Dry.—Steel is called dry when its fracture is sandy-looking, without lustre or sheen, and without a proper blue cast. There is more of a shade of yellowish sandstone. It is an evidence of impurity and weakness.
Fiery.—Fiery steel has a brilliant lustre; it is an evidence of high heat.
If the grain be fairly fine and of bluish cast, it is not necessarily bad in mild steel; in high steel or in tool-steel it should not be tolerated.
If the grain be large and of brassy cast, it is sure evidence of bad condition; the grain should be restored before the steel is used.
In hardened steel it is always bad, except in dies to be used under the impact of drop-hammers; in this case steel must be so hard as to be slightly fiery.
Grade.—Grade applies to quality, as crucible, Bessemer, or open-hearth grade. Or in the crucible, common, spring, machinery, tool, special tool, etc., etc. It does not indicate temper or relative hardness.
Honeycombed.—Unsound from many blow-holes. Usually applied to ingots. It is a bad condition.
Lap.—A lap is caused by careless hammering, or by badly proportioned grooves in rolls, or by careless rolling. A portion of the steel is folded over on itself, the walls are oxidized and cannot unite. A lap generally runs clear along a bar, practically parallel with its axis; it may be seen by a novice. Lapped steel should be rejected always.
Overblown.—Steel that has been blown in a Bessemer converter after the carbon is all burned; then there is nothing but steel to burn, and the result is bad.
Overheated.—Steel that has been heated too hot, and not quite burned; its fiery fracture exposes it. The grain of overheated steel may be restored, but restored steel is never as reliable as steel that has not been overheated. Overheating is a disintegrating operation.