FieryFurnace Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The hot cut hardy is a basic and essential tool and is not difficult to make. All you need is a forge, anvil, and hammer, and you can make a hot cut hardy. Car axle is a good material and is easily obtained. After forging is done, the material can be heated to a cherry red, quenched in oil, and then placed in an oven at 400-500 degrees Fahrenhieght for about four hours. That is not a super technical way of tempering your tool, but it should produce a hot cut tool that is pretty hard but won't break. Here are some pictures! Here is a short instructional video on how to use the hot cut hardy safely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Nicely done. Good to see a youtube video from other than a newbie. That will teach them a lot. Only thing I would add is as soon as you're done cutting, get that hardie off of the anvil before any other hammer blows are done. Leaving the hardie on the anvil while hammering on the face is a good way to cut some fingers. Well, unless you're right handed and the hardie hole is to the left instead of the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Question: Someone gave me a couple of trailer hitch balls. The shafts will take some fitting to get them into my hardy hole properly, but I was thinking of turning one of them into a hot cut hardy. Understanding that I have no idea what type of steel they are made of, is it at least likely that they will make a decent tool? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Question: Someone gave me a couple of trailer hitch balls. The shafts will take some fitting to get them into my hardy hole properly, but I was thinking of turning one of them into a hot cut hardy. Understanding that I have no idea what type of steel they are made of, is it at least likely that they will make a decent tool? Should work good. The threaded shaft on a hitch should be 1 inch, so it won't take a lot of working to get it to fit, and you risk it turning, but that is minor you can upset the shaft fatter then square it up if you want, or make the shank oval so it won't rotate. Won't take much. The material I would expect to be better than mild but nothing special. If it doesn't want to harden in oil, try water, and if it doesn't harden at all you will be stuck re-dressing it frequently which is OK because it will be easy to dress, and prevent damage to your hammer face. Mild steel will cut steel at forging temperature rather well. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks for the video Dave. Very well done. Mark <>< As a side note to Dave: Say Gullible slowly. I did. (inside joke) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The material I would expect to be better than mild but nothing special.. Phil I would hope it is a lot better than mild steel, Here in the UK it definitely is, with a few ton of trailer and load swinging around it needs to be PDG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Hi Dave, Nice vid, You doing a follow up on how to use the same hardie to cut off a square end as opposed to the coned end you show, and also how you can use the hardie cut off to your advantage to give a feature on the workpiece and save you some additional work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Should work good. The threaded shaft on a hitch should be 1 inch, so it won't take a lot of working to get it to fit, and you risk it turning, but that is minor you can upset the shaft fatter then square it up if you want, or make the shank oval so it won't rotate. Won't take much. The material I would expect to be better than mild but nothing special. If it doesn't want to harden in oil, try water, and if it doesn't harden at all you will be stuck re-dressing it frequently which is OK because it will be easy to dress, and prevent damage to your hammer face. Mild steel will cut steel at forging temperature rather well. Phil It's got about a 3/4" shaft, and I have a 7/8" hardy hole, so I figured some upsetting and squaring up would be necessary. I hadn't thought of just beating out of round into an oval shape. That would be quicker and easier, I expect. It's already got a pretty solid shoulder on it, so once the fitting to the hole was done, I was going to shape and harden the hot cut itself. My biggest concern was if it would harden up enough, but with the suggested course of action from Phil, I think it will be ok. Worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work, and I have turn it into something else. Thank you very much for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 I've got no clue on whether or not a ball hitch would be suitable material. Like John B. said, I hope it would be. My biggest concern would be that I believe they are coated in some sort of protective coating......maybe zinc or galvinized. You don't want to be heating that stuff up. Experiment with it and be sure to post your results! Thanks for the complements. Like Randy mentioned, be sure to remove your hardy after using. Although, I've never heard of anyone hitting it and cutting off a finger, there isn't much reason in someone being the first. BE CAREFUL! Square end with the same hardy.....I was under the impression I would have to have a justified blade to cut off a square end. I'll have to try to see if I can cut a square end with this one. Now, I've got NO clue as to how I would ue it as a decorative tip. Perhaps, by dropping my left hand down and cutting at an angle all the way around to create a more pronounced diamond on the end? Mark: LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Lift the near end to match the near side angle of your cutoff and the bar you are holding will have a square end. Lower the near end to match the angle on the far side and the parted piece is flat and the parent stock is very pointed. