Beatsy' s Forge Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I have access to all the stainless I want on a bi weekly basis. among otherthing like the pins that hold the cars together at the knuckle. but my question is is about the stainless I have. I have been trying to research what type it is to see if it would be a good alternative to tooling,knives or other things. it is 1.5 in in dia and over five ft long. can anyone here tell me the type. I'm speculating it is some sort of structural type stainless. any info would be great. i have added a couple pics so you can see what i have.they do not have any numbers or nothing for identification. hope these pics help you to help me.. Thanks, Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 What type of place is the stainless sourced from? Might help someone identify what it is or was used for. I'd use it for outdoor pieces of it were me. Or spoons and spatulas maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Is it magnetic? Ifso, likely 17-4. Nonmagnetic; likely 18-8. Foodservice, could be 316 17-4 *can* be welded but must be properly normalized after. 18-8 is the general purpose grades and goes something like this; 304 for general anti-corrosive work, corrosion resistance in sea-water above the waterline 316 corrosion resistant in seawater below the waterline. Very hard to move by hand hammer. Should be worked at near white heat. To restore anti corrosion property, quench in clean freah water from an orange heat or passivate with acid or polish with new clean consumables or electropolish. If you can cut a small sample off and you have a high end junk yard near you, they can analyze it for you, probably for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Quench in water HUH ???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 23 minutes ago, arftist said: quench in clean freah water from an orange heat Is the idea to clean the surface by creating a layer of scale and then blasting it off with a water quench? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 The idea is to not allow any carbon time to form carbides with the "stainless" elements tying them up and reducing the stainlessness. This is of course NOT for any knife grade stainless alloys---but as knife grade alloys are *extremely* *rare* in the "wild" (scrap stream) it's generally works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 3/26/2018 at 10:45 AM, JHCC said: Is the idea to clean the surface by creating a layer of scale and then blasting it off with a water quench? Stainless doesn't scale, scale is oxidation. Stainless in other languages is inox or nonox. On 3/26/2018 at 10:31 AM, Steve Sells said: Quench in water HUH ???? I was specifically discussing austenic grades of stainless which have very low levels of carbon and unlike martinetic grades, cannot be hardened. Stil I am surprised you have never heard that before. On 3/26/2018 at 10:53 AM, ThomasPowers said: The idea is to not allow any carbon time to form carbides with the "stainless" elements tying them up and reducing the stainlessness. This is of course NOT for any knife grade stainless alloys---but as knife grade alloys are *extremely* *rare* in the "wild" (scrap stream) it's generally works well. As usual you are correct Sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 46 minutes ago, arftist said: Stil I am surprised you have never heard that before. I rarely use stainless except for occasional 304 and some knife stuff . and when I do, I just passivate with lemon juice thanks for the education Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 2 hours ago, arftist said: quench in clean freah water from an orange heat 12 minutes ago, Steve Sells said: I just passivate with lemon juice Does the choice of method affect the surface finish? I'm planning a decorative project in 316 (needs to resist saltwater corrosion), and it would be nice to know if which of these (if either) will typically result in a shinier surface. (To be clear, this is all new to me. I've never done any projects in stainless, so I'm trying to make sure I've got the requisite info sorted out before I get started.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 You may want to look into commercial electropolishing for that environment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 48 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: You may want to look into commercial electropolishing for that environment Yup, ideally, since a panel is hard to quench. if it is just fabbed and welded then you can get away with acid passivation of the welds alone. Another option is a good sand blasting with clean, new blasting media but obviously leaves a dull finish. 1 hour ago, JHCC said: Does the choice of method affect the surface finish? I'm planning a decorative project in 316 (needs to resist saltwater corrosion), and it would be nice to know if which of these (if either) will typically result in a shinier surface. (To be clear, this is all new to me. I've never done any projects in stainless, so I'm trying to make sure I've got the requisite info sorted out before I get started.) Sorry I read project as panel. While we all know it will not happen, S.S. should be worked in a seperate room than iron. At least do the best you can keep the stainless and the area clean from iron filings and dust. This includes but is not limited to covering steel benchs. (I use an aluminum bench for all stainless except commercial work) Lining saw tables with tape or leather or vinal or plastic Use only new saw blades and especially only abrasives. Tape up clamp pads or use protective scrap be it wood plastic or aluminum. Especially important, do not grind or sand iron while your stainless job is in progress or even still in your shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beatsy' s Forge Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 To answer the question of were the steel was from all I know is it is a portion of a door I'm assuming we're it can be locked. The kind of rail car it came from is called a multi level car hauler. Brand name Conrail R/R. This is all I know about the steel and were it is used. It is non magnetic. Hope this gets me a bit closer to my question. If all else fails I could go to the scrap yard and see if they can test it.. Thank you very much for any help it is greatly appreciated. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 For the parts we made the customer would spec either nitric acid , or citric acid passivation after machining. 316 stainless is used heavily for tomato processing due to the acidity. 17-4 is a precipitation hardening alloy Here is some history on the cars http://www.trainweb.org/crts/autorack.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beatsy' s Forge Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 In my post below I revealed all I know about were it came from. It is from a Conrail multi level aluminum car hauler. The steel is non magnetic. I hope this helps me get closer to the type and what I can use it for. If need be I can bring a piece to my scrap yard and see if they will test it for me. But I hope you good people here on IFI can eliminate the drive to the yard and possibly not get any help from them. Thanks any help will be great. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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