[TheForge] counterfeit bolts and steel

[Steve Smith]

I think the best solution is buy from a supplier you trust. If you're 
buying surplus, good luck!

People have built things like mass spectrographs on their own; projects 
like that tend to be pretty time consuming though. I don't recall any 
mass specs, but a good source for this kind of stuff is the compilation 
of old Amateur Scientist columns from Scientific American (back in the 
good old days). The whole pile is available on CD. Here's the index:
http://www.tinkersguild.com/AmSciIndex/indexTop.html

This would only give you one way to check the material; you couldn't 
check hardness or toughness, for instance.

Steve

terry l. ridder wrote:

> hello;
> 
> i was reading various web pages concerning the problems with counterfeit
> bolts and steel. google for 'counterfeit bolts'.
> 
> how would the average person be able to determine whether or not the
> bolts or steel is actually what it claims to be? are those grade 8 bolts
> really grade 8 bolts or just a cheap knockoff? is the tool steel really
> the tool steel you specified?
> 
> is the metal you specified really what was delivered?
> 
> now related to the above. would it be possible to build a homebrew auger
> mass spectrograph? what type of analysis and/or testing would be needed
> to ensure that the bolts and metals are really what they claim to be?
> could this analysis and/or testing be done in the hobby environment?
>