Steel bar...

[Nige52]

Can anyone tell me what Rubicon 1012 means?
I have found a tin in the shed left behind by the former owner, in it is the usual pencils, paint brushes, odds and sods but also 2 x square section bright steel, what looks like cutters of some sort as both ends are 45 degrees and sharp!
Etched on them is "Rubicon 1012", the same etching as you see on Sorby Chisels....
Initially I thought the were 1/4 square doorknob steels that run between the 2 handles, but it's not mild steel, it's bright and appears to be HSS....
I'd love to be able to use them as small chisels, if I turn a couple of handles, but don't want to go to that trouble if they are unsuitable, they are about 6" long......
Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[blackrodd]

I haven't a clue either!, Rubicon is a drink, but a pic of the item, may nudge someones memory.

http://www.rubiconexotic.com/
You may have a rare mango peeler!
Regards Rodders

 

[RogerP]

Rubicon are steel stockholders and 1012 is a low carbon steel.

 

[pcb1962]

Sounds like they're lathe tools for a metal turning lathe, but 1/4" square is very small

 

[dc_ni]

There is a Rubicon steel in Barnsley, maybe that's it

http://www.rubiconsteel.co.uk/

 

[Racers]

1012 is a type of high carbon steel.

Pete

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

A quick google search shows this steel has a carbon content of 0.1-0.15 % so a low carbon steel and no good for chisels, I'm afraid.

Mike.

 

[Chrispy]

Sounds like it's key way stock.

 

[RogerP]

Like I said 6 posts back "Rubicon are steel stockholders and 1012 is a low carbon steel."

 

[Nige52]

OK lads,
Thanks for that, I can now safely use them as door handle rods...
Nige

 

[Cheshirechappie]

OK lads,
Thanks for that, I can now safely use them as door handle rods...
Nige

Try filing or cutting them with a hacksaw, first. If they cut easily, they probably are a mild steel. However, from the description, they do sound very like High Speed Steel toolbits, and if they are, you'll have a heck of a job filing or hacksawing them!

I can't imagine why anybody would mark little bits of mild steel with an American (AISI) steel grade - they don't even mark little bits like that with British Standard steel grades! Whilst Rubicon are indeed a steel stockholder, they are a plate stockholder according to their website, and would supply against British or European grades, not American ones.

Down the years, there have been many manufacturers of specialist bits and pieces like toolsteel and toolbits, and a lot of them used their own designations for their wares, which often bore no resemblance to British or any other standard specifications. I've never heard of Rubicon 1012, but if they're from a cleared out shed, they could be forty or fifty years old - sort of thing that fell into somebody's pocket before they retired, and languished awaiting a use until after their demise.

 

[GLFaria]

Sounds like they're lathe tools for a metal turning lathe, but 1/4" square is very small

My EMCO Unimat miniature lathe uses 6mm square section tools. HSS, not 1012, of course.

 

[woodbrains]

Try filing or cutting them with a hacksaw, first. If they cut easily, they probably are a mild steel. However, from the description, they do sound very like High Speed Steel toolbits, and if they are, you'll have a heck of a job filing or hacksawing them!

I can't imagine why anybody would mark little bits of mild steel with an American (AISI) steel grade - they don't even mark little bits like that with British Standard steel grades! Whilst Rubicon are indeed a steel stockholder, they are a plate stockholder according to their website, and would supply against British or European grades, not American ones.

Down the years, there have been many manufacturers of specialist bits and pieces like toolsteel and toolbits, and a lot of them used their own designations for their wares, which often bore no resemblance to British or any other standard specifications. I've never heard of Rubicon 1012, but if they're from a cleared out shed, they could be forty or fifty years old - sort of thing that fell into somebody's pocket before they retired, and languished awaiting a use until after their demise.

Hello,

Wow, still speculating! It is not mild steel, hence needs some form of identification, but is still just a low carbon steel, not suitable for tools. It is designed for cold forming shapes, though can be used under heat and can be chemically hardened, though not hardened and temperd with heat as high carbon steel can. Keyway stock is medium carbon steel. No real mystery to it.

Mike.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Try filing or cutting them with a hacksaw, first. If they cut easily, they probably are a mild steel. However, from the description, they do sound very like High Speed Steel toolbits, and if they are, you'll have a heck of a job filing or hacksawing them!

I can't imagine why anybody would mark little bits of mild steel with an American (AISI) steel grade - they don't even mark little bits like that with British Standard steel grades! Whilst Rubicon are indeed a steel stockholder, they are a plate stockholder according to their website, and would supply against British or European grades, not American ones.

Down the years, there have been many manufacturers of specialist bits and pieces like toolsteel and toolbits, and a lot of them used their own designations for their wares, which often bore no resemblance to British or any other standard specifications. I've never heard of Rubicon 1012, but if they're from a cleared out shed, they could be forty or fifty years old - sort of thing that fell into somebody's pocket before they retired, and languished awaiting a use until after their demise.

Hello,

Wow, still speculating! It is not mild steel, hence needs some form of identification, but is still just a low carbon steel, not suitable for tools. It is designed for cold forming shapes, though can be used under heat and can be chemically hardened, though not hardened and temperd with heat as high carbon steel can. Keyway stock is medium carbon steel. No real mystery to it.

Mike.

Well, if you say so. But why would a tiddly little scrap of mild steel (if, as you say, that's what it is - 0.1-0.15%C is a dead mild steel), found in a British garden shed, have an American AISI/SAE steel grade etched on it? Makes no sense at all.

My money is on their being HSS toolbits. No guarantee, but the description the OP gave fits. He can check by trying to file or hacksaw them - if they're mild steel, they'll cut easily, if they're HSS they won't without a grinder.