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 FF, thanks for the reminder on zinc/galvi coatings. I checked both of them again. One looks to be bare (slightly rusted) steel, the other has most of a chrome coating on it. That will come off with a wire wheel before anything real fun and exciting starts. The bare one looks like it has either a crack or a cap of some kind at the top of the ball. Once I get it freed from the piece of angle iron it's rust-bolted on to, I'll take a closer look at the cap/crack and see what is what. I'll be sure to post the results of my efforts. Be next weekend before I get a chance to fire up the forge again, which I'm in the process of rebuilding. I'll post a 'before' and current progress pic of it on the solid fuel forge page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old N Rusty Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Breaker bits (jackhammer ) are really easy to find, at tool rental places, if they are too short they discard them. They have a nice collar already there and can be easily forged from the five sided shape to a hardy hole shape. Forge it square and parallel, then hot filing it to the final fit. Keep it square and not tapered then the hardy does not wiggle, for the cutting end.. let it be rounded, it cuts well that shape, and there is less chance of nicking the hammer than if it were flat across. Lot less work than altering a trailer ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 OnR has a point. Forging out a 2 inch ball by hand is going to be entertaining without a striker. I am sure you can do it, but it is going to be a lot of work. Hand forging stock over 5/8 or 3/4 is rather challenging without a striker. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 OnR has a point. Forging out a 2 inch ball by hand is going to be entertaining without a striker. I am sure you can do it, but it is going to be a lot of work. Hand forging stock over 5/8 or 3/4 is rather challenging without a striker. Phil You got that right! LOL There are certainly advantages to useing a stock size closer to what the end product needs to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I went slightly different than OnR, I found a broken off chisel end from a jackhammer bit and forged the shaft to fit the hardy hole and the widened chisel forms the stop and the chisel forms the cutting edge. Did that about 20 years ago and can't tell if it's worn much at all even with students requiring it to be dressed after every class. I use it normalized as it's a lot easier to dress the hot cut than to dress hammer faces! 3 smiths == 5+ ways to do something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maillemaker Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 If you put four smiths in a room and ask them a question, there will be eight opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 ROFL! Thanks for the additional info. I didn't even think of how hard it would be physically to beat a hitch ball into the shape I want. I have a hard enough time with rr spikes. Definitely food for thought - I will try the local tool rental places for jackhammer bits that mostly dead. I'll save the trailer balls for something else - maybe a round and an oval hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 ROFL! Thanks for the additional info. I didn't even think of how hard it would be physically to beat a hitch ball into the shape I want. I have a hard enough time with rr spikes. Definitely food for thought - I will try the local tool rental places for jackhammer bits that mostly dead. I'll save the trailer balls for something else - maybe a round and an oval hardy. I've heard they make excellent back pieces for cannon barrels.......... :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 :o :blink: :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Well they certainly don't fly well as cannon balls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Well they certainly don't fly well as cannon balls I've heard that soup cans full of concrete do! :D There was a guy I found online a while back that made a full scale Mountain Howitzer (Maybe like a 12 pounder.) He used a seamless pipe material but VERY thick. He ground/sanded a large hitch ball and had it welded into the back of the pipe. (Not sure exactly what that part is called.) He did it all professionally and had the welds X-rayed and all. It turned out quite nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Breech plug---at least that's what the gunsmith called it when he put one in my 2" bore falconette. The ACW mountain howitzer was a 2" bore gun as well, mule couldn't handle the tube for a 12 pounder! Used a pound of powder per shot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 You gotta a 2" falconette????????? Sounds fun! I got to work the big guns at a reenacment once. I was not informed of an infantry battle and was left as a spectator. I noticed a gun that was short handed and called out to the captain "hey you need a powder monkey????" He replied "you ever worked a gun before?" I said "nope!" He said "C'mon." LOL They drilled me as thumbstall, but I decided to go back to the infantry! Depending on the bang we wanted, we used 3/4 - 1 pound charges! I don't think it is a breech plug. In the older artillery it was part of the barrel, not a plug. Could be wrong though! OK I'm not an expert in artillery. Could've been a 2-inch! I suppose if you are on the business end of it it really doesn't matter if it's a 2-inch or a 3-inch. :D I was reading some history on the 8th GA. Infantry Regiment from the ACW. They were under artillery fire and were laying down behind a low rise to get what shelter they could. One of the guys got up on all fours to reposition, and a ball passed between his arms and legs without touching him! :wacko: I think I'd have to find a new spot after that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand Tatro Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Some hitch balls have a caqrriage bolt running thru them to mount the ball to the hitch. That could be the crack you are looking at. Armand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 That makes sense - it looks like a cap I could pry off if I tried hard enough. As to artillery of the period discussed, wasn't most of it cast similar to a bell and the barrel drilled out to its final dimensions? If I have the correct type of gun in mind, there wouldn't be a plug, just the smooth cast exterior at the breech/touchhole end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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