In German whe use "gelbes Blutlaugensalz". It cost 17 Euro for a pound.I made a small part today out of some very poor quality steel. I was really just playing and when I go finished I wished I had used a better grade of material. I decided I would try to case harden it.
So I went on a mission of trying to find an old can of Kasenit that I have had since the early 80's. I thought I might have thrown it out but I found it!
Did a little research and found out this stuff is no longer made and a can of it is valuable. My lucky day.
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If you're referring to alkaline manganese cells, the black gunk between the central rod is primarily manganese dioxide with a bit of graphite added. The old zinc-carbon dry cell has similarly formulated black gunk but a central carbon rod.I'm a collector of old Gilbert stuff... I still play with mercury...
I harden my tools and stuff with carbon out of D cell batteries.
I take the battery apart to get the carbon and then I smash it up with
a hammer. Then I wrap it in a special foil wit my tool and heat...
If you're referring to alkaline manganese cells, the black gunk between the central rod is primarily manganese dioxide with a bit of graphite added. The old zinc-carbon dry cell has similarly formulated black gunk but a central carbon rod.
If you are using the carbon rods, why not just use charcoal briquettes instead?
When I was doing some blacksmithing, I culde get a fairly decent case by simply soaking the iron in a bed of glowing coke. This was particularly effective on thin sections due to the higher percentage of the steel being affected by the case hardening.