In truth, a competitor only needs a sample stud and about $500 to have a lab tell him the composition. From that, the grade of Inconel would be known, and only the processing parameters would be in question.

It's been kind of funny following a thread about these on my local forum ... people saying they aren't worth it then coming back a month later saying they just broke their standard ones. Just ordered a set from TSE so that's one less thing to worry about!

Russell.

TSE ones work. No thought required. Buy them.

With a hardness and tensile test you could pretty much figure everything out.

that might ball park it, but how do you find the specific grade, especially when you have precipitation hardening grades thrown into the mix?


was savs comment deleted?

It appears it was. I'm not trying to rip anybody off or even copy, but I am innately curious about this stuff.

If you know the chemical composition and the hardness and tensile strength, it's not hard to guess the processes they used. You can probably take it to any heat treat shop and they would tell you what you need to do to get the same strength. TSE protects themselves, really, with quality service more than anything else. I’ve never ordered from them yet, but I’m sure I will eventually. I’ve only heard great things about them.

Also, not all inconel is created equal. Inco 600 is barely stronger than any old stainless. 625 is leaps and bounds stronger. 718 is gnarly nasty tough and strong, but immensely difficult to machine. Cutting threads in it would be difficult and require support like a steady rest on the other side of the cutter because the cutting pressure is so high. It’s really hard to take fine cuts in 718. I’m not really familiar with the other grades of inconel. Then there are other superalloys like hastalloy-X, waspalloy, etc.

You wouldn’t want an Inco nut on an Inco thread because it would gall like crazy.

THIS is how TSE really protects themselves. Recommendations from legends, and a quality functional product.

thats what was being discussed, not the machining or post machining processes. im not even sure the the TSEs are heat treated.

special metals has a great set of documents for inconel, including a work hardening chart for the various grades. another reason i chose 750x is because its work hardening curve closely approximates 304 SS. my guy said he can do 718, but he really didnt want to.


ill also put my disclaimer, not trying to figure out what the TSE stuff is or rip andrew off. im going to make my own no matter what. this is for science.

the graph on pg 1
http://www.specialmetalswelding.com/publica/Mach.pdf

Pretty much sums up trying to get something made of 718 lol.

He'll go through cutters like crazy, and trying to hit a tight tolerance is really hard because it's really difficult to just take 1 or 2 thousandths off.

Having run a CNC machine for a handful of years I can confirm. Its a mechanically great material but it sucks ass to cut it. I ended up working with my Kennametal sales guy to find cutters that could do the job without blowing up all the time. The trick is finding a shop that has experience with this type exotic materials. Its not exactly a "job shop" kinda thing

Exactly. Buy something proven and move on. I'm starting to discover my time is not as worthless as I originally thought. I see no reason to reinvent the wheel.

IIRC, TSE has the threads rolled, which is another plus. No question, there is no reason to go somewhere else and it maybe will work. Choices are TSE or V-Band.

I have closed this thread. If you guys want to continue discussing what Inconel TSE uses, you can take it back to the giant thread we already have.