Why was steel of decades ago so much better quality than today?

[Industrial Toys]

My Dad is a retired Steel man. He used to sell steel (wire rod) much of it to GM. There were extremely stringent QC proceedures.

He forbade me to ever put a nut and bolt togetther withour grease! Industry doesn't care and many people are just too lazy. These are the fools on the side of the road that can't get their flat tire off!

 

[DFB]

After the industrial scale production of cadmium started in the 1930s and 1940s, the major application of cadmium was the coating of iron and steel to prevent corrosion; in 1944, 62% and in 1956, 59% of the cadmium in the United States was for coating.[3][20] In 1956, 24% of the cadmium used within the United States was used for the second application, which was for red, orange and yellow pigments based on sulfides and selenides of cadmium.[20] The stabilizing effect of cadmium-containing chemicals like the carboxylates cadmium laureate and cadmium stearate on PVC led to an increased use of those compounds in the 1970s and 1980s. The use of cadmium in applications such as pigments, coatings, stabilizers and alloys declined due to environmental and health regulations in the 1980s and 1990s; in 2006, only 7% of total cadmium consumption was used for plating and coating and only 10% was used for pigments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium

 

[Egon]

That is easy....

One just has to quench the blade in the body of a slave or captured enemy....

:shocked:



Later,
Dan

Yes, that would add nitrogen.

 

[k0ua]

That is easy....

One just has to quench the blade in the body of a slave or captured enemy....

:shocked:

Later,
Dan

Good Story, but Damascus steel was just steel that has been forge folded over and over. Beat it out and fold it again and again. Then treat with acid to bring out all the layers.. And the steel did not come from Damascus.. they just traded for the "pucks" of raw steel called Wootz steel from India. It was shipped all over in these easily handled "pucks".

 

[KennyG]

My Dad is a retired Steel man. He used to sell steel (wire rod) much of it to GM. There were extremely stringent QC proceedures.

He forbade me to ever put a nut and bolt togetther withour grease! Industry doesn't care and many people are just too lazy. These are the fools on the side of the road that can't get their flat tire off!

Not to get off topic but manufacturers recommendations (except for some heavy trucks) is to not lubricate lugnuts. If you torque them to spec with lubrication it will overstress the studs. For the same reason, spark plug manufacturers now recommend not using anti seize and, if you do, specify a reduced torque. I used to use anti-seize on lugnuts but have found that if you have acorn nut type lugnuts, lube is unnecessary because it keeps the moisture,etc out of the threads. I have plastic nut covers on my trailer and the nuts came off easily after being in place for about 4 years.

 

[ultrarunner]

I always use a dab of anti-sieze and hand torque with my torque wrench... so far never a problem.

Now I have had plenty or problems at the tire places...

Damaged wheel covers... snapped studs putting the wheel back and saying nothing... stripped nuts, etc...

Very disappointed...

The last place the snapped the stud on my front G20 van hub said nothing... I went home to check the torque and found them to be 100 lbs over... really did a number on all my wheels, studs and nuts...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Cadmium is not real healthy stuff.

My guess the problem you are seeing is related to recycled steel, probably from China. Was it China that was buying the scrap iron, recycling it on a large ship out in the pacific and then bringing back finished products to shore? Or was that timber?

Look up salt bath nitriding for some interesting info.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My dad's company actually specialized in a higher lead content steel called "cutters choice" that was excellent for machine tools and "screw machines" whatever they may be.

I think anit-seize is an over reaction to having used nothing at all. A little dab of grease goes a long way toward avoiding a seized fastener. I only use the anti-seize in very special cases because it is utterly miserible stuff to work with.

Yes, it is very hard to establish proper torque with the application of grease. I usually used a breaker bar, because I had such a POS impact gun, but just bought a Nitro Cat and have not decided how I am going to approach this. But I guess that is another subject.

 

[bcp]

My guess the problem you are seeing is related to recycled steel, probably from China. Was it China that was buying the scrap iron, recycling it on a large ship out in the pacific and then bringing back finished products to shore?

They took the scrap iron, removed the "s" and sent the remainder back.

Bruce

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never read that in this thread. Typically an Electric ARC furnace is used for such a task. I can't imagine a ship with that kind of power resources on board, nor if they were, would I think it financially viable.