Questionable metal

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Matt “Ducky”

Matt “Ducky”

Active member
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2024
Messages
40
Location
Nacogdoches, Texas, USA
If anybody can help me I identify this metal I would be much appreciative. I thought I had identified it from the beginning but I was wrong I thought it was aluminum. It’s not a magnetic and it was a case for a hard drive. Then I put it in with some other aluminum that I was going to melt well even when it got over 1900° it still wouldn’t melt. Let me know what y’all think
 

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Matt “Ducky” said:
If anybody can help me I identify this metal I would be much appreciative. I thought I had identified it from the beginning but I was wrong I thought it was aluminum. It’s not a magnetic and it was a case for a hard drive. Then I put it in with some other aluminum that I was going to melt well even when it got over 1900° it still wouldn’t melt. Let me know what y’all think
Click to expand...
As Jon said it is probably Stainless Steel.
You will feel the difference, it has almost 3 times the density of Aluminium.

And please drop the "yall" and other slang.
We have members depending on translators and really do not translate well.
 
Matt “Ducky” said:
If anybody can help me I identify this metal I would be much appreciative. I thought I had identified it from the beginning but I was wrong I thought it was aluminum. It’s not a magnetic and it was a case for a hard drive. Then I put it in with some other aluminum that I was going to melt well even when it got over 1900° it still wouldn’t melt. Let me know what y’all think
Click to expand...
Spark test anything you're not sure of .
 
Yggdrasil said:
As Jon said it is probably Stainless Steel.
You will feel the difference, it has almost 3 times the density of Aluminium.

And please drop the "y'all" and other slang.
We have members depending on translators and really I am do not translate well.
I will do my best in trying to change my vocabulary just for you. But the way I talk is the way I talk. I live in Texas y’all is part of the lingo don’t do it for fun what do people say other than thato t I’m curious? What did they say you all or all of you?
Click to expand...

But anyway I alrea, I thought about the s,tainless steel but remember stainless steel has iron in it. It would be magnetic stainless steel so don’t know what this could be that kind of leaves I know it’s not copper I d He told meon’t know I’ll test it when I get home my tester is in now so I can find out for certain.
 
Matt “Ducky” said:
But anyway I alrea, I thought about the s,tainless steel but remember stainless steel has iron in it. It would be magnetic stainless steel so don’t know what this could be that kind of leaves I know it’s not copper I d He told meon’t know I’ll test it when I get home my tester is in now so I can find out for certain.
Click to expand...
Austenitic SS is not magnetic. Al will not spark.
 
Matt “Ducky” said:
But anyway I alrea, I thought about the s,tainless steel but remember stainless steel has iron in it. It would be magnetic stainless steel so don’t know what this could be that kind of leaves I know it’s not copper I d He told meon’t know I’ll test it when I get home my tester is in now so I can find out for certain.
Click to expand...
As Darkthirty says, most Stainless Steels are not magnetic.
But I'm not sure they will spark either.
The Specific Gravity (Density) is a giveaway.
Al has appr 2.7 and Steels are in the 8 area.
 
kurtak said:
Yes they do - just not a lot of sparking (compared to normal steel)

Kurt
Click to expand...
You are talking about when they are ground?
I used to fabricate equipment with 304 and 316 when I was young so I know it sparks.
I misunderstood, I was thinking on if you scraped or hit it together.
Edit for spelling error
 
Last edited:
kurtak said:
Yes, they do - just not a lot of sparking (compared to standard steel)

Kurt
Click to expand...
thank you, yes, that is very correct. I looked it up and read about it and saw that it is stainless steel. I had no idea I learned something, but it did say that there are times when it can be magnetic, but it’s only because of poor build. But I guess in the application of that, I think maybe it didn’t matter. I have no idea, but I know that the same thing on one was magnetic, and then on the other, it wasn’t. But after reading, it makes sense.

It has iron in it and chromium, so it should be magnetic, but the Austin properties, when it’s drawn right, are not magnetic. It’s fascinating. I love chemistry.
 
kurtak said:
Not all SS is magnetic

300 series SS (304 or 316) is not magnetic

400 series SS (410 420 or 440) is magnetic

Kurt
Click to expand...
Stainless is tricky. In its flat, rolled state, it may not be magnetic, but bending, forming, working, etc., can cause it to become somewhat magnetic. For example, in some cases, you can put a magnet on the flat parts of a stainless steel sink and it will not be magnetic, but if you put the magnet against the rolled parts it can show some magnetism.

Dave
 
Matt “Ducky” said:
thank you, yes, that is very correct. I looked it up and read about it and saw that it is stainless steel. I had no idea I learned something, but it did say that there are times when it can be magnetic, but it’s only because of poor build. But I guess in the application of that, I think maybe it didn’t matter. I have no idea, but I know that the same thing on one was magnetic, and then on the other, it wasn’t. But after reading, it makes sense.

It has iron in it and chromium, so it should be magnetic, but the Austin properties, when it’s drawn right, are not magnetic. It’s fascinating. I love chemistry.
Click to expand...
This is a massive topic the differences between the different Stainless steels.
Austenitic, Martensitic, Duplex and so on.
 
FrugalRefiner said:
Stainless is tricky. In its flat, rolled state, it may not be magnetic, but bending, forming, working, etc., can cause it to become somewhat magnetic. For example, in some cases, you can put a magnet on the flat parts of a stainless steel sink and it will not be magnetic, but if you put the magnet against the rolled parts it can show some magnetism.

Dave
Click to expand...
Structural changes in the crystal lattice causes this ;)
 
FrugalRefiner said:
Stainless is tricky. In its flat, rolled state, it may not be magnetic, but bending, forming, working, etc., can cause it to become somewhat magnetic. For example, in some cases, you can put a magnet on the flat parts of a stainless steel sink and it will not be magnetic, but if you put the magnet against the rolled parts it can show some magnetism.

Dave
Click to expand...
Incidentally if you have just shredded many grades of SS you can recover it from a scrap stream using magnets like normal steel. It becomes some kind of "work magnetised" for a period of time. Although I've never delved into the chemistry of it, it visibly works (no pun intended.)
 
Matt “Ducky” said:
thank you, yes, that is very correct. I looked it up and read about it and saw that it is stainless steel. I had no idea I learned something, but it did say that there are times when it can be magnetic, but it’s only because of poor build. But I guess in the application of that, I think maybe it didn’t matter. I have no idea, but I know that the same thing on one was magnetic, and then on the other, it wasn’t. But after reading, it makes sense.

It has iron in it and chromium, so it should be magnetic, but the Austin properties, when it’s drawn right, are not magnetic. It’s fascinating. I love chemistry.
Click to expand...
Every day is a school day Ducky. Never stop learning mate it brings a smile to your face every single time. ;)
 
This is a great post. Anyone who learns, even from this simple question, makes this topic valuable! I was thinking about the hard drive cover being stainless steel. I initially thought its aluminum, but the fact that it does not melt, even at 1900 degrees, rules out aluminum plate, which I didn't realize until now! Stainless does finally begin to liquefy at over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit vs less than 2000 for Al metal so a more powerful flame might just work if you are trying to melt it down.

Also, you may consider the one magnetic portion of the drive cover simply being a shinier steel plate that was tightly glued/adhered to a less shiny piece of stainless. If you bend the nonmagnetic plate it may begin to separate and you can then wedge a thin screwdriver between the two pieces to fully separate them.
 

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