Most expensive steel

Quick question of curiousity here. What's the most expensive kind of steel you guys have ever seen, per pound? What's the craziest, most expensive stuff out there? For tools, guns, armour... or even for backhoe teeth :-)?

Chris

Reply to
Christopher Tidy
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The most expensive *commercially available* steel I've even seen is Cricible's CPM Rex 121, although it must have come down recently, because it's even being sold for making knife blades. It's an extreme high-speed steel.

As for steel used in structural applications, the maraging grades are 'way up there.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Am Montag, 16. Oktober 2017 23:46:54 UTC+2 schrieb Ed Huntress:

So how much do those steels cost?

Chris

Reply to
Christopher Tidy

Just checking one place for the Rex 121 (Alpha Knife Supply), a 0.142" thick slab, 23.0" long and 6.0" wide, is $394.00. That must be for making some kind of nasty little sword, I guess.

When it first came out, most of it was sold for making gear hobs. Those blanks were a lot more expensive then.

OnLine Metals will sell you 3 ft. long bar, 1.5" diameter, of maraging steel for $920.51.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Well, doing science stuff sometimes requires isotopically pure iron. Not exactly steel, but for pricey, consider a gram of Fe56 and then "call for quote".

Reply to
whit3rd

If you buy metal from these and in little chunks you pay more and a lot more.

I used to buy AR500 (expensive) by the 4x10' have it cut into 4 so I could carry it. 3/8" thick weighs like 1/2" A36. It is extremely dense and full of exotic metal. It is a registered product. (with the FBI).

I bought mine from a MILL company. They barge the large sheets in and use 80' rail cars to tote them from the barge to their facility.

Martin

Reply to
Martin Eastburn

Well, Crucible CPM Rex 121 is hot-isostatically-pressed powdered metal. You can put their biggest pieces -- a lot of them -- into the back seat of a Fiat 500.

As for maraging steel, most customers are governments. We embargoed maraging steel to Iran, because one of its critical uses is in making uranium centrifuges.

It's not something that you buy in large quantities unless you're making ICBMs, air-superiority fighters, or equipment for making nuclear warheads.

There's a growing use for it in 3D printing, but that's another story.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Oh you mean it is a Craft Metal. Not a Production Metal. No wonder. Martin

Reply to
Martin Eastburn

I wouldn't call either of them "craft." They're just very expensive, special-purpose steels. Rex 121 is a tool steel, sometimes called a "bridge material," bridging the gap between ordinary HSS and tungsten carbide; maraging has an extraordinary combination of properties (extremely high strength, combined with ductility) that sometimes justifies its very high cost.

Reply to
Ed Huntress

Martin, composition wise, it is a steel with a little extra manganese and bits of nickel and moly, I cannot see how it should be so dense.

Reply to
Ignoramus4513

I have a target made of 3/4" steel plate, with a piece of 3/4 plywood clamped in front. I only use it for .22s though.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus4513

Right , that is why there is this plywood.

Reply to
Ignoramus8907

Interesting thread. Thanks for the replies!

Reply to
Christopher Tidy

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