll probably give it a go and just see how it goes.  sort of wish I'd found something just biger than my hardy instead of half an inch bigger.  

 

Ahh weedhopper----practice the hammering you will!

Or invite a friend over to hold while you sledge and vise versa 

Thomas, you are a mind reader.  I've a stocky son in law who is a handy lad around things mechanical.  He might be the striker!

 

Keep it in the sweet spot and no "brown pop" till the job is done!

(Sweet Spot==the part of the anvil face where there is solid metal all the way to the base so NOT the heel or horn areas! Best and safest spot for heavy hammering.)

Sounds like you know me and the son in law.

 

The phrase we use out here would be to the effect that "it's not my first rodeo"...

Well Thomas, I gave it a try by myself with a 4 pound engineers hammer and a pair of tongs that really didn't fit.  Not productive.  just got the hints of flats on the bar.  Welded a handle on it and found it much better but too little progress with the four pounder and having learned from an all day session on that drift I made, decided to wait as this steel in a bit bigger than the steel for my drift.  

Son in law came over and did his first ever striking session.   He is a weight lifter and is mechanically inclined and was able to hit the mark well with the 8 pound sledge.  but he noted that it was hard work and that he thought he'd make easier work of it than he did.  So at this point, I've got a nice square taper about 2 inches long that drops into the hardy.  now that I have a shank that my tongs will fit, I will proceed with the rest of it on my own.  

 

Sounds about right. Thicker metal is a bear to move Especially by yourself. Just dig in and keep hammering and keeping it at a good heat. 

thanks wulf

 

I hear you, i have a somewhat similar pin that's hard as heck. Tried a few times to taper off the end to make a cheap and dirty punch tool, was planning to twist a handle on it out of 1/4" rd or so. After a few tries and holding it with the tongs i have I called it a day, the whole bolt is only about 3-4" long and i couldnt hold the hex for the life of me. 

Charcold - Thanks for the shared story.  I did a big drift that was about 1.25".  I welded a handle on it of 3/8 square stock.  I worked on that thing with a 4 pound sledge for a very long time.  I was actually happy when the handle broke because I was toast.  I'd have like to taper it more, but in that session, I didn't have it in me.  turns out it is ok as is.    

Good reason to make friends with smiths who have powerhammers!

Thomas Powers - as suggested the beer did not come out until the hammering was done.  and it was much appreciated when it did.  I know it is crude, but I think it will work well and I've a feeling of accomplishment.  It's probably still 500 degrees her so  It is not dressed.

It sits tight in the hardy across the face but a bit loose with the edge parallel to the face edge.  I probably have too much taper in the shank too.  I can see a press in my future.

Proud moment..  congrats..

Thanks Jennifer, I've refined it a bit since then, it now sits on the shoulders.  I've used it several times and it seems to be holding up well.