how to know if a steering clutch lever is cast iron or steel

[CaptainB]

I would like to know if the levers on my d4d are cast iron or steel, I recently welded a broken lever with a 3/32 6013 AC somebody mentioned how it did welding cast iron but im thinking its steel because it was a bit difficult to weld but not really

 

[Mquinista]

Hy,
Usually those things are stamped parts, lets say a kind of forging system, its much cheaper to stamp a part , as its only needes a dye or 2, wereas a cast part either iron or steel need a blank molds and or injection system and liquid material...
On the other hand stamping, produces a much stronguer part as well, but all has to do with the material in it.

Anyway , when u dont know what u are welding a good idea is to use a niquel based ferous rod if u are using ark welding, in the absence of a all ferous rod , i had very good results with stainless 316 rods.

IF tig weld, u can find a lot of deposit 4x4 materials , but stainless/ niquel based rod works very well.

 

[JAJ]

Interesting… I thought if they weren’t cast iron they would be cast steel? Didn’t think they would be stamped, but that sounds very interesting, I hadn’t thought of it…

You can usually tell looking at the grain structure in the metal. Also the sparks off a grinder (if you cleaned it up before welding) are different for steel vs cast iron. If IIRC it is due to the carbon content in the metal but I may be wrong. This method can also be used to identify the different types and grades of steel. It’s pretty neat to see, I can’t remember all the spark patterns but a chart online should be easy to find if you are interested.