What kind of steel is this?

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Hello everyone. First post here, but long time reader.  I tried to TIG weld this, but it acted as if I forgot to open the argon bottle. Spatter all over the place. On the grinder I see bright orange sparks if that means anything. It is magnetic. Any ideas on the type of steel, and why cant I make a puddle in it?I am just screwing around. I dont actually have a repair to make. They are the insides of a oil controlled camshaft adjuster on an Audi 3.0L engine. Austin Attached Images
Reply:Scrap iron. City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Try breaking a piece to see what the fracture looks like, then cook a small piece with a propane torch. I'd guess it might be made of sintered metal with enough porosity to hold oil, or perhaps some added impurity which 'outgasses' when heated. Cook that piece to 'red hot' and see how it behaves.If you ran acetylene in your TIG torch, could you make some Tungsten Carbide?  I'm not hijacking your thread, your comment re Argon just made me wonder....
Reply:Yes I have run into this situation.They could be castings that are made with sintered metal and it is metal made of compressed powdered metal made for a purpose.There are special fillers (wire feed) made for this type of metal.Also there are metals made by wire EDM build up as well. EDM can be used to remove metal as well as build up shapes.Shapes hard to machine like intake and exhaust manifolds are made out of the powdered compressed metal also.By the way , did  an oil like substance ooze out of the area you were working on?Last edited by Donald Branscom; 08-04-2008 at 04:23 AM.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2Try breaking a piece to see what the fracture looks like, then cook a small piece with a propane torch. I'd guess it might be made of sintered metal with enough porosity to hold oil, or perhaps some added impurity which 'outgasses' when heated. Cook that piece to 'red hot' and see how it behaves.If you ran acetylene in your TIG torch, could you make some Tungsten Carbide?  I'm not hijacking your thread, your comment re Argon just made me wonder....
Reply:The peice broke easily in the vice with a 5lb hammer. It looks real grainy. When I heated it with my MAP torch, there were all kinds of impuritys burning off from the grainy area. I guess it is some sort of casting. Oh well. Thanks to everyone for your input.
Reply:It does sound like a casting to me...probably...I hate tring to weld castJonesy
Reply:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The peice broke easily in the vice with a 5lb hammer. It looks real grainy. When I heated it with my MAP torch, there were all kinds of impuritys burning off from the grainy area. I guess it is some sort of casting. Oh well. Thanks to everyone for your input.