# Cast Iron Body Building Weights



## sssfox (Feb 23, 2016)

I went to a used sporting equipment store tonight and saw a stack of cast iron weights for weight lifting. You know the kind I'm talking about.  There is a steel bar with weights on each end, held on by a collar.   A person can add as much weight as he wants, up to 750 pounds or so.

 I've been looking for some cast iron for a chuck back plate for my new lathe and some smaller chunks for flywheels.  Some of the smaller ones seem to be just the right size, so I bought several.  They are quite reasonable at around 70 cents a pound. 

They also have some dumbbells or whatever you call them, that have a cast iron lump on each end with a cast iron shaft in between, cast as one piece.  These looked like a good source also, but I didn't have an immediate need.

Has anyone ever used any of these as a source of cast iron?


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## bazmak (Feb 23, 2016)

Yes i had the same idea with mixed results.The 1st one turned up nice as 
a chuck backing plate. $3.50 cheap at the price. The second one was pot
hard,and carbide tools wouldn't touch it.I haven't bothered since as I have found a supplier of cast iron.One tip,tap them with a metal object the more they Sing the harder they are. Very poor quality chinese cast iron but if you don't try it you wont know.I was 50% lucky


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## sssfox (Feb 23, 2016)

Thanks for the help.

I know that at least some of them are machinable, the hole in the center is bored out.  I can't say I checked them all.  I did look through the stack and got the ones that appeared to be old.  I figured they had a better chance of being cast in the U.S.

I really could use a $3.50 backing plate.


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## goldstar31 (Feb 23, 2016)

look out for an old marking out table that is no longer fit for original work. Mine cost £3. It was Meehanite and easily machinable.
You might be lucky with weights but you might not.  If you stand back and think , your cheap faceplate might warp. 

They do- believe me.

Regards

Norman


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## cheepo45 (Feb 24, 2016)

Check out my "Chuck backing Plate from barbell weight" thread.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=11805
cheepo45


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## sssfox (Feb 24, 2016)

Bazmak,

I tried cutting a couple of the weights.
The first appears to be cast iron, has a dull ring and cuts quite well with HSS and carbide.

The second appears to be some type of steel.  It has a bright ring to it, like a bell.  I cut it with carbide and while it is tough, it has a fairly good finish.  Not sure if I will be able to use it.

The others are between these two extremes, as far as ring is concerned.

cheepo45, at least I know it's possible.  Glad yours turned out so well.  I hope mine is at least as good.

My new old lathe is in Gainesville, Fl awaiting the trip to my shop in North Carolina in a month or so.  As far as metalworking projects go, I'm on hold until I get it set up.


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## bazmak (Feb 24, 2016)

Yes my first one turned up well.A 1.25kg about 6"dia.The only problem was the
finished wall thickness was down to about 6mm,bit thin but did work.The 2nd one I could not touch so use it as a balance weight.Dont think I would buy anymore,might as well pay a bit extra for proper cast iron at $6 per kilo


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## sssfox (Feb 24, 2016)

Where do you get cast iron for $6/kilo?


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## Kaleb (Feb 25, 2016)

I've machined a few of these weights (they're called barbell weights as far as I know) to make flywheels. Now some people would tell you not to touch the things with a ten foot pole, but I've generally found them to be okay to machine, though I have encountered two bad ones which were tough as nails and had some big holes hidden in them, but those were found by chance during a scrapyard visit. 

EDIT: I wonder if anyone has any idea what those foundries producing the really bad ones are likely to be doing wrong for the weights to come out so hard and full of holes, and why it would be cheaper for them to ignore such bad practise?


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## Wizard69 (Feb 25, 2016)

sssfox said:


> Thanks for the help.
> 
> I know that at least some of them are machinable, the hole in the center is bored out.  I can't say I checked them all.  I did look through the stack and got the ones that appeared to be old.  I figured they had a better chance of being cast in the U.S.
> 
> I really could use a $3.50 backing plate.




Barbell weights have been made in China or elsewhere for decades now.  It doesn't really matter though because no matter where they are made, they are made to be cheap not tightly controlled product.  Because the analysis isn't known you may have success annealing a disk or maybe not.    It is very much a random crap shoot.   Since these can often be found at yard sales for pennies on the dollar sometimes it is worth taking a chance.   

