Astygma Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 I am relatively new to smithing, and tool-less! haha would lke to familarize wth som RR spike axes and stuff, but my budget is even smaller than my little 55# anvil. Could a hardie be made from a RR spike or similar material? Also wondering about creating a splitting punch. I have a few misc punches that could be reworked... thoughts comments... smacks about the ear hole? Thanks fellas. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 RR spikes do not take to hardening well, so the life of the tool would be limited, but if that is the stock you have on hand, and cannot find/afford a junk/bone yard leaf or coil spring or hardenable stock to make tools from, then go for it! Some other thoughts Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 Old punches and chisels can be good material for new ones. I am unsure what you mean by splitting punch... perhaps you mean a slitting punch? Or maybe a slitting chisel? Either way my favorite ones have been made from pry bar material which I get whenever I can find it cheap at flea markets or antique stores. Old punches and chisels are fine though if you can get them in useful lengths and diameters (lots of them are a bit too short to work well, and some are also too thin). If it is big enough to fit your hardy hole a railroad spike would work for a starter hardy. Use the lip of the spike head for the cutting edge and just make a 90 degree bend an inch or more below it so that the spike head lays on its back on the anvil when the spike tip is inserted into the hardy hole. I would thicken and straighten the spike head lip a little to make it a better hardy shape. Smash the whole thing down on the anvil a bit to get a good stable base too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecelticforge Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 I recently acquired an axle from a VW bug. The end is flattened and flared already and all I had to do was cut off the base and set it down to fit my hardie hole and put a cutting edge on the flare. It stands about 8" from the face of my anvil and should make a very useful addition to my cutting tools. A RR spike that has HC stamped on the head will serve you better than an older one as it has a higher carbon content and can be heat treated. If you can make a hardie out of one of those, I recommend that you do not heat treat it yet. Just forge it, sharpen it, and use it. That will give you good practice in caring for your tools and will lessen the chances it from breaking and injuring you while you are working. Try to make it a pretty as you can My two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 HC spikes are higher C than non-HC spikes but they are still about 1/2 the carbon content of a standard leaf or coil spring (which are higher than axle material as well). If you want to start working with higher carbon material, coil and leaf springs can generally be found for free! (try asking a local mechanic and explain what you want them for. Old ball peen hammers, (cheapest if bought at fleamarket with no handle) usually make good handled punches and chisels too. (Note the rare one might be cast iron---I've had a half dozen like that out of 29 years smithing) And as mentioned old star drills, cold chisels, etc can be reworked into new tools or even into knives! (Be carefull though as some will air harden on you and so will crack/shatter if water quenched!) The weird rail road clips are much better steel than RR spike being 40-60 points carbon rather than the HC spikes topping out around 30 points. If you can find spikes you ought to be able to find the clips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 You have plenty of blacksmiths/bladesmiths in your neck of the woods. Find yourself a reasonably local group (leads here: http://www.abana.org/affiliates/affiliate_list.shtml#statelist) and go to a meeting. Ask about getting stock for making tools. Let 'em know that funds are tight. Someone will point you in the right direction, and there's a good chance someone will just give you some material. If you lived nearby I'd be happy to give you a couple leafs from a leaf spring, but shipping them all the way across the country would be silly. And yes, the clips -- a.k.a. rail anchors -- will probably serve pretty well for what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 Good point about checking in with your local group; I can scrounge stuff faster than I can use it and like to help out local smiths just getting started It's cheaper too---I don't have to overpay for a ballpeen hammer---I have a 5 gallon bucket of them bought for US$1 a piece back at the house...(shoot I traded off 1 bucket of hammers to a fellow who lived where they were not very common). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astygma Posted April 22, 2010 Author Share Posted April 22, 2010 WOW what a wealth of help you fellas are. I think I will be busy with these ideas I will take some pictures to let you know how it turned out. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 I have made drifts out of mild steel and hardened with a super quench. Have a cut off tool made from rebar have used it for the last 23 years it still works well. gets the job done. You can pick up a set of chisels fron HF for 15 dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 Francis; were they really mild steel, 1018 or 1020, or were they A36? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astygma Posted April 22, 2010 Author Share Posted April 22, 2010 Awesome! found a HUGE drift pin/ chisel looking deal. gonna bang it into something resembling a hardy I hope. you were right by the way I was talking about a slttng punch. thanks for keeping me straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Widener Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 I have made drifts out of mild steel and hardened with a super quench. Have a cut off tool made from rebar have used it for the last 23 years it still works well. gets the job done. You can pick up a set of chisels fron HF for 15 dollars. I am trying to harden some drift pins I made from just hot rolled round stock, but they keep turning soft. A friend told me the carbon content wasn't high enough. What do you mean by super quench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 I am trying to harden some drift pins I made from just hot rolled round stock, but they keep turning soft. A friend told me the carbon content wasn't high enough. What do you mean by super quench. http://lametalsmiths.org/news/robb_gunter.htm Its a soap, surfactant, brine solution. It is a very very fast aggressive quenching solution. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don't tread on me Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I used a old chisul I found at my grandpas, I can cut steel that is allmost cold without denting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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