I repurposed an old cast iron hub from the scrap pile (post#143 in Tips and Tricks). I call it cast iron because it was definitely a cast item, it was ferrous, and there was a piece broken out of it typical of damaged cast iron. My past experience of turning cast iron is that I end up looking like an underground coal miner, but that wasn't the case with turning this hub.
The metal was coming off the tool in a typical shower of tiny chips but they were clean, there was no horrible black dust.

I'm thinking the hub must have been made from a low carbon cast iron. Or looking at it the other way a steel with extra carbon to lower the melting temp and increase the fluidity for casting, I have read of 'semi-steel cast iron' in advertising blurbs. Any thoughts?

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