The bigger problem is that the plates end up very thin after machining.    Unless of course you can leave in the cast in name and other labels.     If the material is thick enough and big enough in diameter it is certainly worth a try.    You can actually buy a lot of cast iron this way compared to buying durabar at a metal retailer.


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## goldstar31 (Feb 25, 2016)

I agree with Wizard69 but would add that it is possible get all  sorts of problems because the specification is that there are weights - end of story.

What rubbish goes into the melt is of no matter- to them. However, what happens when that hard spot turns out to be a bit of carbide.
Does this institute another bit of postbag which reads- My cheap jack lathe ( or not) has stripped a set of gears or a bull wheel or even a saddle with torn out tee slots' What do the experts say? Perhaps it would be cruel to say ' Penny wise, pound foolish'

Think again, does anyone want in an expensive lathe to find that casting sand has got under the saddle and the beautiful handscraping now looks like a metal cattle grid which has been run over with a full size battle tank.

Unreal? Sadly, it is all too true in the cold world of reality.

My thoughts but I've been there

Norman


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## RonGinger (Feb 25, 2016)

In this hobby we usually spend a lot of time making parts. With all the setups and sometimes even making holding jigs, we can have many hours into one part. The cost of our material usually winds up as pennies per hour per part. Is it good to save a few pennies and maybe wind up with a junk part, or worse breaking a nice insert- that may cost $10?

I have a pretty good stock room full of 'mystery metal' and it seems every time I try to use some of it I am not happy with the final surface finish.

We spend a lot of money to buy tools and machines, so my view is to buy quality material,  its the cheapest part of this hobby.


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## goldstar31 (Feb 25, 2016)

Off topic, perhaps but interesting !

Have some nice stainless cutlery which goes into the dishwasher with tablets.

Comes out with little red blotches where ordinary steel ( I guess) has reacted with the salt in the tablets- 

To use the words of the Prophet---RUST

Cheers

Norman


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## sssfox (Feb 25, 2016)

sssfox said:


> Where do you get cast iron for $6/kilo?



I just did a search and found a supplier in Tampa that carries Dura-Bar.
A piece 1-1/2" x 2" x 12" lists for $435.82.
This price is similar to others I have found in the past.
Two pieces cost more than I paid for my 7x lathe.
This puts it WAY out of my ballpark.

If I could find it for $6 a kilo, I wouldn't be looking at barbell weights.
Am I missing something?


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## SmithDoor (Feb 25, 2016)

I have use cast iron weights for chuck backs. The cost was good my son when move out left a set and I have put them to good use.
Thm:th_wav
Take less than an hour to thread and mount a chuck
I have post to down load section how I made the backing plate
I would post the like but the downloads are working for me today

Dave


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## mcostello (Feb 25, 2016)

You best sharpen up Your Google Foo,  Speedy Metals list that size as $23+ shipping and any other cost They can dream up. Not related or even hardly a customer as I can usually do better than their price, just an example.


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## sssfox (Feb 25, 2016)

mcostello said:


> You best sharpen up Your Google Foo,



Do you often feel the need to belittle people?
If you are THAT good, why wouldn't you give me the link where you get a better price?  There, the imoji helps.

I prefer to buy metals locally when I can.  Dura-Bar is a big company.  I figured I should be able to pick it up instead of needing to get it shipped.  That is the one name I hear most often when it comes to cast iron.  I just don't understand why it costs so much.  It has been my experience that when there is that much of a price difference, there's a reason.

If I buy mail order without seeing what I buy, how do I know the composition is any better than the bar bell weights?  I have purchased steel online and it isn't always what it is advertised to be.  There was a good metal supply company in Tampa, but it closed 15 years ago.  There was also a a surplus/recycling place, but the State built a new road and bought the property, so it closed, also.  I haven't been able to find a new supply since.

I did find what was supposed to be a great surplus place in Jacksonville.  I took a trip up there to see what it was like.  They had a lot of aluminum and small pieces of brass, but no cast iron.  They had one shed with a lot of steel.  I asked them what type some of it was and the guy said "you know, steel they build stuff with."  It didn't give me a lot of confidence.  

