Carbide / Hardening / Casting

[Veselin Kolev]

I've got a few questions about metallurgy.

1. How hot do you need to heat steel to harden it? It melts at 1370 C, so I’m gonna guess about 1000. But could you use a welding torch set on a low flame to harden it a little? Like some sort of home-made hardened steel. Would there be any way to harden steel parts without having it professionally done?

2. Carbide is made by heating Si02 (sand) and carbon together at about 3000 C. Carbide is only a little heavier than aluminum. My question is, if you had that kind of heating capabilities, what would be the problem with making your own carbide and casting your robot frame? It would be interesting to have a robot made of carbide. By the way, is carbide restricted on the robots? I’m not 100% sure.

3. Does anyone know how hot a normal metal-working furnace gets? I’ve heard of one team that cast their gearboxes using sand-casting. It would be interesting to look into if my team can afford doing it.

I know it’s a little far fetched, but imagine it. You melt together sand and carbon, making liquid carbide. Pour it into castings, making bars. Use those bars to make your robot frame. Also, if you could harden your transmission gears and parts, like shifting dogs, your gearboxes would live longer. Just some wild ideas…

Good luck to all teams, ‘cause kickoff is in 13 hours!!!