Idnetify cast iron by sparks, chiseling and color.
The identification of cast steel iron is very important in welding where it is used as a base metal. Accurate identification of the base metal is needed to produce a high quality weld as different base metals require different temperatures and procedures. There are several easy steps you can use to identify the type of metal. Most of these tests rely on that cast iron steel will contain more than 0.25 percent carbon. The more carbon in a metal, the harder the metal becomes. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Use a chisel and hammer to remove a small piece of the unknown metal. Gray cast steel iron chips will be brittle, but very smooth. White cast steel iron is very brittle and will break into small pieces.
2. Look at the color to help identify the cast steel iron. The color of metal can help with identification. There are two colors of cast steel iron; silvery and dark gray. Pair this color test with a spark test or chip test for positive identification. If the metal contains reddish hues or gold then it is not cast steel iron.
3. Hold the piece of iron against a high speed abrasive wheel. The types of sparks or lack of sparks that occur are used to identify the metal. Gray cast steel iron produces a stream of sparks 25 inches in length. The volume of sparks is small. The sparks emitted near the wheel are red and the sparks far away from the wheel are a straw color.
Tags: cast steel iron, cast steel, steel iron, base metal, cast iron, Gray cast, Gray cast steel