I freely admit that I am not good telling which type of steel is which.  I prefer buying it from a knowledgeable source and don't mind paying a little more for the knowledge.   I know even less about cast iron.


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## goldstar31 (Feb 25, 2016)

I've just returned from Aldi stores in Little England and next weeks offer is 
1 x 10Kg or
2 x 5KG or
4 x 2.5KG

each set being £12.99

But earlier I got a Meehanite marking out table( rusty and unsuitable for marking out) for 3 quid.

I've just got a Myford ML10 plus a 3 jaw and it was index drilled, a 4 jaw, a faceplate, a catchplate, hard, soft, rotating and rotating centres , plus assorted drill chucks. I got a Potts drill unit( which few have heard of), a Cleeve swing tool, a QCTP etc ( Yuk) an normal one, a vertical slide and vice plus steadies and heaps of tools and jigs. Of course, there is whole Imperial set of cogs.

Imaging the cleaning and possible damage from weights, I think a stifled yawn might be appropriate as it all cost a mere £500.

Norman


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## sssfox (Feb 25, 2016)

I wish we were all so lucky.


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## petertha (Feb 25, 2016)

sssfox, some CI issues/names/suppliers were discussed in this thread FWIW 
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=25282

As I posted, my only experience was CI rod for a cylinder liner supplied by Speedy. It was nice stuff to turn on the lathe, but I don't have any other comparative reference to other CI. I'm envious of the options available within USA but between the shipping cost & vendors, it narrows the field pretty quick in my locale.

I cant speak to your Durabar quote, but when I called a distributer (here in Canada) the $/ft didn't sound too excessive, but the min order was a show stopper. They seem to be industrial focused, at least here.


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## sssfox (Feb 25, 2016)

Thanks petertha, that thread was very informative.

I guess they make it harder to get stuff to Canada to keep out the riffraff.
I've been there several times and the VAT has kept me from spending much money.  
Every place I've been there was beautiful, but the summers there are shorter than the winters in Florida.


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## kf2qd (Feb 25, 2016)

Kaleb said:


> EDIT: I wonder if anyone has any idea what those foundries producing the really bad ones are likely to be doing wrong for the weights to come out so hard and full of holes, and why it would be cheaper for them to ignore such bad practise?




The foundries are producing cheap barbell weights. Don't need to machinable, just need to be close to the weight. If it says 5 pounds and it weighs 5 pounds, then it is a good one. Were never intended for someone to use a cheap source of quality cast iron. Could be made of anything they can melt and pour, as that is the only real specification that matter, as far as their final performance is concerned.

Kind of like those little things called tolerances that many seem to have a problem with. You can machine everything to within tenths, but most of the time it is totally unnecesary. But when you are doing it at home for a one off, I guess it doesn't matter. But when you do it in production, that "perfect" part will perform no better than a part that is within tolerances, and will cost a tremendous amount more.


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## kf2qd (Feb 25, 2016)

kf2qd said:


> The foundries are producing cheap barbell weights. Don't need to machinable, just need to be close to the weight. If it says 5 pounds and it weighs 5 pounds, then it is a good one. Were never intended for someone to use a cheap source of quality cast iron. Could be made of anything they can melt and pour, as that is the only real specification that matter, as far as their final performance is concerned.
> 
> Kind of like those little things called tolerances that many seem to have a problem with. You can machine everything to within tenths, but most of the time it is totally unnecesary. But when you are doing it at home for a one off, I guess it doesn't matter. But when you do it in production, that "perfect" part will perform no better than a part that is within tolerances, and will cost a tremendous amount
> more.



That's why I can use that inexpensive dial caliper for much of my work and it come out just fine. And the one diameter that matters, I use my Starrtet mics and telecope guages.


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## mcostello (Feb 26, 2016)

I was not belittleing You hence the smiley, You missed the humor. Speedy Metals is the name of the Company, Google it and the link will be there.


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## sssfox (Feb 26, 2016)

mcostello said:


> You best sharpen up Your Google Foo,  ... hardly a customer as I can usually do better than their price, just an example.



