Suggestions on what to do with this chunk of steel

[YYCHM]

So what became of this chunk of steel?

 

[Dusty]

You guys are sick, sick, sick.....!! LOL

 

[YotaBota]

Put it in your wifes purse, see if she notices.

And if she can get up the momentum like an olympic hammer throw you're in some serious trouble.

You guys are sick, sick, sick.....!! LOL

Yup.

 

[Hacker]

I don't have a grinder that is worthy of it. LOL
It is parked under my hydraulic press waiting for the right project. It came close to to being used on my lathe as a spacer for the tool post. This is so I can remove the relieving attachment on the compound and allow full use of the Multifix tool post. If only it was a 1/2 inch thicker.

 

[Dabbler]

How thick is it? It looks like great raw material. A few years ago Janger and I bought some A36 nearly cube blocks. still waiting for an appropriate project, but nice to have.

 

[ShawnR]

Pardon my inexperience but could something like that be milled fairly flat and used as a surface plate? I know some of you have surface grinders. I have wondered if a granite surface plate is something I should be looking at acquiring. We used one in the machine shop course and I see them used often on the youtubes I have watched. But then that seems to lead to rather costly tools like a height gauge. For the home hobbyist, is not having a surface a detriment? or using the vernier calipers as scribes still ok?......... ......................

As for the plate, for me, I think there might be other stuff higher on the list but wondering if this is a basic item for home hobbyists?

 

[Perry]

And if she can get up the momentum like an olympic hammer throw you're in some serious trouble.

Yup.

Hammer throw? or Wrecking ball?

 

[Dabbler]

@ShawnR -- Your level of experience and expected accuracy will determine what will make sense in a surface plate. For a beginner or intermediate to do workmanlike accuracy to say 1/10 of a thousandth of an inch, both my Busy Bee surface plates at 39$ and 49$ will do the job, it isn't worth the milling, grinding and lapping to make a solid steel plate. I also acquired a Mitutoyo AA surface blate that was bigger for more accurate work.

If you want to go bigger and better the smaller name brand granite plates are reasonably priced, and granite doesn't rust.

Frankly when the time comes I see that hunk of steel being a great table for a belt sander or filing machine. You can make T slots in it and have enough meat left over for rigidity.

-- in fact I'll be making a new shaper table next year and will need a piece of mild steel in the 1 1/2 in thickness range... hmmmm?

 

[Hacker]

How thick is it? It looks like great raw material. A few years ago Janger and I bought some A36 nearly cube blocks. still waiting for an appropriate project, but nice to have.

It is 1.875 X 8.5 X 12.5 inches. Craig's prod got me to look at my compound again and I realized I don't need 2" and 1.75 would work so it could be repurposed for that.
I had thoughts about the surface plate as well and came to the same conclusion as Dabbler. What size piece are you looking for Dabbler?

 

[Brent H]

@Hacker : if it is a piece of cast iron you can slice it up into different sizes and make lots of things out of it - I have made pulleys, gibs, slide blocks etc. Just because it is square now does not mean it cannot be made round

 

[Hacker]

Thank for the suggestions Brent. It is steel, (not sure what type) if it had been cast I would have used it as practice to learn how to scrape.

 

[Dabbler]

@Hacker :It is not a good size for me, but I was kidding - I have several pieces of steel. If none of them work , I seem to find materials more easily than some. What I never find is cast iron, however. If that piece was cast it would be unicorn gold.

- I expect to be using 12" by 16" by 1.5" thick or thereabouts.

 

[Hacker]

I also seem to find nice size pieces of steel on a regular basis as my collection seems to grow not shrink. This small stuff I seem to run out of regularly. I just not crazy about cutting this down to utilize it when when I can usually find something close to the size I want at a reasonable price.

 

[Dabbler]

We share the same affliction. I'm building a rack for all my long pieces of steel as that keeps growing as well!

 

[Hacker]

Yeah, I can't drive by Metal Supermarkets without stopping in to see what they have in their end cuts rack. Occasionally you get a deal when they have too much on the shelf.