c 30 carbon steel

Being a beginner I have not built up a scrap box yet & I need a cheap source of metal to practice on. Annually I purchase a 1 tonne pallet of 19mm diam long link chain which I sell for moorings. I have to cut into short lengths so I end up with lots of half links. I have noticed that if I cut the links on one side each time I get a length of near straight steel about 3.25 inches long.*3/4 diam

I tried turning a piece but it is very hard & the best tool for cutting seems to be tungsten tipped tools

The chain is specified as C30 carbon steel & in manufacture gets welded at the join. ( I cut my piece from the opposite side to the weld) so has some form of heat treatment in manufacture

What my beginner question is - If I go ahead & build a forge ( I have been thinking of having a go at casting aluminium) could I heat the steel & anneal it to make it softer , or will it always remain hard due to the carbon content?

You should be able to anneal. The current 'heat treat' may be largely a side effect of the forging and welding processes.

Once annealed, sawing and filing should be straightforward. No idea how it will behave on the lathe.

Edited By jaCK Hobson on 09/03/2016 08:37:29

Have you priced a complete bar or half a bar at a steel stockholder ? I think I paid around £22 for 12 foot length of 3/4" diameter mild steel. At that price it does not seem worth messing around other than for personal satisfaction.

Sell the cut links for scrap, increase the price of mooring chain a little and buy some free cutting steel for your hobby.

If you really want to use the links, perhaps the best use would be to weld them back into chain.

:0)

Martin

Sam have look at the link for some info on C30 steel, you can anneal by heating to above the upper critical temperature approx 750 deg C and allowing to cool slowly. It will then be easy to machine with either HSS or carbide if you wish. Should be good for general applications and you could re-heat treat if required.

Using your forge to anneal will work OK just heat to dull red and set on the side of the forge to cool.

Hope this helps John

**LINK**

thanks John

That is what i wanted to hear. I know i can buy reinforcing steel but when i had tonnes of it ( contractor) i found much of it difficult to turn in that it was poor quality. I suspect anything i make with this steel can be re hardened & give a good wearing product

Hi Sam, yes it can be heat treated but keep in mind it will not go anywhere near as hard as tool steels, not enough carbon, it will however be possible to increase the wear resistance considerably with the correct hardening and tempering.

John