I don't think I missed anything.
If you are that good at Google, where can you get a better price, not just an example?

I do love the way people think they can say whatever they want and a smiley negates the negative connotation.  When I was a kid, a guy hit me with a baseball bat and then said "it was a joke, can't you take a joke?".    It's been more than 50 years and I still don't see the humor. 

I'll take it at face value that you didn't mean it.

Oh yeah,


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## Cogsy (Feb 26, 2016)

sssfox said:


> I just did a search and found a supplier in Tampa that carries Dura-Bar.
> A piece 1-1/2" x 2" x 12" lists for $435.82.
> If I could find it for $6 a kilo, I wouldn't be looking at barbell weights.
> Am I missing something?


 
Speedy metals LINK works out to less than $5.50 per kg. Not just an example but a real price (although it is a price for round bar, which is what you'd get from cast weights anyway).



sssfox said:


> Do you often feel the need to belittle people?
> If you are THAT good, why wouldn't you give me the link where you get a better price? There, the imoji helps.


 
The link is above. I just Googled 'Speedy Metals' and went from there. Took mere seconds. Another LINK a product from Amazon at less than $5.00 a kilo.



sssfox said:


> I prefer to buy metals locally when I can. Dura-Bar is a big company. I figured I should be able to pick it up instead of needing to get it shipped.


 
Then it appears you will need to pay a great deal extra for this, based on the price you quoted, but it's your decision.



sssfox said:


> If I buy mail order without seeing what I buy, how do I know the composition is any better than the bar bell weights?
> ...
> I freely admit that I am not good telling which type of steel is which. I prefer buying it from a knowledgeable source and don't mind paying a little more for the knowledge. I know even less about cast iron.


 
So you concede you can not visually identify the material specifics nor, by extension, it's machining properties, yet your argument against ordering online is that you can't inspect it before you buy it so you won't know what it is? Doesn't make sense.



sssfox said:


> I don't think I missed anything.
> If you are that good at Google, where can you get a better price, not just an example?


 
A quick google search of "buy cast iron bar florida" turned up many companies in, and around, your state - and this is on Google Australia. It seems reasonable that you should be able to perform your own Google search and the advice given that you had selected a poor example was a good one.

For some unknown reason you appear to be being overly argumentative and critical of people who are freely trying to help you. I understand we all get a little niggly sometimes and post something in haste but repeatedly trying to belittle another member based upon a supposed slight that was clearly light-hearted is going too far in my opinion.


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## petertha (Feb 26, 2016)

From what I can tell, Dura-bar is sold through their list of distributers. 
http://www.dura-bar.com/distributors/
About 3 years ago I called the closest place to me which happened to be a Castle Metals wholesaler. As mentioned, I cant recall the price offhand but it didn't strike me as orders of magnitude out of line with comparable CI on $/foot basis. However, they did inflict either or minimum $ order amount or they required the full 10 foot? full stick be purchased (would not cut). So I passed. Ordering 1-footers in diameters I required from Speedy was a better option even with the UPS dinger fees. All I can say is Speedy Class 40 grey machined nice & other builders better than me have made their rings & liners from it. So I personally have no interest in pursuing Durabar. Curiously, I cannot find a Durabar price list on-line. 

McMaster Carr is another CI supplier you lucky Americans can shop from.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#casters/=11atebx
They call theirs 'easy to machine' cast iron & I believe someone, somewhere has correlated the ingredients as being 'quite close' to Dura-bar or possibly was/re-labelled? as evidenced by enclosed spec sheet (not sure there). But as can be seen, the price/weight is in-line with Speedy & others but they offer lots of dimensions, rods, rectangular, even blanks like what could be used for faceplates & such. Good luck!


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## sssfox (Feb 27, 2016)

Cogsy said:


> Speedy metals LINK works out to less than $5.50 per kg. Not just an example but a real price (although it is a price for round bar, which is what you'd get from cast weights anyway).
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Cogsy,
I'm completely baffled by your reply.
I DO know how to search on Google.
What set me off was mcostello insulting me and then putting an emoji next to it like that makes it OK.  I always appreciate help, but why do people feel the need to insult someone in the process?   Maybe your definition of lighthearted and mine are different.  Just for the record so there will be no misunderstanding, IN MY OPINION, an insult followed by an emoji is still an insult and there is no call for it.  It is a form of bullying and adds nothing to the discussion.

mcostello then gave me a link followed by the statement that this is only an example, not where he would buy it.  If he would buy it someplace else, why wouldn't he give me the link to it?  If he would've stopped after the link, I would've not had an issue.  I only asked him for it again because he didn't supply it after the first request.

