The darn stuff machines so well that sometimes just turning on the lathe will cause shavings to fly
It does case harden just fine.
Just don’t try to weld it and expect things to hold together.
Registered User
The darn stuff machines so well that sometimes just turning on the lathe will cause shavings to fly
It does case harden just fine.
Just don’t try to weld it and expect things to hold together.
Registered User
Well......we're at least right about Leupold.Originally Posted by Al Nyhus
I checked a few old clamshell plastic packages......and there it was....on the back....12L14.
Later,
Kevin
Registered User
Talley makes their bolt handles out of 12L14. I have welded quite a few of those up on Mausers. It welds great for me.
The darn stuff machines so well that sometimes just turning on the lathe will cause shavings to fly
It does case harden just fine.
Just don’t try to weld it and expect things to hold together.
Bill Jacobs
Registered User
We used a lot of 12l14 in the manufacture of industrial magnetic brakes and clutches, and we welded a lot of shafts to rotors. Never had a weld fail.
These units gave a "soft start", and never were subjected to the kind of shock loads or heavy loads of a maritime environment. I take Jackie at his word that it is not suited for his use when welded.
The material is mild steel, and can be case hardened, but cannot be heat treated to a high strength condition.
oft dis'd member
Very interesting.....
Jackie thrives in a world where engineering limits are tested daily. Where welds will rip out by the roots and shafts will twist and warp if not fully stable. I live in a construction atmosphere where if a weld breaks on a dozer you just crank up the heat, buy a couple more bundles of stick and pour more metal into the gap......stability via the brute force approach
Which leads me to my conundrum.
I'm using this 12L14 to make prototype muzzle brakes for a couple big guns. Guns that will break ME if a brake fails.
First thing I notice is that the threaded portions strip out easily. That I'm stripping out 1/4-28 grub screws under what to me is moderate tension. Second thing is that deflection both pushing and pulling is a thing........ this stuff machines like butter and moves about like modeling clay.
Drop a piece on the floor and it dings like lead.
Instead of making these brakes as light as possible I'm tending to leave extra meat in the high-stress areas...... let's hope I'm leaving enough!!
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might try,if you haven't already, 41L40 ( 4140 with lead added to increase production and tool life- heat treatable as well)
Registered User
I have not found threads in 12L14 to strip out any more readily than those in mild steel. "What to you is moderate tension" is meaningless and condescending - threads have torque specs. Ignore them at your peril! That said, I've had no problem torquing male or female 12L14 threads to spec. I have certainly not seen any of it moving about "like modeling clay". If I drop a piece on the floor it bounces and clangs like most steel. In fact, aside from machining, or a spark test, I'd be hard pressed to separate it from 1018.Very interesting.....
Jackie thrives in a world where engineering limits are tested daily. Where welds will rip out by the roots and shafts will twist and warp if not fully stable. I live in a construction atmosphere where if a weld breaks on a dozer you just crank up the heat, buy a couple more bundles of stick and pour more metal into the gap......stability via the brute force approach
Which leads me to my conundrum.
I'm using this 12L14 to make prototype muzzle brakes for a couple big guns. Guns that will break ME if a brake fails.
First thing I notice is that the threaded portions strip out easily. That I'm stripping out 1/4-28 grub screws under what to me is moderate tension. Second thing is that deflection both pushing and pulling is a thing........ this stuff machines like butter and moves about like modeling clay.
Drop a piece on the floor and it dings like lead.
Instead of making these brakes as light as possible I'm tending to leave extra meat in the high-stress areas...... let's hope I'm leaving enough
I'm not sure what you have, and it's probably not what I'd make a brake out of in any case, but from your description it's not free-machining steel - it's lead!
GsT
oft dis'd member
well I bought a 244lb stick of it from Pacific Machinery and Tool Steel so I HOPE it's the right stuff.......
oft dis'd member
Dings, not clangs......
"ding"-deformation, nick
"clang"-a sound
Registered User
12L14 has a yield strength of 60,000 psi. It is just "mild steel", but we tapped all sorts of holes in it, and never had a problem with customers stripping threads.
It was our go to material (primarily for it's free machining properties and its magnetic properties), and we used it for shafts, rotors, brake stators. Nothing of these required high material strength. Many of our units were steel or ductile iron castings, or 17-4 investment castings for load cells, but we tried to use 12L14 as much as possible.
Registered User
Leaded steels are simply steels that have lead added at at the pour. The lead literally gets between the individual molecules of the parent metal. This is what gives these steels their free machining quality as the lead acts as an internal lubricant.
The major drawback is ductility suffers. One of the key factors in determining a particular steels ductility is the actual cleanliness of the steel at the molecular level.
In Leaded steels, and some high sulphurized steels, the lead or sulphur literally gets between the molecules of steel, not as a chemical bond or alloying agent, but as a simple mechanical bond.
This is fine in applications where ductility is not a major issue. Leaded steels are rarely recommended in applications where the parts will be subjected to shock loads while under stress.
Registered User
Hey guys, I work with a lot of 12L14 and other alloys in my shop and love how easy it is to machine as well. BUT, do be sure to finish the surfaces afterward. It will rust over very quickly with any moisture/humidity. I find a cold blue treatment keeps the rust at bay pretty well. Unlike the other alloys in my rack, I don't have to worry reading labels on the 12L14 stock, it is always the brown pieces haha!
oft dis'd member
So True!
I just got my order of horseshoe nails from the brown truck yesterday...... be rust-bluing me some Leadloy
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