I have to go to try and rein sarah in! Tho there are often things that go cheap as farmer types aren’t interested in them
And the special - a 3 post lift (one is still bolted to the shed/barn floor, it got too bent when they backed a trailer into it) My favourite place has been the local Bursledon Brickworks- people give them tools to use or sell on at their open days. In the past I managed to score a massive Stanley two speed hand drill with a shoulder bracing pad for a fiver, and a 1/4" collet drive flexible drive shaft. I missed out on a set of dial indicators once - I spent too long dithering.
To be fair, Cast Steel can be hit and miss. Its all down to the cleanliness of the melting chamber, contaminants from the previous melt will compromise its integrity, get the prep work bob on and you will have a good casting, as you say. Mike is correct on specification but you can still have a Marmitee casting if quality falls below par. One of the lads at work has been testing buckeye couplers from huge freight trains; Cast Steel. The couplers have been fracturing for no reason so we have been tasked with investigating and testing the castings. They are full of porosity / black inclusions, some have quite large voids, presumably air pockets and others are clean across the sectioned pieces.
Those Halfords stands definitely look thinner than mine, and the jack less solid. I think I bought my set of a jack and 2 axle stands from Halfords when they ran a half price offer - for £100 ..
These stands are supposed to be used on a level surface and Good cast steel might be okay ie . the metal is in compression. If the stands are used on uneven ground or at an angle the casting may have a bending force applied which is not good. I would be very reluctant to use cast stands without a spec. sheet and test certificate.
I’m always amazed that couplers can take the strain they do, the very front one effectivly pulling the whole train. What’s the breaking strain of these things?
The best quality castings is roughly 1400 MPa but the worst around 1000 MPa. From memory they aren’t very ductile hence they break easily, if they had some ductility they would withstand the force’s excerpted when the trains start to move.