I went back and reread my posts and didn't see anything that I would consider argumentative.  I responded to his entry and he clearly misunderstood my response, so I clarified.  If you or anyone else took that as argumentative, I apologize.

The link you supplied on Amazon may have a better price, but the shipping is more than the actual item.  I know you are used to that in Australia, but I'm not used to it here in the US.  I guess I'm spoiled.

I have spent MANY hours searching using terms similar to "cast iron bars", "cast iron rough stock", "Florida cast iron bars" and you are correct, there is no shortage of hits, however, few of them are worthwhile and none have what I'm looking for.  I get several that end up at the same or a similar place, with the same prices I found earlier and the list rapidly goes to cast iron skillets.  All I can figure is all of the cast iron comes from Dura-Bar and all of the companies sell it for the same price.  If you can do a Google search and find a company in the Tampa Bay  area or anywhere in Florida for that matter, that has cast iron bars around $6/kilogram, I will be eternally grateful AND I will admit that my Google searching is poor.   I'll even buy you a beer the next time you are in town.

I prefer to buy local exactly because I don't know the properties of the materials I am buying.  Have you never purchased anything online and when it arrived, it was completely different from the description?  I don't mind taking a chance with inexpensive items, but I have to weigh the cost against the possibility that the item won't be usable for the intended purpose.  The more expensive the item, the harder it is to justify.

In the past, when I have purchased stock locally, most times, I have found a knowledgeable sales person that knew what they were selling and could answer my questions.  I don't mind paying for that, but I guess it is part of the past, now.  I also like to support small, local business when I can.

I have purchased from Speedy Metals in the past, but never cast iron.  With brass, bronze and aluminum, I have never had any problems, no matter where I bought it.  If you go back and look at the original discussion in this thread, it is  obvious that there is a problem determining the quality of cast iron. If you reread the entire thread, only one person, petertha, said where they bought cast iron and was happy with it.  Based on that and my past experience, I placed an order with Speedy Metals.  I had to text them to get it shipped in a flat rate box, but I was successful and it cut the shipping from $27 to $18.75.  Any of you who order from them may want to try that.  It isn't a choice on their website.  The total was $122 and change and included most everything I need to build a two cylinder Corliss.

 I really don't want to buy recast barbell weights.  That is all I am trying to accomplish, the rest of this thread is just a distraction.

I do have to ask, Cogsy, what were you trying to accomplish with your post?


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## petertha (Feb 27, 2016)

sssfox said:


> All I can figure is all of the cast iron comes from Dura-Bar and all of the companies sell it for the same price.


 
I don't know for 100%, but I'm going to guess this assumption is not the case. I think what Speedy & others are selling is 'equivalent' or 'similar' to Durabar, but not necessarily from Durabar. And I only base this on what others have described on forums correlating some metallurgy specs. For all we know McMaster round CI rod may come from foundry X and flat bar from foundry Y, or Durabar. Most of the mini retailers are 'cut & reship' so they are constantly sourcing from wherever.

In both my recent Speedy & Onlinemetals.com orders, they also package the full spec sheet wad for every item purchased. So my 6061-T6 aluminum comes with an Alcoa sheet with full metallurgy & tempering specs. 1018 steel comes from... you get the idea. So I would think they could provide you this same information in advance with an inquiry. Or in any event you will know what you have when the stick arrives. I will have to look at my CI sheet to see what it says.


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## mcostello (Feb 27, 2016)

First off I did not mean to insult You, I am sorry that came out that way. The reason it was an example was that a local supplier I usually use can many times beat online prices by a good bit, that's why I don't usually use Speedy Metals or Online metals.


