Metal alloys cheat sheet?

[intjonmiller]

I'm having trouble finding a good cheat sheet for metal alloys. I will be going to my favorite industrial liquidation place today and they have a room of raw materials, including numerous kinds of steel for 50 cents per pound ($1 for non-magnetic stainless). But the notation on the materials is not always familiar. I end up trying to look them up on my phone while shopping and it takes forever. Sometimes familiar ones like A2 or D4 or 1095 are seen, but more often the notation is something else that I haven't seen before. (5 digit numbers, for instance.) I know there are different taxonomies for different industries, countries, etc. Is a rough cross reference available or even possible?

Every list I've found is either a too-brief overview/sampling or industry-targeted technical explanations rather than a quick reference. Does that make sense?

Anyone know of such a resource that I could print out or have saved on my phone for faster shopping? I always run out of time as I only get down there when doing a paid gig and only get an hour or so after finishing and before the store closes.

Thanks!

 

[Billh50]

not sure if this will help.
http://www.dfwmachine.com/2010/07/steel-grade-equivalent/

 

[12bolts]

I would just download a few pdf's and extract some of the more common/likely to encounter metals and do them up in a format that suits you. Either a new pdf on your phone, or a printed word doc,excel sheet or similar in your pocket. You dont need all the listed properties of each alloy. Just keep it basic and simple. Might take an hour or 2 at the computer.

Cheers Phil

 

[4GSR]

Some companies now days have their special number stamped or painted on the metal so no outsiders can tie it back to a real specification. Use to do that at a couple of companies I used to work for. In fact, I used to assign the material specification numbers for purchasing to use to buy material by. Might see if the scrap dealer has the "gun" to zap the metal in question and tell you what it is.

 

[intjonmiller]

I would just download a few pdf's and extract some of the more common/likely to encounter metals and do them up in a format that suits you. Either a new pdf on your phone, or a printed word doc,excel sheet or similar in your pocket. You dont need all the listed properties of each alloy. Just keep it basic and simple. Might take an hour or 2 at the computer.

Cheers Phil

The problem is that there is no consistency to this place. Industrial liquidation so sometimes it's a manufacturer that went out of business, sometimes refused freight (part of a shipment was damaged so the entire shipment is refused and liquidated instead of shipping back to the manufacturer), and sometimes it's just the leftovers.

There's always 300 and 400 series stainless in various sizes and shapes. Lots of bronze the last few trips. Usually a fair amount of A2 and maybe D2. But tonight I absolutely scored. I have never before seen so much high speed steel in one place. For that matter I had never seen such large pieces of HSS, at least in person. Absolutely insane.

My wife looked at me like I was nuts as I loaded what looked to her like scrap metal into the cart. Then, while she was waiting for me, she looked up what it's worth. She called me over and, worried they would decide to charge us more if they heard, held up one medium size chunk of M42 and whispered "this costs $250!!" Sure enough, that exact piece online for $256.

I got about 20 times that chunk. Over 200 pounds of M2, M4, M36, and especially M42. The latter are almost all thread roll dies. Or just huge chunks of M42 HSS.

Also a couple of Niagra woodruff cutters that run $260 each, at least on Amazon. Some Acculead 90° V end mills (over $100 each, I believe), a 3/4" reamer with M2 taper shank, and tons of HSS molding knives of some sort. They range in thickness from 1/8" to about 3/16" thick, most around 2-4" wide and 4-6" long. Grade isn't listed but I can probably look it up.

















Drill chuck on R8 arbor for size reference.

I am a very happy boy tonight.

 

[intjonmiller]

Some companies now days have their special number stamped or painted on the metal so no outsiders can tie it back to a real specification. Use to do that at a couple of companies I used to work for. In fact, I used to assign the material specification numbers for purchasing to use to buy material by. Might see if the scrap dealer has the "gun" to zap the metal in question and tell you what it is.

They do have a PMI (positive material identification) gun, but they just write down the code it tells them. No telling what kind of a code it will be. Today's selection was fantastic because I knew what it was and what it was good for. Most of the time it's just a mix of many different ones. I can't recall any examples right now. I'll have to look at some of my previous purchases when I get a chance.

Now I need to see if I can get a good price on those giant chunks of M42 on eBay or if I need to have my brother get it wire EDM'd at his work into more usable (for people buying on eBay) tool blank sizes. Sell off some of that and pay for the whole lot.

 

[bfd]

the machinery handbook has a good description of most steel, it has charts of what various common items are made of bill