Need help ID-ing steel bar (is is weldable)

According to Ignoramus12714 :

Sure -- they tell you *exactly* what alloy you have -- *if* you know which vendor sold them before they were cut down (not the eBay one, but the serious metal vendor). The problem is that each vendor has his own set of color codes. The color codes have *not* been standarized between manufacturers/vendors.

I could tell you what those colors mean from my Jorgensen steel book -- but there is no point unless you *know* that they were sold by Jorgensen.

Sorry, DoN.

That's unfortunate.

DoN, if we can pretend for a second that these bars were made by Jorgensen, what would they be then? The reason for my question is that someone mentioned that while there are some differences, many vendors have a lot of codes in common.

Whatever the alloy may be, you can't know now unless you have a chemical analysis done. Any steel (or other alloy) is available as FGS if you know wherre to look. The fact that it's magnetic tells us it can probably be hardened and nothing else. There may be a color code painted on one end or not...it may be stainless or not....it may be a tool steel or a powder-metallurgy special application alloy. I agree with whoever it was that said to put it off to the side for something special. Sacrifice some to heat treat and see what happens- my interest is primarily tool steels and cutting things and you'd be floored to learn what some steels are capable of, let alone what it takes to properly heat treat them. Of course, it could be one of the cobalt alloys that doesn't need heat treatment. If whacking it with a hammer dents it, it probably is not cobalt. If it is cobalt do NOT try to cut it because you'll end up needing to replace your equipment. And this is a helluva lot more than I figured on writing when I started. Brian

Igor,

I bought some tool steel that looks like that. I think it was "D-2" but I don't remember. However, I'll wager that it is hardenable tool steel.

Someone recommended a spark test. By comparing the spark glitter pattern to the pattern of known specimens you can come pretty close to determining what it is. I'll wager that it's high carbon of some kind. If so, for it to be weldable would imply pre- and/or post heat.

Vernon

Since you have already contacted steel suppliers, and patiently searched "metal color codes" and similar terminology without finding your answers quit trying to ID it and do some experimenting to find useful properties. After all, this is not an engineering group where exact parameters need to be known.............. Brian

Besides, Iggy.... who told you stainless steel wasn't (easily) weldable?

LLoyd

It would have been nice if you had left quoted what I did about the actual color(s), to save me from having to follow the thread back and cut-and-paste it to an editor in a spare window before moving upstream again:

I've seen posted code charts from other vendors, and there was a

So -- now we dig into Jorgensen's book to see whether there is an actual match. What I *might* have to tell you is that it does not appear under that description in their book, but we'll see.

When two colors are mentioned, there is some of each visible, one over the other, so your "yellow and gray" description would not work there, and I can skip that if I find it.

And, I'll have to list "close" ones, since I can't see your bar in person.

Jalloy AR-360 heat treated bars brown

There is *no* mention of beige, or anything closer than brown.

There *is* a Yellow and gray, which is 1144 carbon steel

Most things in Jorgensen's book are bright primary colors to be harder to mistake. Nothing as light as a beige.

So -- it is someone else's code, not Jorgensen's.

Enjoy, DoN.