Acid Testing metal

[Buzz]

I need to find out how to acid test metal to find out the composition (Mild Steel, Chromoly, High carbon, etc.) of the material. I ran the question through several forums and search engines and got everything from a grinding spark test to heating it up, quenching in water to see if it will crack. The only affordable kit available is out of Australia. Basically the Kit consists of an acid solution and a color chart. Any help would be appreciated.

[Unkl Ian]

The spark test will give you an idea how much Carbon is in it.


The Acid test is very rare.

[fordiac]

you could have hardness testing done to find out what it is.

how bout a little more description of what were working with.