Old timer at the scrapyard showed me how to tell steel from stainless with just a grinder and a magnet

I was digging through a pile at the local scrapyard last Saturday looking for some cheap bar stock. This older guy, must have been in his 70s, walked up and asked what I was after. He showed me to hit the metal with an angle grinder for a second, then touch a magnet to the spark shower. If the magnet sticks it's regular steel, if it doesn't it's stainless. Anyone else run into tricks like that from old school guys in your area?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettys5119d ago

Nice trick. An old farmer showed me the same thing with a file instead of a grinder. Saved me from hauling home a bunch of what I thought was cheap stainless.

casey1619d agoMost Upvoted

Man, I once spent a whole afternoon trying to figure out why my grinder wouldn't cut a butter knife.