Alex Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 This might be suited for the tools section, but it's about heat treating tools. Anyway, I just came into possession of a whole whack of hardies (42 in one big bundle for cheap cheap cheap). The only problem is that some of them are in really rough shape (big gouges, rust, pitting etc.). Also, out of all of these, I have not one cutting chisel. So, I have two ideas: 1. Smooth out any ugly bits to make the hardies more usable. 2. Reshape a hardy into a cutting chisel. I have a few bottom blocks like shown here that I was thinking of drawing out into an edge. My questions are: 1. If I do these things, will I have to harden and temper the hardies to make them usable? It seems like I should. 2. Seeing as I have no idea what kind of metal they're made out of, any suggestions for their quench/hardening medium? Any suggestions or info welcome. Thanks, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainely,Bob Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I`d spark test them one by one to see if they all are near the same type of steel,they may not be. The spark test will also give you a good indication of where to start as far as heat treating goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 If they are old and brand name such as Atha, champion, plumb or iron city they are most likely a water hardening steel. In the 1060 to 1080 range. Most likely you can reforge them to any shape you like and harden in water draw temper to blue. This they did this because it was relativity inexpensive steel and worked well for the way most smiths tended to work. Quench in the slack tub and draw over temper over the hot coals That being said there could be some more exotic steel there if they are hand forged because the smith who made them may of had other ideas about what he wanted from his tooling. Also he may have used whatever steel he had at hand. If the pits are very deep you may grind away the hardened layer by mistake because many of these water hardening steels are shallow hardening steels. I would keep them and modify as the need for hardie tooling arises. Start with the junkiest ones that way if you screw up you will still have the good ones. I would not set out to convert them to a specific set of tooling. Because you may find a bunch of the shapes are useful as they are. Also you may not end up doing the work you thought you were going to do as your skills progress. These tools are hard to come by cheep and in quantity. Also you may want to learn a bit more about forging before you ruin a perfectly good tool you just didn't understand the application of. Post some pictures so we may evaluate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Why not state your anvil's hardy hole size and offer to trade someone for one? Seems by the time you would go to all that work you could just make a new one and not mess up something that someone might be able to use. Remember: like many anvil faces, it's amazing how much work you can get out of something without refacing it totally. I'm letting the fire scale polish out several old tools I use. (of course I have also forged down top sets to fit my anvils 1.5" hardy holes as I hadn't found many bottom tools with shanks that size and yes I have nested spacers to use smaller shanks but for big work on a big anvil proper sized tooling is nice!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for all the info so far guys. Here's some pictures as requested. As you can see some of them are pretty bad. I definitely don't want to ruin any, but I'm not talking about taking something nice and new and converting it, but rather something in rough shape. In any case, maybe a trade is a decent idea. I'll be singing up with a local association soon, so maybe I'll make some contacts. Thanks again, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Get a gallon or two of vinegar, toss them in overnight. Transfer to a bucket of very dilute ammonia and water to neutralize (do this outside), then wash with dish soap and a stiff brush. They will look all kinds of pretty. Slap some oil or wax on so they stay looking nice. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Got any with 1.5" shanks? Want any real wrought iron? Something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hey Thomas, Thanks for the offer, but for right now I'm just going to try soaking them and scrubbing them clean as described. If I decide to trade any 1.5" ones you'll be the first to know (though I'm in Canada so I feel like shipping would be an arm and a leg). Thanks again guys. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Shipping is not a problem you just hand them to someone going to Quad-State and I pick them up there. (One year at Q-S I accepted delivery of a large wooden box of industrial lights that I handed off in NM to another smith who dropped them off in AZ for a 4 smith total delivery system...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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