Hammer Eye Drift material?

[MotoMike]

 Will be stopping by  Steel Mart next week.  I want to make a hammer eye drift. probably for hammers in the 2 to 3.5 pound range.  

  I don't have a heat treat oven so would want something not too tricky to heat treat.    What steel and what size would be ideal to make one out of?  They let me look around the drops so I might find something already cut.  

Also wanting to make a hammer eye  punch from a ball peen.  I've a couple abused specimens I think about 16 oz and about 28 oz.  Or should I go shopping?

 

thanks in advance. 

 

[ThomasPowers]

I like S7 or H13 for punches.  I get mine at blacksmithing conferences at a heavy discount to buying new!  For drifts I generally modify bullpins used to align structural steel---I pick them up whenever I find them cheap at the scrapyard of fleamarket and modify then as needed.

Size: take an example of the handles you will be using and buy something that will forge *down* to that size. Length depends on if it will be hand held or handled. (To me these questions always sound like "Tell me what size handles *I* like when *I* use them with *My* hammers and *My* methods of work." What I generally suggest is to find a source of handles you like or can be easily modified to what you like and work backwards from there.)

Starting out I would just take a section of scrapped car or truck axle to make drifts from until I identify what sizes and shapes work best for me and my work methods. 

[Latticino]

I've used 4140 for both hammer drifts and slot punches, but H-13 is clearly a better choice.  It is a bear to forge though, and not that much easier to grind if it has air hardened up during your forging and you don't have the facilities or time to anneal it back.

[MotoMike]

thanks Thomas.  what are axles typically made of?

Thanks Latticino, sounds like maybe I should finish building my grinder first. 

.  

 

[ThomasPowers]

From a previous post on iforgeiron:

Ptree used to work for an axle manufacturer: Axles below 1 3/8" OD forging stock are 1050, and 1541H above

Note that jackhammer bits are generally around 1050 too...

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I make most of mine from sucker rod. I have about 400 pounds of it marked SM ( 4130) steel.

[Cavpilot2k]

Piggybacking on the OP's question, I have a bunch of old jack hammer (actually pavement breaker) bits I am planning to turn into hammer and axe drifts (historical style axes and war hammers, not modern-style) . 

They should make decent drifts, right? 

I also plan on making a few war hammer heads out of some of them too. 

[JHCC]

My hammer-eye drift and punch are both made from torsion bar, which is (probably? maybe?) 5160. Both work great, and were free from my mechanic.