A short while ago, I asked a question on this forum about whether
it was worthwhile to rework Harbor Freight punches and chisels into
blacksmithing hot work tools. The general tone of the replies
suggested that I try to use some other source (cheaper, more suitable,
less deformation when hot). The reason I originally asked is that I
had to make an emergency punch out of mild steel. There was no
superquench available (period accurate shop) and the punch died after
the second hole through 1/2" stock.
I did not find any star drills at garage sales. These are getting
hard to find. I did go to a sale where this old woodworker was
disposing of some junk. He had a box full of junk and broken tools
that he was selling for a quarter each. So, I bought several
screwdriver bits and things that looked like good steel. There was
also a huge chisel in the box marked "cast steel" with an arrow emblem
on back. This was too nice to chop up, so I sharpened it and it works
just great. The woodworker asked me what I was looking for, and I
told him junk tool steel. He pulled out a huge box of old files and
told me that I could have any ones that I wanted for free. Then, he
said that he suspected that I am a blacksmith. He suggested that we
could make a deal. I could make some woodcarving blades and he would
make handles and we would swap. I had a worried look on my face, so
he fetched one of his creations for me. It had an ugly stock removed
blade, and a beautiful exotic hardwood handle. I started to get his
point. If I could work the steel, he could do the wood. He then
showed me another tool with a deformed edge. He said, this is what
happens when you use mild steel or you don't temper correctly. Talk
about preaching to the choir!!! Amazing what folks you could meet at
garage sales. Now I might have to learn something about knifemaking.
Anyway, I tried making a punch out of one of those bits. It looked
like a wide flat bladed screwdriver with a 3/8" shank. It would
become a 3/8" drift. First, I tried to square the end. The tip was
hopeless, so I quenched it in water and smacked it with a hammer. It
cracked off, and the sharp end was quite hard when I used it to clean
up a weld bead. Good. At least better than mild steel. The
troublesome part was squaring up the blade. At its widest point, it
was wider than the shank. When I hammered on the side, it looked like
it was being upset, with the corresponding unpleasant misalignment and
bending. I tried to apply corrective blows, but ended up with a
depressed channel down the business end, terminating in a cold shut at
the tip. It was pretty ugly and painful grinding this out. Anyway,
the sparks were very short and bursty at the ends, showing some kind
of alloy steel, but without the longer branching typical of carbon
steel. It wasn't that great, but it should beat the silly mild steel
punch that I made under emergency conditions.
Are there any suggestions on how to avoid this "upsetting" channel
down the length of the tool when rounding flat stock? More practice?
For a picture of what goes wrong, one can view ebay item # 6115705324
My apologies to the seller, but it is already closed. This tool is
apparently quite old, so it has lasted for some time, but that channel
sure is ugly.
---------------------
If you want to make woodworking blades, Weygers is just about
indispensable. He was a wood sculptor as well as a blacksmith and he knew
his tools.
Speaking of scrap: A couple of days ago I asked my wife, who is an expert
at anything to do with fabric, to start saving her old sewing machine
needles for me.
"You realize by the time I get done with them they're either dull or
broken," she says.
"That's fine," says I. "You know what you call a small piece of tool steel
that's dull or broken?"
"What?" she asks.
"A tool blank," says I.
Save your money - that book's the biggest piece of rubbish I've ever
bought,
If you need a "tool steel" blank in a hurry, sacrifice your oldest,
rustiest and most clogged file.
Let's be honest - our files are in a terrible state. We've all got a
box of rusty old clunkers somewhere under a bench. But they're great
steel - just waiting to be forged a little into chisels of punches.
Then you have the best excuse to go out and buy a couple of shiny new
Groberts.
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