I finally finished making a rack for my metal stock (only took 10 years...). I purchased a bunch of leaded steel 12L14(?) in a group buy with my metalworking group about the time I started the rack. Unfortunately, I don't recall which steel bars are the 12L stuff.
Is there an easy way to tell it from CRS or mild steel other than machining a piece? Would one of the lead paint testers from a hardware store work?
Thanks!
Doug White
--Just a guess but I'll bet if you rubbed your finger along a squeaky clean one you might get a black smudge buildup on finger.
steamer wrote in news:4b85824c$0$1584 $ snipped-for-privacy@news.sonic.net:
That's gonna take some work. The suspect items were wrapped in newspaper, and the bits that aren't covered in small filings cemented on with old sulfur cutting fluid are rusty.
Doug White
If you don't know now it's too late, just put them on the rack any way that makes sense.
My stock, mostly from auctions, is sorted by length with long pieces up between the floor joists, medium lengths leaning in a corner and short ones on shelves. I cut off a shelf-length piece from long rods to have a ready supply for turning small parts and identify it by how smoothly and easily it cuts. Some shafting threads almost as nicely as
12L14 but doesn't rust as badly.The long ones are tagged if I knew or figured out what they are. I paint white nail polish on the short ones and write the ID there where it won't be lost when I chuck them in the lathe.
If it will be welded or highly stressed I use known material, otherwise don't load it beyond 20KSI. It's been a good enough system for hobby work.
jsw
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