i've got a question for those in the know about the molecular make up of metals. i'm wondering if anyone has any ideas what the make up of the steel in a late 30s Ford forged I-beam axle is?? i'm assuming it is not just a "mild steel" but rather some sort of steel alloy?? am i correct? if so what is it's make up. i need to buy a piece of similar material for a project. thanks
I'm pretty sure Henry made this steel himself so you may have a hard time finding some of the same make-up could you just cut a piece from another axle?
someone on the board has this info. I've read it a couple times. I think the person who has it found the info in a ford foundry book.
not likely. i need two pieces about 8"x8"x1.5". thanks RevKev. i'll try a search. did'nt figure this would have likely come up before so i have'nt done a search. not holding my breath i'll find it though. if you do would you please post it here?? thanks
ok. nearly an hour and a half of searching for that info and no luck yet.. i did learn alot though but my head hurts and it is past my bed time. i'm out... if anyone knows the answers i seek please enlighten me.
search for info on new axles. most of the time this comes up when people start talking about the cast front axles.
Posted what's available here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127899&showall=1 "Here's part of the scoop on original axles--they were indeed heat treated. Marco says EE and one of the several A style Ford steels were used on A's. All the '32-36 types I have visible show EE-1 forged in, dunno if the one is a variant recipe or a heat treat type indicator or what... I went fishing last night in one of my deeper information bunkers and dug up "Metallurgy and Metallography", a textbook from the Ford Apprentice School published in 1934. This is a fairly heavy duty chem and metal tech book, probably a mid or high level class text for people headed into the Ford foundry system. It's not the total word on every metal process at Ford, of course, but it does have some excellent info for us. There's a huge chart calling out many types of steel and iron, mostly for manufacturing but some special for dies, tools, and standard hardware too. A few show SAE numbers, I assume the rest are purely Ford specs since Ford was essentially self-sufficient and was pioneering new casting and forging stuff at this time. Type EE shows carbon .30-.40, manganese .70-.90, silicon .07-.15, phosphorus .03 max, sulfur.05 max...stock to be ID'ed by yellow paint! The various A styles all seem to have chromium and of course several variants of different alloying specs. On heat treat, the book gives a single process for EE based stuff, calling it satisfactory for all uses of EE but noting that other processes exist and might be specified for various particular uses. Heat treat is so for this particular process: Heat to 1470-1500, quench in brine or caustic; strain draw in oil 350-375 degrees; draw temper if so specified. Notes below say that a specific characteristic this steel is chosen for is to RESIST TORQUE, bringing it right on topic here! At any rate, our original axles were indeed speciall treated and chosen steel in all ways, and some of that torque resistance is doubtless long gone from our beloved ancient dropped pieces." So there were 2 alloys used, AA and EE (electric furnace) steel, though all I have carry the EE marks. I think Metallurgy book has AA specs too. Almost all Ford steels were Ford formulas, chart shows very few SAE steels.
What Bruce said follows what I found out back in the 50's. I had a qualitative analysis done on a piece of 32 front axle and a piece of 48 driveline. They said it was fairly close to SAE 3140.
Hmm.. I've seen Model A axles with the "AA" on them, but I thought that was just the replacement part number, and not the AA or EE determination.
Consider the grain direction when you lay out your pattern. I would want the grain running close to lengthwise on the shape you want to make. If mild steel is good enough for tube axles, it should be good enough for this. --------- Metal samples can be analyzed by testing labs, to determine their make up.
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