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## sssfox (Feb 27, 2016)

I know speedy Metals has information on their site that doesn't show up in their main menu, at least I can't find it.  I was doing a search on machineability of A36 steel and a page from speedy Metals came up.  When I tried to get there from their main page, I couldn't find a link.

Here is the main page:
http://www.speedymetals.com/default.aspx
Here is the material sheet:
http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material29.html

I was looking for cast iron, but can't find it, that's why the search.
There must be other sheets, but I can't figure out how to find them.
Maybe they will send me the sheets, too.

There are links at the bottom of the materials page, but they take you to the material order page.

I spent more time on their site and each individual product page has a link to the material information sheet.  I didn't see it because it doesn't look like a link.  I should've seen it, though, because it says "click here".


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## sssfox (Feb 27, 2016)

mcostello said:


> First off I did not mean to insult You, I am sorry that came out that way. The reason it was an example was that a local supplier I usually use can many times beat online prices by a good bit, that's why I don't usually use Speedy Metals or Online metals.



I know.
You told me in post #24 and I said I believed that you didn't mean it in post #25.  For me, it was over after #25.  I'm not sure the last posts had anything to do with you, still not sure of the intention.  All I want is a place where I can buy cast iron of known quality.

From what the other person said, you and I must be the only two people on earth that use local suppliers.  I just can't find one here.  Well, I can fine one, but the price is significantly higher.

I had no idea it was as hard to buy cast iron as it is.


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## petertha (Feb 27, 2016)

sssfox said:


> Here is the material sheet:
> http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material29.html
> 
> Maybe they will send me the sheets, too.


 
Those website links appear to be generic properties just to be helpful. What I'm talking about is the specs corresponding to the actual material you order. Now if they happen to reference a material meets SAE/AISA/ASTM ### and that alloy meets your requirements, then 99% of the issue is resolved. It doesn't really matter what mill they source from behind the scenes so long as it meets the reference number. That's why the 'standards' exist. Some may beg to differ & say there are still discernible differences between different suppliers of the same number, but splitting hairs now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_steel_grades

I might be getting my Onlinemetals order mixed in with Speedy. Possibly they have a user check box option to include the spec sheets or not upon order (to save some paper if you don't care). In my last OLM order they include a wad regardless. This may or may not have to do with cross border shipping obligatory declaration which would not pertain to you.

All I'm trying to say is: they obviously have the detailed spec information because they package it with order. The trick is to get that in advance if you were so inclined or it was a decision maker. Perhaps an email or call to them would shed some light?


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## sssfox (Feb 27, 2016)

I didn't see the check mark for providing material sheets, but I didn't get past my shopping cart in the checkout process.  Since I wanted to use USPS, I had to go through emails to get the deal worked out and then called them to charge it.

If I don't get the sheets, I'll call and see if they can email them to me.
I would like to find out where it came from and I would definitely like to know more about the composition of cast iron.

I haven't machined much cast iron, but I do like the results, even if it is so dirty to work with.

Thanks for the info,
Steve Fox


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## Cogsy (Feb 27, 2016)

I really don't want to argue the issue, but you asked the reason for my post so I will explain.



mcostello said:


> I was not belittleing You hence the smiley, You missed the humor.


 
Here is the explanation given for the supposed 'sleight'. Being that the price you had obtained was around 20 times higher than this member had quickly found online, he was simply saying have another look online. (In my opinion, nothing nefarious at all).



sssfox said:


> I don't think I missed anything.
> If you are that good at Google, where can you get a better price, not just an example?


 
Here you completely refute his good intent, basically calling him out and saying he purposely meant to insult you. To be honest myself, the supposed sleight seems incredibly minor (I've never encountered someone defensive of their Google skills before) and to carry it on to this level is what prompted my response. More from the same post :



sssfox said:


> I do love the way people think they can say whatever they want and a smiley negates the negative connotation. When I was a kid, a guy hit me with a baseball bat and then said "it was a joke, can't you take a joke?". It's been more than 50 years and I still don't see the humor.
> 
> I'll take it at face value that you didn't mean it.
> 
> Oh yeah,


 
Carrying it further and stating anyone can say anything followed by a smiley and loosely equating the incident with an assault in your past, you then go back on your earlier statement "I don't think I missed anything" with a seeming acceptance of the explanation, immediately followed by one of your hated smileys to show this is not the case.



sssfox said:


> What set me off was mcostello insulting me and then putting an emoji next to it like that makes it OK.
> I went back and reread my posts and didn't see anything that I would consider argumentative. I responded to his entry and he clearly misunderstood my response, so I clarified. If you or anyone else took that as argumentative, I apologize.


