About 20 years ago I had occasion to need to make some piston rings, and I was able to find a source for cutoffs from large diameter extra extra heavy cast iron pipe. Over the years I've misplaced the contact information.....and I've not found it by googling or binging or dogpiling or opening the yellow pages.

Does anybody have a source for this material? Also, while I'm at it, a source for drops from CNC machining industries?

dave

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Thanks - if it's good enough for two of the leaders in the industry, it is probably better than we deserve....not that I'm complaining about high quality.

I thought they were interested in supporting small locomotives but I see that Lokey is the guy's name. A good omen in any case.

Small chunks at salvage prices would still be very intereesting in case anybody has any sources for that.

dave

I'm really surprised to see Strasburg is buying this stuff out of Texas. If you're making rings, aren't you talking rather small quantities? If so, doesn't the relatively small price differential get cancelled out by the freight costs?

I realize that Home Depot doesn't stock the size you need, but you're in Pennsylvania, which the last time I checked still had a few steel mills and the like left. Nobody there can compete with Texas?!?

Centrifugally cast gray iron isn't common any more. Steel mills don't make it. Most US steel mills reprocess scrap into structural in electric furnaces, or smaller mills make custom blends for specialized purposes. Charlotte Pipe and Foundry makes nothing big enough or heavy enough for us, or I'd be getting it here at home.

Then you run up against minimum orders for heavy cast pipe......when you need 24" and you have to buy 150 tons.

dave

Dura Bar is available in square, round and tubular bars in gray and ductile iron as seen here. I believe there is also a distributor locator on the web site.