Is this rod appropriate for piston rings & cylinder liners?

[Igor_toko]

Hello all,

I am building an internal combustion 4 stroke engine and experimenting with different materials. I have a few of these tools that have a pipe-like shape and I was wondering how can I know if this is steel or iron. Would it be suitable for making piston rings and/or cylinder liners?

 

[timo_gross]

Most probably not Iron. The hex is formed (I assume cold formed) into the end. (I would guess even ductile Iron would crack and give up).
I would try to cut a small ring off with the lathe (crumbly chips - iron; curly chip -steel ). Then bend it, if it breaks (iron) ... bending (steel).

 

[minh-thanh]

Personal opinion: it seems suitable for making cylinder liners

 

[GreenTwin]

If you use steel to make piston rings, such as for steam engines, I have found that the steel parts rust very quickly when exposed to water/steam, and the corrosion is far deeper than what I see on gray iron parts.

You can overcome the corrosion issue by using WD40 internally on the engine to flush out the moisture after each run on steam.

.

 

[Lloyd-ss]

Most probably not Iron. The hex is formed (I assume cold formed) into the end. (I would guess even ductile Iron would crack and give up).
I would try to cut a small ring off with the lathe (crumbly chips - iron; curly chip -steel ). Then bend it, if it breaks (iron) ... bending (steel).

I concur. I have found that generally, the higher quality materials will machine with a nicer finish and be tougher. I have a bunch of those socket type tools in my scrap metal box, too.

 

[TonyM]

It's an old box spanner, possibly plug spanner. Could be any type of steel, probably cheap. Certainly not cast.

 

[SmithDoor]

Hello all,

I am building an internal combustion 4 stroke engine and experimenting with different materials. I have a few of these tools that have a pipe-like shape and I was wondering how can I know if this is steel or iron. Would it be suitable for making piston rings and/or cylinder liners?
View attachment 154947

We working model engines.
So looks like it will work for your needs

Engines use for power I would look at cast iron Rings witch can be a pain and not need for models.

Dave

 

[Igor_toko]

Thanks everyone for your answers. I haven't tried machining it yet, but looks like it's steel then. I saw that there are cast iron pipe connectors in the local hardware store that are quite cheap, I will probably buy those instead.

 

[Vietti]

I'd say try it, but it would be a shame to put a lot of effort into something and then determine the material was poor/wrong.

 

[bluejets]

There is a good reason why spun cast is used for rings.

 

[almega]

Iron would be too brittle for that tool, so it is definitely going to be steel of some kind.