[TowerTalk] Help identifying alloy in mast

[john at kk9a.com]

There are companies that purchase scrap metal from manufacturing  
plants. They have an analysis gun that can show the chemical  
composition of carbon steel. I have watched someone use one, they are  
very quick and appear to be accurate however you would need to remove  
the zinc in the test area.  Another option is to cut off a sample and  
test the hardness using a Brinell Hardness testing machine and compare  
it to the chrome molly and 1026 steel specs.

For some reason hams seem to be obsessed with 2" chrome molly masts.

73,

John KK9A


Richard (Rick) Karlquist N6RK wrote

I acquired a 1/2 inch wall, 2 inch OD mast as
part of a tower deal.  I neglected to ask
whether the mast was Chromoly or just steel.
Is there any easy way to determine which alloy
is present, such as doing a scratch test
with a high speed steel bit or something?
It seems reasonable that the previous user,
having gone to the trouble of using such
a thick wall mast, would also have gotten
the best alloy.  But you never know about
stuff like that.  The mast appears to be
galvanized and has no visible rust.

Rick N6RK