Manno Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I scored these a few weeks ago and I was told they are probably exclusively masons tools. I am going to quickly be in need of some drifts, punches and chisels for my shop and wondering if I could expect these chisels to be of hard enough steel to be reforged for those purposes? Aside from dressing, could I expect the grind them to the appropriate shapes and just use them as is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 As long s they are not carbide tipped they are great stock to reforge into cuts, punches and drifts. Be sure to remove the mushrooming first. (And if you are not familiar with working higher carbon steels you may want to review those requirements for temperatures to work at and how to heat treat them.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manno Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Thanks Thomas, I cannot say for sure if they are carbide tipped, but I don't think so based off a visual inspection. They also all appear to be from the 40s and 50s based off the company logos stamped in to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 You could tell by looking at them and that old I'd be very surprised indeed if they were. I always pick up old chisels at the scrapyard and throw them in a box for students to use when they want to forge tools for smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Glad to hear that, Thomas. I've a few old chisels that I'd like to re-purpose for smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Look at the working end of those tools again. Can any of them be used to decorate the metal in your projects? A star drill makes a nice 4 point star for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manno Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Well Glenn, Seeing as I don't have any projects yet (Some drifts and punches are probably second on my list of projects) then probably not. However, I certainly will consider it. BTW, what's a star drill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 A star drill is a specialized chisel used to drill holes in concrete or stone by hand using a hammer. if you look at the end it looks like + To use you put it on the masonry to be drilled and hit it with a hammer, rotate a bit and hit it again gradually chipping a hole out. When I put walls on the old carport here for my wife's studio I used a star drill to drill holes for the anchor bolts. 2000 hits per hole is what I counted. I have a small one I used for putting "dead eyes" on snakes I forge as having been run over by a car---forge a tire track tool to apply to a section of the snake's back and the x x eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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