How can I tell what kind of steel?

Date 07-10-2003 21:10

Hi, all,

I went to the dump the other day and (predictably) came back with almost as much as I left there. I picked up a bunch of old railings which someone had discarded. They look like steel; some of the square stock has been twisted, though, and it got me to wondering whether they could be cast iron. If it's cast iron and I hit it with a hammer it will shatter, right? And if a magnet sticks to it and it doesn't shatter than it's steel... ?

Thanks!

By jimwelds (**)

Date 07-10-2003 21:44

Gringing sparks can indicate what type of metal. jim

By flashburner1 (*)

Date 07-10-2003 22:04

Hi,
I wouldn't recommend hitting cast iron with a hammer to see if it shatters as a safe method of identification. If you have a grinder you can use it to differentiate between steel and cast iron, or just about any other type of metal, by observing the sparks. Cast iron will have a very short spark stream - steel will have a noticably longer stream.
Check out this site for some diagrams of spark streams - hit the "next" link at bottom of page. http://www.tpub.com/steelworker1/5.htm
Do this in dim light so that you can easily see the difference in the carrier lines, forks, sprigs, etc. It will help if you have some material that you know is steel or cast iron to compare the sparks with. There is also information here on conducting a chisel test which will help if you don't have a grinder.
Have a blast,
Brian

By 49DegreesNorth (**)

Date 07-11-2003 23:19

Wow -- great link! Thanks!

Chris

By flashburner1 (*)

Date 07-12-2003 01:50

My pleasure Chris - glad I could help.
Brian