The possibility of direct spectrographic analysis for the routine determination of boron in steels in the range 10–150 ppm was investigated. The procedure was worked out that requires no specialized equipment, is rapid and simple, and suitable for routine control analyses when precision is not of prime importance. The method uses DC‐arc excitation of the samples in the form of powder or chips, with LiF added both as buffer and volatilizing agent. The electrodes are deep, with large capacity so that they can hold samples of about 150 mg, as the use of a large sample lowers the detection limit. The analytical line used is BI 2089.6 Å and the spectra are recorded on Ilford Q‐2 plates. One of the results of this work is a correction of the wavelength of the BII 3451 Å line.