New book provides a practical introduction to steel

“Steel is beautiful.” That’s how author and metallurgist Shane Turcott starts his new book, Steel Isn't Hard (To Learn).

As the most commonly used metal in the world, steel—and specifically the knowledge of steel—should be a foundational element in the education of engineers, machinists, operators, welders, and programmers.

As he writes in the book, “Steel can be quite strong and hard—these are amongst the reasons why we use it. Yet steel isn’t hard to learn and understand.”

This book introduces steel in a fundamental sense. It focuses on practical concepts that are relevant to everyone that works with the metal. Topics covered include strength, durability, and fatigue limit; hardness; alloying of steel with carbon, molybdenum, chromium, and nickel; heat treatment; and grades, standards, and material certificates.

Practical chapters on making parts, welding, and corrosion make this book a great resource for shops of all kinds. More academic portions of the book, collected into appendixes, cover the metal’s behaviour under stress, its atomic structure, and quenching.

“Let me be clear—no one was asking for another book on steel or metallurgy,” said Turcott. “Yet I’ve always felt we introduce steel in a boring or confusing manner, turning most people away. Learning how to best use one of the most monumental engineering materials ever discovered should excite, empower, and interest people—as it eventually did with me.”

When the pandemic hit, Turcott had extra time on his hands and began thinking about how to best introduce and interest people in the practical basics of steel. His answer was to use demonstrations (as shown in the book) to convey just the practical basics, minimizing unneeded theory and keeping it as light reading.

Turcott has a background in material engineering and over the course of his career has completed thousands of metallurgical projects and failure analyses. He founded his own company, Steel Image, in 2009.

Turcott also is the author of Decoding Mechanical Failures, a book on recognizing, diagnosing, and interpreting the fracture features of fatigue, brittle, and ductile failures.

“It all starts with learning the basics to steel,” said Turcott. “Comprehending a few key concepts used in common steel types, many of which have been used for decades, will provide the basis to understand the vast majority of components being made today and tomorrow. And with that understanding, you’ll be able to easily appreciate the strategies being used in the next generation of steels.”