Got my hands on some hexagonal drill rod (1" diameter), but they have a small hole in the middle. Are they still useful for forging? What would you make with them?

Does the hole run the full length or is it threaded for attachment bits? The piece next to the one with a bit looks solid to me. Usually they make good hardy and struck tools like drifts, chisels, punches, small hammer heads etc.

Usually it goes the whole distance so you can pump fluid down it when you are drilling rock.

What I did was forge a pipe tomahawk.  You can weld in a bit to take care of the hole on the cutting end. 

The hole runs the whole length. I have two shorter pieces which were broken and the hole is there.

I don't know how easy they would be to forge weld. From what I could find out they're (probably) made of 95CrMo.

Be careful when forging it, that hole can act like a steam cannon if you quench the rod. Caution where the cold end is pointing.

Of course you would NEVER quench higher carbon steel in water anyway.  (Unless for certain alloys you were trying to harden it and so it would not just be a plain tube by then!)

It's also a really good idea to rod the hole out to make sure it isn't blocked maybe trapping moisture. If it is blocked and you toss it in the forge it IS possible to have a steam explosion with pieces of drill rod shrapnel. Unlikely but possible, more likely the crud plugging the rod is fired out the end like a steam powered bullet.

Neither is a pleasant experience, if you're lucky you'll only need a change of pants.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have a pile of those myself. I was thinking of reaming and rifling one for a blackpowder barrel.

They take a pounding, so any tool that needs toughness would be a good choice to make from them.

 

There is even documented a worse failure mode: a chunk of drill rod was used as a tamper for blast holes and managed to pack the hole with explosives that when it was forged took exception. 

(Then there was the saga of Phineas P. Gage... though the tamping rod was not described as a section of drill rod.)

No, but it gave him a splitting headache.

Drill rod is great material for monkey tools. They are already drilled for, I think,,,  1/4" or 3/8". For larger sizes, just drill larger. I cut them about 4" or so, drill a 1/4" hole near the top, and slightly dome the working end. I usually cut them hot which closes the hole at the top and dome it as well.

Any time you heat any type of pipe be very aware that the hole in the middle will work like a blow torch, so plug it with a bit of cloth or whatever.

I've also heard the story Thomas said about powder being inside, so I always give it the mark 1 eyeball safety check. Not sure if that is a real worry or not since the hole is used for cooling the cutter.

I don't heat treat.

It's not the original use that causes issues; it's what may have been done with it later.  I've never run into a problem one so far; but I *check* anyway.

The "chimney" warning is very true too.  Back in Ohio we would just use a "ground plug" (dirt from tapping it into the soil  next to the forge.)  Out here it's too sandy  and so we use a wet rag or mushed wet newspaper.

21 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Usually it goes the whole distance so you can pump fluid down it when you are drilling rock.

What I did was forge a pipe tomahawk.  You can weld in a bit to take care of the hole on the cutting end. 

 

I just picked up a few of these as well. Only one of them has a hole that runs the whole distance, I believe. I am happy to hear that they make good hardy tools as that is the reason I picked them up. 

Thomas, I would really like to see how that tomahawk turned out, if you happen to have a picture. I would imagine it is intended for smoking/decorative purposes only as I assume it is pretty heavy.... unless I am picturing it incorrectly?

Red

I should say, I am picturing the rod being used as the handle.

Drill rod would be WAY heavy for a handle.  It's excellent medium carbon steel and very good for tools needing tough and or springy. Say custom pry bars or hatchets.

Depending on the material being drilled through a LOT of that rod has high pressure / volume air blown down it to clear and carry cuttings out of the hole and help keep the bit cool. Air tracks have LOTS of air leaving the exhaust ports on the drill motor/  hammer and in some (most?) models is then cycled down the hole. 

And it's not uncommon to use them to set explosives in the hole, especially if the shot runs deep. On an air track the driller starts the air before starting to drill, having good return is critical when drilling.

Frosty The Lucky.

I forged a piece of drill rod (with thru hole like in your picture) into a newbie's timber framing chisel. The handle is drill rod too. I just forged the blade flat closing the hole in that section. It works great so far.