"cutting edge" steel - Fab questions

[Harry c]

For occasional use, regular old inexpensive hot-rolled steel should work for your cutting edge. It's not hardened nor hardenable to any extent so cut it however you like. I would bevel it with an OA torch or possibly my Porta-band. No pre-heating needed. Weld it on and go to work. The chemical composition is such that quenching has little effect. If you use the bucket enough to actually wear the edge, just lay on a couple of beads of hardfacing rod and you won't have to worry about that anymore. If you decide to hardface, just keep in mind that you can't grind that stuff either! Where you put it, it stays!

 

[Renze]

i have once asked for hard facing welding rod.. it was somewhere about 5 to 7 euro per rod, i think....

Anyhow, hard facing rod is more wear resistant than most factory ploughshares, it seems.