[TowerTalk] [Bulk] Re: Rohn towers

[Grant Saviers]

Having bought a lot of steel at recycle yards,  unless I was lucky, 
there was no marking re alloy.  The yards I went to just piled 
everything up by size/type, they wouldn't want to represent for 
liability reasons the alloy of anything except to say "it's probably 
steel" .

A DOM clue is tube sizing (fractional inch) rather than IPS (water pipe) 
sizing, I took a caliper and checked ID/OD.  You will not see or feel a 
weld bead in the ID of the pipe as the mandrel drawing process reworks 
the weld.  That *likely* indicates an alloy tube rather than misc water 
pipe steel from where-ever with maybe welding.  There were also piles of 
poorly welded square and round tubes that failed mill inspection, I 
avoided them.

I looked for "drill pipe",  a ranchers favorite for unbendable fencing, 
it is very likely to be a higher strength alloy steel.  A good clue it 
is drill pipe is the ends are threaded with threads you've never seen 
before.  Male one end, female the other.  There are dozens of thread 
types.  Take a file and if the edge skips, then it is a hard alloy 
steel.  Usually, pretty rusty, but if labor is free...  But, it will be 
tough to cut to length, I used a torch or plasma since the hardness 
dulls most bandsaw blades.  Or have the yard torch cut it and grind it 
to better looking at home.

A very few times I've been lucky enough to find scrap mill marked 4130 
or 4340 or 1020.  For solid bar drops out of screw machines or bar 
feeders, the mill hammered stamp might be there on the raw end. One 
great find was a huge piece of O-1 tool steel worth new $1k from 
Starrett, bought for $18 on the scale for 35 cents per pound with the 
Starrett tag still on it.  It all goes in the same electric furnace when 
sold to a mill.

SIMS-LMC I think is the biggest recycler, at least in CA, and was my 
favorite for good finds.  They also stocked new smaller structural 
shapes L, bar, flats, sq tube, WFB, etc

Grant KZ1W

On 5/12/2015 16:42 PM, Bry Carling AF4K wrote:
> Scrap metal merchants. They are in most major cities and a lot of smaller ones too.
>
> Serach under your city name and the words "surplus, scrap  or metal."
>
> On 12 May 2015 at 16:07, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
>
>> I agree with Bry, there has to be a source of intermediate lengths at
>> more reasonable prices.  But where?
>>
>> Patrick     NJ5G
>
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