Hello all, iv been having a problem drifting a spike to fit a handle.  I start off with a drift made out out 5/8 sucker rod, but when it starts to open up to around the 5/8 mark the metal on the outside of the eye always splits or cracks.  I tried it 3 times last night with the same result.  Anybody have any suggestions?

Did you use a splitter first?

No just a round punch I made. So use a wedge shaped slitter first?

Yeah try a slitter first. Then take your drift and enlarge the hole. If your metal is splitting you're working it to cold. I did some spikes and had cracks. the hotter the better with spikes.

Take Care

TJ Smith

In the tools section a while back Brian Brazeal did a thread on slitters and drift and the geometry involved,,see if youi can find it,,good stuff!

Thanks guys, I guess ill make one and give it a try.How wide should the slitter be do you think?

Found the post, it pretty much answered the question, thanks again

:)