 
As I said, I don't think such a minor perceived sleight could even be called an insult but obviously you did. However, virtually slapping the man's hand away when an apology was offered, accusing him of bullying you, etc., in my view, was overstepping the mark.




sssfox said:


> I do have to ask, Cogsy, what were you trying to accomplish with your post?


 
I believe I've answered this, but if not, to call you out for being rude where it was completely unwarranted. That's it.



sssfox said:


> You told me in post #24 and I said I believed that you didn't mean it in post #25. For me, it was over after #25. I'm not sure the last posts had anything to do with you, still not sure of the intention.


 
Here is the very crux of the matter, he offered you an apology (warranted or not), which you dismissed and derided, employing the very tactics against him that you thought he'd somehow used against you, yet you can't see that you were being argumentative or rude. 

So that's my explanation. As I said, I don't want to argue, that's not what I come here for. I think I've clearly laid out my reasons and explained them clearly. I won't respond again, just to make sure we don't spiral into any sort of argument. I'll let you have the final word.

Finally, on the actual topic of the thread, I have a local supplier with a $50 minimum charge that I get cast iron bar for around $8 AUD/kg. Changed to USD that should be less than $6 I would think. Seems a comparable price level and would be what I'd be looking at getting it for, although for me the extra shipping cost (when it's reasonable) is something I can live with as almost everything I need to buy has to be shipped across the country or internationally.


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## sssfox (Feb 27, 2016)

Cogsy said:


> I really don't want to argue the issue, but you asked the reason for my post so I will explain.



The thing he missed was letting me know where he could find a better price, which he remedied.

As I have said to mcostello TWICE, I don't believe he meant any harm.  Why you can't see that or don't understand it, I don't know.  His humor is acceptable, but mine isn't?  I don't get that either.  It must have something to do with the language differences between us.  It makes no difference what I say, you're going to take it the wrong way.  

I still don't understand why you are so upset.
For someone who doesn't want to argue, you spend a lot of time typing  about something that doesn't even concern you.  I don't understand your  need to defend someone else and attack me over something that even you  say is incredibly minor.  What have I ever done to you?  I don't know  you and we live on opposite sides of the world.    Maybe you should just chill a little bit.

You have accused me of being rude, argumentative, dismissive and deriding as well pretty much said I can't do a decent Google search.  I haven't accused you of anything.  What have I ever done to you?  I don't know  you and we live on  opposite sides of the world.    Maybe you should just chill a little  bit.  I'm just trying to find a place to buy cast iron at a reasonable price and I prefer a local supplier, apparently as do you and mcostello.

So, did you find any locations in Florida where I could find a decent price?
Maybe you need to increase your Google Foo.


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## Blogwitch (Mar 1, 2016)

With regards to getting cast iron for very cheap prices.
For more years than I care to remember I have been using scrap and donated mystery metal to make 99% of what I make. If I stand lumps of steel outside for about 6 months, what has not gone rusty, I class as stainless.
I would suggest you forget about barbell weights unless you are VERY lucky, they are made from left over dross at the end of day pours, so could contain almost anything ferrous. I have tried them, and failed miserably.
The same tends to go for US cast sash weights, again end of days pours and full of dross and hard bits, you will get through loads of tips trying to work this stuff, from what I can gather from people who have tried, success rate is about 1 in 10. The Victorian sash weights made in the UK (remember, well over 100 years old), for me is absolutely great, and have yet to fail to get large lengths of well seasoned cast iron out of them, but it does take technique.

What people haven't mentioned yet, and I wish I could get hold of another couple of slabs, are the old weights hung on the front of tractors to balance them out. I managed to get hold of one many years ago, about 24" x 12" x 3" thick. Absolutely wonderful stuff once you got rid of the outer skin. I would have thought there would have been thousands of these knocking about on the US prairies.

