Material Hardness

cropduster

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
131
Location
Southwest Pennsylvania
Hello to All:
Material hardness seems to be an issue that continues to creep up then drift away. But I have not noticed any consistent approach or data used by the engraving community. Please note that my lack of notice could very well be from my personal newbie lack of attention while reading, or my lack of awareness of engraving community standards.
Also, the level of sharing of valuable information from all present on this forum, and in particular, those individuals with years and years of experience has been far more than pleasantly surprising. This sharing has helped me so much that I would like to try to give back something that may be of benefit to at least a few.
As a retiree of the engineering world and now a student of engraving, one of the websites I used in the past for extensive and highly detailed material property info may be of service to you.
The name of the site is MatWeb. MatWeb maintains a searchable database of over 100,000 material properties for metals such as aluminum, cobalt, copper, lead, magnesium, nickel, steel, super alloys, titanium and zinc alloys; thermoplastic and thermoset polymers such as ABS, nylon, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene and polypropylene; plus semiconductors, fibers, and other engineering materials.
You can search the site at least eight different ways, all of which are provided with instruction, including the data on hardness of the above mentioned materials. For a very easy approach to hardness data, I have found that searching the site for metal alloys by UNS number (this is the number most people are familiar with such as 1018 steel; 1095 steel; 6061 T6 Aluminum, etc.) provides me with nearly everything I have needed in the past.
Use of the basic site is FREE - if you are in need of a load of additional detail, you can also register and pay a fee for premium use of the site and obtain, for example, conversions of all hardness data and so much more.
In closing, please note that I am not in any way affiliated with MatWeb, The website is www.matweb.com and I do hope you find it to be of some use, and thank you all for your help.
Best Regards,
Cropduster
 

monk

Moderator
Staff member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
10,857
Location
washington, pa
i think such compiled info in one spot may have real use to some of the members. tyvm for posting this.
 

Roger Bleile

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
2,988
Location
Northern Kentucky
Thanks for your effort to point out a source of assistance to us.

Two issues we gun engravers face, even with data on the material properties are that we never know the exact method of heat treating that the metal was subjected to after machining nor do we have have access to information on the exact metal used. On the one hand many manufacturers are reluctant to divulge the needed information about the type of metal and heat treatment and on the other hand many of the guns we work on were made 50-150 years ago and even the manufacturer (if they still exist) does not posses the information. Most gun manufacturers like Colt, Winchester, S&W, etc. have passed through many corporate sales and mergers and no longer have the information. Even if they had the information no one there is willing to take the time to research it for someone who wants to "desecrate" one of their creations with custom engraving. That is why we have a thread on engraveable guns in this forum. It has also been my experience that there are great variances in hardness from one gun to another within the same make and model. The Ruger No.1 is a good example of this situation.

I don't wish to throw cold water on the source of information you provided. I'm sure it will be of some help, especially for jewelers and knife makers. I just want to point out some of the issues that gun engravers face in the US where the vast majority of us work in the secondary market unlike Europe where most engravers work for manufacturers.
 

Runingfool

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
44
Location
Louisiana
You could always invest in a hardness tester. However most will only test to Rockwell B or C scale and if you have an item that might be case Harden, the hardness can only be several thousands and the 150kgf weight used for the C scale will not give accurate surface hardness. You'll need to use a Superficial Hardness tester. There are files that can be purchased that will give you some indication as to metal hardness, they stop cutting when the contact a harder material. Good Luck, John@powersmetalworks.com
 

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