Scored some nice material

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

I’m working a t distillery just now ,was blethering to one of the guys there and I mentioned I just bought myself a lathe . Anyways, I asked if I could have a look in the scrap metal skip found a couple of nice round bars ,anyways to cut a long story short the guy appeared back with half a dozen bits of round bar up to 80mm in diameter most of it stainless steel half a meter long (not sure if my lathe will handle stainless ) and the rest cold rolled I believe . Bit of a result I thought .

Sean

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Nicel done Sean

George

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

wow, just over 3 inches dia. you'll have to be careful trying to cut that!

Michael W

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Not sure if I’ll evenue try to lol .

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Would stainless steel work for making a dead center

Sean

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

Posted by sean logie on 12/10/2016 13:13:25:
Would stainless steel work for making a dead center

Sean

.

I would say not the idea material. There are steels better suited to that.

Depending on the grade my understanding is that stainless is not particularly 'hard' (although I would not want to chew on it lol ) I am not sure of the terminology but it's more tuff than hard. Others will no doubt know of some stainless grades that are 'harder' than the hobs of hell.

Nick

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

the workability of the SS depends very much on the grade – the easiest way of cutting a bar is with an angle grinder fixed in some rigid frame and using a 0.8mm cutting disc – Aldi currently has a cheap holder for their Workzone small angle grinders (tho it can be made to fit B+Q’s small angle grinders) which is use-able (just) for cutting up to 25mm bar (maybe 32mm at a push) but depending on your lathe and tooling working it on a small lathe may be difficult as most SS work hardens on sight of a lathe tool and any hesitation in feed can be fatal to future work – found very sharp HSS seems to work for me though have used insert tools to remove the saw marks from the original cut so can use small lengths as bases or as knobs.

I got my small end of bar offcuts from the ‘waste’ bin at my supplier – usually 316 I think – they cut bars using a high power saw with plenty of coolant – its not cuttable (the blade jams and on one sample snapped) with my small bandsaw tho that can dry cut up to 90mm bar of steel .

Edited By Frances IoM on 12/10/2016 14:12:21

Edited By Frances IoM on 12/10/2016 14:16:17

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

"the workability of the SS depends very much on the grade"

Work hardening SS? Never had a problem machining it so I must be lucky. A lot of the SS I use is handles from bathroom / kitchen cabinets bought from car boots over the years and shown in the photo – lovely stuff to turn AND mill leaving super finish. Even the 3" dia stuff shown machines very nicely without a suggestion of work hardening. I also have a couple of dustbins of various SS shafts from old food grade conveyor belt systems none of which work hardens.>>

If I want to remind myself of what work hardening materials are like I can always take a tool to some 4" dia. aluminium bronze billets I have in a draw somewhere – now that stuff really does fight back. But to beat even that a copper coloured thrust bearing from a bit of ancient machinery sits in another drawer somewhere reminding me that I could not even get the hacksaw through it before I gave up. They don't make 'em like that any more! (Thinking about it – they probably didn’t make it like that anyway, it got itself toughened / work hardened by bearing a heavy rotating shaft or some such during its working life.)>>

Rik>>

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Keep the speeds nice and slow with HSS tools, it does not like too much heat! But it'll machine great at low speed with these tools.

Michael W

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

This hot cap for a Stirling Engine was carved out of a solid lump of 316 stainless, the open end is internally threaded 32 TPI. All done with HSS tools slowly with great streams of razor sharp swarfe.

Ian S C

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Was given some more steel rodding today .

3 meters of 50mm cold rolled
About 9 meters of 30mm round

1meter of 40mm

1meter of 110 mm pipe

Delighted

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

9 meters?! Is this payment in kind for a bad debt?

Michael W

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Posted by Michael Walters on 13/10/2016 20:18:39:

9 meters?! Is this payment in kind for a bad debt?

Michael W

Now now Michael …Turns out he knows my eldest son . I finished there today but will be back in a couple of weeks

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by sean logie on 13/10/2016 20:22:45:

I finished there today but will be back in a couple of weeks

I'm not surprised! At this rate you'll need to build a new outbuilding called "Stores".

Michael W

[martin perman 1Participant @martinperman1]

The company I work for as a service engineer build very large industrial washing machines from 316 and that will work harden whilst drilling holes if your not careful.

Martin P

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Rik Shaw on 12/10/2016 15:47:37:

"the workability of the SS depends very much on the grade"

Work hardening SS? Never had a problem machining it so I must be lucky. A lot of the SS I use is handles from bathroom / kitchen cabinets bought from car boots over the years and shown in the photo – lovely stuff to turn AND mill leaving super finish. Even the 3" dia stuff shown machines very nicely without a suggestion of work hardening. I also have a couple of dustbins of various SS shafts from old food grade conveyor belt systems none of which work hardens.>>

Oddly enough i turned up a mandrel from a chrome plated stainless steel toilet roll holder and it machined beautifully. I think they chose a grade that bends without work hardening for handles etc.

I have met other SS that work hardens when you look at it.

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

316, don,t go fast, but be positive, keep the feed rate up whether you are drilling, or turning it in the lathe.

Boy you struck a (steel) gold mine.

Ian S C

[nigel jones 5Participant @nigeljones5]

Ths stuff our engineers throw in the scrap bin is unreal…blunt drill, get a new one, throw the old one, im off to see what is in there now!!

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

I think the big stainless bar isn't much use to me ,might make a good doorstopper lol

Sean

[Geoff TheasbyParticipant @geofftheasby]

I rescued a McLaren baby buggy in the hope of acquiring some square and round alloy tubing. I might have to cut it up, as it is held together with tough rivets. Any ideas? How do I get the internal star washers off the axles?

Regards

Geoff

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Geoff – I normally find that the internal star washers succumb to a small screwdriver or awl forced in under the individual tongues to prise them up. Once bent back a bit use pliers to bend them right back and then attack the next one. By the time you've got 3 or 4 to loose their grip the washer can normally be pulled off the shaft. Tough rivets- try a tougher drill – cobalt?

[Author]

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