Cutting approx. 14 inch "400 series stainless" bar

Stainless steel does no rust. ie does not oxidise. Therefore it will not be able to be cut with an oxy acet torch. You can try putting a regular steel rod over the stainless and using the torch to oxidise that. But it does not work well.

You would be better off with arc air.

Dan

14" with a hand held torch, if you can do it its gonna take forever.

You need:

Might be a good investment if your going to be cutting up a lot big stuff.

Best Regards Tom.

Stainless steel does no rust. ie does not oxidise. Therefore it will not be able to be cut with an oxy acet torch. You can try putting a regular steel rod over the stainless and using the torch to oxidise that. But it does not work well.

You would be better off with arc air.

Dan

How about this:

Its an oxy setup cutting stainless.

Best Regards Tom.

Stainless steel does no rust. ie does not oxidise. Therefore it will not be able to be cut with an oxy acet torch. You can try putting a regular steel rod over the stainless and using the torch to oxidise that. But it does not work well.

You would be better off with arc air.

Dan

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300 series stainless doesn't rust under normal circumstances but 400 series does, it's what mid-grade car exhaust systems are made from and they get a nice surface coating after 2-4 years. That said, I don't know if a torch will cut it or not, and 14" thick? No idea what it would take to burn through that, sorry Ig.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Well, we tried today, it does burn. It is magnetic "400 series" stainless.

i

It weighs 12 tons.

Yes, we tried today, it is 400 series (12 percent chromium) and it does burn nicely with a oxygen torch.

i

Be sure you have proper respiratory protection, that chromium content could be an issue.

I would have thought that being able to cut "SS" with O/A would be prima facie evidence that it was NOT stainless. I tried cutting run of the mill 1/8 SS sheet with O/A, nary a spark came off.

And burn NICELY at that? At 14"?????

Look up "400 series stainless".

i

On Jul 18, 3:37=A0pm, Ignoramus21660

If I had realized it was so heavy I would have recommended trying a oxygen lance.

Have not ever tried it myself. You take say a 1 inch pipe and stuff as many mild steel rods in it as you can. Connect to some ganged oxygen bottles with regulators and a ball valve. Use your torch to get the end of the pipe red hot and then turn on the oxygen. The pipe and the rods get consumed , but their burning releases a lot of heat.

Dan

If I had realized it was so heavy I would have recommended trying a oxygen lance.

Have not ever tried it myself. You take say a 1 inch pipe and stuff as many mild steel rods in it as you can. Connect to some ganged oxygen bottles with regulators and a ball valve. Use your torch to get the end of the pipe red hot and then turn on the oxygen. The pipe and the rods get consumed , but their burning releases a lot of heat.

Dan

As a demo at school, we used this setup to cut a thick block of concrete. IIRC we used 3/4" pipe, (I suspect 1/2" pipe would also work, but would be consumed quickly). Messy, hot and crude but it did work.

A little over 20 feet. It is thicker than 14 inches in most places.

i

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He did some time back when talking about perhaps bidding iirc...

I'm virtually positive he means the _shaft_ is 14" D -- I expect the overall diameter is probably 5-8 ft; it was removed from a turbine-generator at a power plant if it's the one I presume it is...

It'll take quite a bandsaw indeed... :)

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Indeedy.... the part that gets me is the claim that it cut with O/A "nicely"....

Salt water "chlorides" SS, and I'm wondering if that somehow sequesters the chromium, making it easier to cut.

The 400 series stainless steels are not all that stainless, tending more to high-carbon steel and high strength. For instance, 440C is used for knife blades.

Joe Gwinn

But 440 C has 16 to 18 % chrome. If it cut nicely with O/A , maybe it is clad with stainless, but the bulk is not stainless.

Dan