What you should be looking for is something of uniform thickness all over, otherwise where it is thin, it will be chilled and rock hard. 
This even happens to machine tools. 
When I faced off my faceplate before starting a new job (you do face it off before use don't you?), when it was finished being faced, you could see the different chrystaline structure in the metal where it was made with thicker rims and webs. 
The thicker parts had a much finer structure than the thinner parts, which had cooled off quicker.
You can see the difference in chrystaline structure quite easily.








John


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## jayville (Mar 2, 2016)

John...you are a wealth of information ...thank you.....clem


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## Wizard69 (Mar 2, 2016)

Blogwitch said:


> With regards to getting cast iron for very cheap prices.
> For more years than I care to remember I have been using scrap and donated mystery metal to make 99% of what I make. If I stand lumps of steel outside for about 6 months, what has not gone rusty, I class as stainless.
> I would suggest you forget about barbell weights unless you are VERY lucky, they are made from left over dross at the end of day pours, so could contain almost anything ferrous. I have tried them, and failed miserably.
> The same tends to go for US cast sash weights, again end of days pours and full of dross and hard bits, you will get through loads of tips trying to work this stuff, from what I can gather from people who have tried, success rate is about 1 in 10. The Victorian sash weights made in the UK (remember, well over 100 years old), for me is absolutely great, and have yet to fail to get large lengths of well seasoned cast iron out of them, but it does take technique.
> ...


Having grown up in farm country there are a couple of explanation to the missing tractor weight problem.

First WW2 gave huge incentive for farmers to scrap anything metal laying around the farm without an immediate use.    So this was one huge purging of the landscape of anything iron or steel. 

Second after the war years you basically end up with two types of farmers.   One see clutter as an abomination and another that sees clutter as something they will potentially need in the future.  The guy that sees clutter also sees dollars and thus recycles everything.  

Third even if the tractor the weight goes on is gone there are still lots of uses on a farm for dead weights.

Fourth, old tractors seldom die, you would be surprised by the number of really old but operational tractors that exist in the USA at the moment.    Some are considered collectors items.   Some still do the work they where designed for and some are simply there for the memories. 


> What you should be looking for is something of uniform thickness all over, otherwise where it is thin, it will be chilled and rock hard.
> This even happens to machine tools.
> When I faced off my faceplate before starting a new job (you do face it off before use don't you?), when it was finished being faced, you could see the different chrystaline structure in the metal where it was made with thicker rims and webs.
> The thicker parts had a much finer structure than the thinner parts, which had cooled off quicker.
> ...




The other thing with Tractor weights is that these are in fact a lot of mass as such you need a good amount of iron to pour just to make a few.   These are seldom made a few at a time, so you need a large amount of iron to successfully pour the weights.  Lastly these weights take a whole hell of a lot of abuse.   As such I have to believe hat they do spend effort on controlling what type of cast iron is actually being poured.  Weights that fall off a tractor are no good but it also makes the tractor builder look like a fool.   So you take all these factors together and you will see that there is incentive to do a better job casting this iron.  

There is one problem with these weights though, they are extremely heavy and thus hard to handle.


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## Mark Rand (Mar 5, 2016)

goldstar31 said:


> I've just returned from Aldi stores in Little England and next weeks offer is
> 1 x 10Kg or
> 2 x 5KG or
> 4 x 2.5KG
> ...



Last week end I did the shopping at our local Aldi and came back with a 10kg weight. I spent most of today removing the parts that didn't look like a Hardinge faceplate.

This particular weight had a few (3) small surface inclusions, but no more than many castings. From the finished surface, the chips and the tendency to work harden on light cuts, I'd say it isn't a true grey iron but is a 'semi-steel'. This is reasonable if it's made from a mixture of iron and steel scrap, It's messy like grey iron, but the chips are larger than one would normally expect. It was also very abrasive. I only realised after 6 hours that it turned better with a positive rake steel insert rather than a zero rake cast iron insert.

Original dimensions approx 10" diameter. Hub and rim 1.5" thick. Central web about 0.7" thick. That's enough to avoid chills in a normal sand mould.

Regards
Mark


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