Have you ever?????

Yesterday I ran across a 3' X 3/4" bar of round stock that I forgotten I had. Six or seven years ago I had bought several bars of W-l and O-l, used some of it and it has sat out in the shop for years. After finding the bar yesterday I did a few test to determine what it was. First I did a spark test, then I compaired it to some known O-l that I also had. It didn't look quite the same, the carbon sparks were somewhat different. Good hint that it was not O-l. I even tried to harden it and checked it with a file, just didn't seem like it got hard to me. I still figured it was O-l and forged a small bowie out of it. This morning I cut a strip of steel off the tang and tried to harden it, it did not harden. I am now convinced it is not O-l, why did I forge a blade out of it? For the life of me I can't figure out where that bar came from.
Where am I going with this? My Dad would mark everthing he had, all his tools and other possessions. Used to think this was funny, but now that I'm getting old I'm starting to see the point. If I had marked that bar and known what it was I wouldn't have waisted my time forging out a worthless blade and making my arm more sore than what it needs to be. So now I'm going to mark all my steel so in the future I'll know what I've got in my hand, ya right.
You all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!! : :rollin: : Ray

I mark all my steel the minute it comes in with one of those paint markers- every piece! If I didn't, I'd be in a real jam. Welcome to the "Old Man's Club", Ray!

Same here. When the steel first arrives in 5' - 6' bars, I mark each bar, as well as the shipping tube the bars came in with a Magic Marker. As the bars are used up, the small leftover pieces of 12" to 18" are marked and stacked in a corner of the shop. (I only use the short pieces in an emergency because I hate holding them with tongs when forging).

Why don'y you try welding those short peices to a handle Terry? That makes it real easy to use up those pieces. It's kind of like cheating but that makes it even more fun! I just use a 2' piece of rebar or mild steel and have even been known to weld it to another bar of blade steel.