Temper or not?

[wolfshieldrx]

Not sure if this belongs in TOOLS or HEAT TREATING, but here goes...
A buddy gave me two of these auto body? tools. I reworked one to use as a handled punch. Cut off the flat end, forged down the pointy end, filed everything smooth and air cooled. My question is should this tool be rehardened/tempered or used as is? If I did temper it, oil or water? My best guess would be oil, but??? Also, when I was filing it, it seemed pretty hard just air-cooled. Plus, even if I did temper it, when I use it as a hot punch, won't the hot steel draw the temper anyway? Whattaya think, huh?





Thanks in advance...bart

[dablacksmith]

are you useing it as a hot punch/ drift? if so hardening it probably would be a waste of time .. also you dont know what alloy it is ... ide leave it as is and use it...btw that was a chipping hammer used for chipping flux off of welds (usually stick welds or flux core wirefeed ) it should work fine for what you want to use it for.

[ThomasPowers]

I think that's a weldor's slag chipping hammer and what you made looks more like a drift than a punch.

What did the spark test tell you about the carbon content? I've found that "metal being hard" is a very subjective thing.

[wolfshieldrx]

Both very good points. I dont weld (outside the forge!) so i learned something. I'm just learning the spark test thing, but appeared to be about the same as auto coil spring. And yes, meant to say drift. Thanks a bunch...bart