Serious question, has anyone else had a mild steel billet suddenly crack during a twist?

I was working on a decorative railing piece in my home shop last month, and a 1-inch square bar of 1018 snapped with a loud pop halfway through a simple four-inch hot twist, forcing me to reforge the entire section from scratch.

3 comments

3 Comments

kevinrivera1mo ago

1018 can be brittle, try a slower preheat next time.

-1

angela6871mo ago

But what if the brittleness isn't from the preheat at all? Maybe the real problem is the quench rate being too harsh for 1018. A slow preheat just adds time without fixing the core issue if the steel's chemistry is the limit. Sometimes you just need a different material for the job instead of babying a low-carbon steel.

river3201mo ago

You ever think maybe both things are true? A harsh quench on 1018 is asking for trouble, but a good preheat can help a little. It's like putting a bandage on a broken arm, though. If you need a part that's actually hard, you're just using the wrong steel. Why fight the metal's nature?