11/16/2023 0 Comments Vanadium steel anvilhopefully it'll be a smooth gray without sparkles. If it snaps off with a nice little tink remove the rag and examine the break for the grain structure. Lay a rag over it to catch and splinters and give it a light rap with a hammer to bend or break it. Place the coupon in the vise with just the end without a temper color sticking up. Shine it up and temper from one end till a light straw temper color reaches about 1", 25mm. Now heat it to critical heat and quench it in oil. You want the thickness as uniform as you can get it. Forge the test coupon down to a length of a few inches, say 6" 150mm. You can just make one and see how it works OR you can test some of it's properties so you'll have a better idea if it'll work. Shop testing then progresses to the practical aspects of what can a particular piece be used to make. Also, spark testing is an estimator it isn't something that will tell you definitively what's in the steel. find and consult those for actual spark testing. Also the carbon itself is flammable and increases the fireworks of the bursts.ĭon't take my description too literally, there are good books and online charts including color charts and photos of the sparks. What causes the difference is the heat generated by the grinder, the higher the carbon content the harder it is to grind generally so it generates more heat. you'll even be able to hear them hissing and spitting. As they do they will begin to burst like a sparkler until you hit the really hot end, white heat and they'll burst into showers of sparks very soon behind the grinder. As the carbon % rises the sparks will get brighter and move up the spectrum towards white heat. Anyway, low carbon and wrought will have red or dull orange sparks that travel quite a way from the grinder without bursting. high alloy steels don't tell us a lot spark testing. The type of sparks will depending on the carbon content in simple carbon steel. Stroke the item on a grinder or use a disk grinder to generate sparks. Shop tests, after estimating depending on what you found, typically start with a spark test. Todat's spring steel isn't the same stuff it was 30 years ago let alone 100. There are some pretty complete lists but you still need to test because steels change over time. There are charts and lists of the kind of steel you can expect to find in various manufactured parts, leaf and coil springs or axles for instance. I've been doing some yard work, spring cleaning, bruysh whacking and packing and I'm too beat to think. I'd post a link but my searching is off line for now. There are I believe some long discussions of identifying steels hee somewhere. Making assumptions is a time honored method of stepping in the pucky or having to develop a taste for your own feet.įield identifying and shop testing found steel is an art in itself. Silicone isn't a metal? REALLY! Neither is carbon. They'll look cool though, just advertise them as letter openers and nobody can accuse you of dishonesty. Be very careful of any fumes coming off it in or out of the forge! It won't have enough carbon nor chrome to make good blades beyond the kitchen table. If you're thinking about forging old wrenches into sellable items like kitchen ware, garden tools, hangers, hooks cabinet hardware, etc. Zinc plating can be dangerous but not nearly so as cadmium or chrome. For instance, chrome plated steel can be very dangerous to put in the forge. That's about all there is we need to know as blacksmiths. #3, will it effect the finished product, if so how. #1, is it toxic? To work it or the finished product. What we as blacksmiths need to know about Chrome Vanadium, or any alloy or plating is: New folk to most any craft want the perfect tools and materials and conditions thinking it will improve their product. Don't worry, it's pretty common for new folk to do just what you are. Natkova: You're really trying to overthink the craft.
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