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Posted by Chriscase [75.36.42.77] on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 17:12:30 :
In Reply to: Re: Not steel. Maleable iron. posted by Kaegi [71.227.129.92] on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 19:52:54 :
Drill a small, say 3/16", hole somewhere un-important. No much depth, just enough to get a good sample. Use a sharp bit. As/after you drill, look at the chips. Steel makes looong twisty chips. Cast iron makes grains, like fine sand. Malleable makes a mix of sand grains and sort chips.
Malleable (as in maul-able, hammer-able) is cheap to cast, being cast iron at that stage. Then it is baked at 850° for a day or two or three. That cooks much of the excess carbon out, leaving a web of steel. Easy to machine, cheaper than steel. Much les brittle than cast iron. Used in many items that look like cast iron, but are tougher. Still has some carbon/graphite, so is low friction. Vises and lathe chucks are commonly malleable, also known as 'semi-steel'.
MU- winch parts are malleable, the Chinese repro handles are cast iron.
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