New Edges

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

Here's a picture of some hardy tools I made yesterday. They are made from jackhammer bits. I ground one, wire wheeled another, and the rest are as forged.

These are for some anvils at the Ag. Museum that don't have that great of edges. I like the hexagon that the jackhammer bits come in. You can have up to six different edges, and the jackhammer bits are easy to work with and readily availiable.

[Steeler]

Nice! Power hammer? Could they be hand forged with a sledge and anvil?

[dablacksmith]

Nice! Power hammer? Could they be hand forged with a sledge and anvil?

those most likeley hand forged with a striker .. i have made various hearty tools from jackhammer bits .. good steel and the price is right (most of the bits i got free) they can break and its still good steel for tools .. nice tools brian!

[pkrankow]

Upsetting with a sledge is easier than people seem to believe.

Phil

[Timothy Miller]

Most jack hammer bits are 1045 unless you get old ones. 1045 is not much harder than hot rolled steel.

[Iron Clad]

Nice tools. Jack hammer bits make great tools. It's tough stuff. It's harder material to forge by hand though. A sledge hammer is useful. My son and I made a cut-off hardy out of a jack hammer bit. My son used the sledge hammer! :D

[shortdog]

That's cool. Way to get around having bad edges. I've made some hardy tools out of trailer ball hitches. Don't know what steel they are, but they can be a bear to work.

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

Thanks, guys! I did most of the work with a sledge hammer, then finished them up with the treadle hammer. I didn't have a striker. I do prefer a striker over the treadle hammer.
There was one of the jackhammer bits that was harder to forge than the others. When you get one of those, you'll notice the difference.

[medieval]

Most jack hammer bits are 1045 unless you get old ones. 1045 is not much harder than hot rolled steel.

I was under the impression that jack hammer bits were made from S series tool steel. Where did you get your information?

[Timothy Miller]

I was under the impression that jack hammer bits were made from S series tool steel. Where did you get your information?

I called the manufacturer because I needed to modify a brush tool he said all of their bits are 1045. In addition I did spark test against a known sample it checked out with my 1045 sample. Also it forged and and heat treated the same as 1045. I think small air chisel bits tools are S series or similar because they need to be tougher and harder to cut steel.

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

I was under the impression that jack hammer bits were made from S series tool steel. Where did you get your information?

The blacksmith world is full of many assumptions. I just got in from forging the jackhammer that I laid to the side the other day, and it was probably an S series steel. There is a very noticeable difference in the way it yeilds to the hammer.
Most of the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" jackhammer bits that I've been getting respond more like a straight carbon steel.

[LDW]

Brian mentioned these new edges were for the anvils at the Agriculture Museum that do not have good edges. What he did not say, is that he made these so the people that are going to be in the class will have what they need to do the forging techniques he is going to be teaching. Having a nice edge makes all the difference in the world when you need crisp lines. I had been forging for years on an anvil that had one spot on it that was semi squared off. Brian has shown me the difference. These tools are remarkable, you can stand on one side of the anvil and have three different radius's. It is like having a new anvil. Thanks for taking the time to do this Brian I can't wait to see everyone using them.

[MattBower]

I was given a bunch of demolition hammer (basically a jackhammer) bits by a guy who deals in and repairs the hammers. He swore the manufacturer's rep told him they were S-5. I sent a piece off for analysis. 1045. (I didn't mind. They were free.)

Be very skeptical of any claim that this or that scrap item is always or usually made from this or that steel. The real world is a lot more complicated than that. :)

[ThomasPowers]

Well I got similar information off a post on forgemagic: grant - Sun 09 Oct 2005 00:20:49 #0

"I've had just about every bit made spectrographed and never found one made from a tool steel. The largest manufacturer (Brunner & Lay) uses a modified 1045 for all their bits"

One of the problems with junkyard steel lists is that something like Machinerys Handbook will say that S series is good for jackhammer bits and folks will then say "jackhammer bits are S series steel" Well Titanium would be excellent for car bodies---how many cars have you seen with a Ti body? Why? Too expensive! Manufacturing is generally trying to use the CHEAPEST material that will get the job done not the *best*!