Borntoolate Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I have hammered a good bit of rebar just for practice and to make square rod to use for other stuff later on once I figured out what I wanted to make. I used it to learn on. Since it's free there is nothing to lose by hammerin away. And when you make something cool from it that others are amazed about you can say it was made from an old hunk of rusty rebar from "insert local whatever location". This gives the piece a bit of character and possibly local significance. It's a better story than I bought the square bar from Home Depot... I made this pot rack from rebar AND metal from some steel grating that I dissassembled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJames Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I am another newbie who has looked at getting some rebar cheap. That and RR spikes for pretty much free iron... Like others I am looking at pros and cons of each. I have noticed some of it is harder to work with than videos I have seen online. (UNLESS of course, I am not getting anywhere near the temps others are.) I had thought that rebar would very cheap mild steel. Apparently, from comments here, that is not the case. Like other beginners, I would like some mentoring... to tell me what to look for and what to look OUT for. How to tell what kind of steel I picked up. I am walking into alot of this blind. I did NOT have the advantage of seeing this stuff done firsthand. So I am trying to go by descriptions and explanations. I need to know the theory or at least a little back-knowledge of what is going on... I am NOT a complete dumb-ass. I run a heart-lung machine for a living... but this is outside my experience. So I could use a little help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evfreek Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Rebar can be confusing to beginners. If you find a free piece, you could compare it to a piece of mild steel that you paid for. If you go to a blacksmith conference workshop, you will find that they do not pass out rebar to the students, unless it has been qualified by a master smith. Most of the rebar is inferior to mild steel for making j-hooks, leaves, and the like. Time is precious, especially the most rare and coveted species of time that a person uses to get an education. Why squander this time? If you really want to use rebar, know what you are getting into, and try to have made at least one leaf on a real anvil with real mild steel. Also, it helps to know how to do a spark test, since some grades are medium carbon, and it is good to know this. When I started out, I had a little railroad track anvil at the wrong height, some pretty hard rebar, and no instructor. It was discouraging beating myself to death, and it's a good thing I didn't quit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pault17 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 rebar is similar to bed rails, and even railroad rails; scrap steel with more-than-mild carbon content. No pun intended, it is hit and miss as far as hardenability. I have some punches made from a section of #5 bar that hardened up nicely enough that I cut the bar into shorter lengths for use later. Oh, when talking rebar, the number denotes the eigth's of an inch - #3 = 3/8", 35 = 5/8", and so on. I use #4 and #5 for campfire tripods. I like the tent stake idea. I also do termite inspections, and made several 2-foot probing rods from a bunch of #3 I had, and gave them to other inspectors for Christmas gifts. P-James, the only dumb-ass is the one who says he/she already know's it all and can't learn from others. Ask away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 PJames, you have found the right place for sure: There is a wealth of information on this site. search the bps a dn the heat treat stickies for information about steels you may run across. That information along with reading just about every question asked in the forums everyday and each and every anser will fill in some blanks for you. However that will give you information kind of like if you only read the manual on the heart lung machine. Would not mean a lot until youi actually entered a room with one and perhaps even someone knowledgeable about it and willing to share that information. This forum will provide you with an on-going written source you can read print or both. Yoiu can speed up the learning curve a wholel ot if you find other smiths and visit them.Search the list of smithing groups for a group near you. Also look into farrier groups, Some of them have regular forging sessions and you do not have to shoe a horse to attend. Start setting aside some money right away for clinics etc that you can find that will offer hands on smithing under some one on one or group direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judson Yaggy Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 That end grain floor (table? butcher's block?) is as cool as the rebar twist Bill. Both are nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 makes great decorative twisted elements,IMO. A friend of mine did a bunch of railing out of twisted rebar. Mark doesn't do anything the easy way though it was 2" rebar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I was on an install once and needed a cold chisel. Running off to the hardware store to get one was a time robbing option......Hmmm, plenty of reeb kicking around at the site so with my torch and my RR track field anvil I forged, hardened and tempered one in the field. I still use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJames Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Rich, I had seen the blueprint section, but though it plans for making various things. I had no idea that it was a tutorial... Thanks for pointing that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 rebar for free???? take all you can get, it's still steel so you'll find uses for it as you gain experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM454 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Free is free and there's tons of things you can do with it. I used it for legs on my gas forge. Just for one. I'd rather have free rebar to beat on than use high quality steel that may go to waste while you are learning. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Rebar comes in different grades, cheap big box store stuff is NOT what they use on interstate bridges, skyscrapers or nuclear power plants. So what you scrounge from the scrap stream can be great or it can be iffy---much like everything else in the scrap stream! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 the good thing about rebar is it is identified every few feet on the bar as to what it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 One thing to keep in mind with rebar is that the ridges if folded over onto the metal can create the beginning of a crack/inclusion. If strength is an issue then caution in hammering the ridges carefully back into the bar before hammering on that portion of the bar might be advised. Otherwise like others have said, free is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 "the good thing about rebar is it is identified every few feet on the bar as to what it is" The bad thing is that this is not necessarily true. None of my 70+ year old re-bar is marked. Stuff in the scrap stream can be brand new or antique. My 70 year old square rebar is fairly good for tool making. Found it in the spoil piles alongside the river in Columbus OH. Don't know as I would trust the markings on stuff from over the border out here in NM too---remember the incident of getting radioactive cobalt melted into a batch of rebar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BM454 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I've only seen square rebar once. It was in the very bottom of Watts Bar Dam on the Tennessee River a few years back. We went in once they closed the gates to the unit we were working on and jack hammered part of the bottom where it discharged back into the river. I'm guessing it was put there in the late 30's. I know the turbins were set in 1942. They were on top of everything and what we were working on was in the very bottom of the dam. Kinda cool seeing how it was built though. Once you got the concrete off the rebar it looked new. Not a rust spot on it anywhere. We would even find the tie wire used to hold it together. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r smith Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Yea I should have stated that NEW rebar is labeled, Guess I need a geiger counter too? :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The scrap stream can be scarey! The radioactive rebar was only found when a truck went in the out gate at a facility that does have Geiger counters on all their out gates. Turns out that some was cast into fast food chairs too. Makes me wonder about some of the anvils cast from old ones we see here often being sold as "antiques" (a cast PW "style" with a mold line right down the face and horn---antique, *right*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McCoy Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 IMHO rebar is wonderful for practice and for many things considered "non-critical" such as handles, fire rakes, fire pot pokers, short legs on certain stands, vines for foral elements, and so on . . . everything metal does not have to be tool steel or sufficient for a life time knife or a cold chisel. While everyone has an opinion about the acceptability of it as a suitable metal for a real smith I think you will find it a very usable addition to your steel pile. Watch the forums and notice how often rebar appears as the entire piece or as some part of another element - too often for it to be considered a throw away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I get grade 60 rebar locally and use it for punches, small hot chisels and different tools like that. It works very well and I don't need to heat treat it. I just use it as forged. Its cheep, read free there and the local steel company is very gracious to let me dig in their scrap bin when ever I like. Its all they carry so I know I'm getting the same thing every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsies11 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 i have got some free rebar laying around my place, man! i never realised what a trasure trove i have. ill forge on it tomarrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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