After looking at what commercially made hardies are available out there from various companies I’ve decided to try and make all my own, out of sucker rod ends or other salvaged objects welded to sucker rod, this afternoon I just made my first hardie tool and started on my second. My first tool was making a hot cut out of a connector end off of a 3/4” sucker rod. My second tool i started was a bending fork but I have just got it forged down to fit the hardie hole I haven’t finished it yet I’ve still gotta weld some rod to it but I haven’t figured out how long to make the rods yet. 

Good application of the sucker rods.

Sucker rods make very good smithing tools, such as punches and particularly tongs.  Can be hard to forge by hand (drawing out reins).

I haven’t tried forging the rod itself yet except to make legs for the forge.
    But the ends of these 3/4” sucker rods are 1” thick and I learned really quick that’s a lot thicker metal to heat and then move by hand than I thought. But I’m happy how the first tool turned out. 
 
after I finish the bending fork, my line up is to build a ball hardie, a big mandrel using a wooden fence post hole starter , a bridge hardie, a bickern, a crown stake, a drawing stake, and a few fullers. These aren’t In any particular order just things I think I can make myself with stuff I have laying around but all of it will have sucker rod used in some capacity. 

 

That is a good looking hot cut.

I make all of my hardy tools from the ends of sucker rods like yours. The only picture I have is this one also done by hand.

 

 

Thank you Irondragon! 
I figured since I practically have unlimited access to sucker rod ends from pipe fence builders that just scrap them out why not?
   
Don’t get me wrong I like the commercial made tools they look really nice, but a 5 gallon bucket of sucker rod ends is a lot cheaper lol 

I go the other direction, using the treaded end as the tool end adds interesting texture and buy forging down to meet the square I get a cleaner and longer stem.. 

I will try and remember to get a picture when I get to the shop

That’s an interesting idea Charles!
  I’ve got plenty to experiment with so I can try making some from both directions.
Do you have any pictures of yours? 

Here is a 7/8” sucker rod end and a 7/8” rod wrench jaw morphed into a turning and bending tool. As Charles stated,  the threaded end was split and trimmed then the rod wrench jaw was welded in. 

The rodwrench jaws are often found along with sucker rods, but most folks aren’t familiar with what they are. Also hardenable steel with a myriad of functions. 

Thank you BsnNFrnt, for the picture and the information! I’ve never seen the rod wrench’s, but then again I’m just getting hand me downs from fence builders. I’ll ask about getting one next time one of those guys comes by the shop. 
  Over the next few weeks I plan to try and make different types of Hardy’s, so while I’m experimenting I may try to replicate yours. 

The length of the projections for bending depends on how large of stock you are bending and how much you keep it on the flat when using it.  Too long is much more usable than too short though!

If your anvils have different size hardys; you may want to colour code them, a spot of rattle can paint on the anvil and on the tools can help keep students from trying to force the 1" hardy tools into the  7/8" hardy!  (Won't stop them; but it does help!)

Thanks Thomas I hadn’t thought of that, that’s a good idea, yes my anvils have different sized hardy holes so right now I’m focusing on building Hardy’s for the 124#  then I’ll make some for the 225# and 94#, that paint idea will help a lot.

I also have a fourth anvil a 105# William foster but I won’t be making any for it because it doesn’t have very good rebound so I just use it a decoration. 

So; what;s the date on the WF?  It might make a great "hardy tooling holder"  It can be very nice to have multiple tools ready to be used when doing a bunch of similar items requiring different tools in different steps.  Most of my anvils are fairly close to the door of my shop to make loading them easier and so I can have a number of tools all to hand when forging.

I also have 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes that have been "interesting" to tool up.   My best method has been to find top tools with trashed hammering ends and then forge those ends down to become bottom tools.  Having a large screwpress makes finishing off the flat parallel sides to fit the hardy holes a lot easier.  Buying "trashed" top tools can be really cheap too!

1844 

I have an 1828 but it's severely damaged: heelless, mostly faceless. I picked it up because I was hankering to try to reface it in a traditional manner,  Paid US$15 for it IIRC.

I bought this one for a dollar a pound last year before I learned to keep a ball bearing handy, it’s got a fairly clean face and looks like it’s in pretty good condition over all but it’s dead 

I’d say it’s only got about 50-60 percent rebound compared to the 90 percent on my others. And it has no ring 

May have been through a fire sometime in the last 177 years!  But no ring is indicative of face delamination.  WF bodies were made from low grade wrought iron according to Richard Postman. He advised me to weld the new face onto a slab of WI and then do a WI to WI weld to attach it to the body.  Now to get a team together to try it...(Probably be a really juicy weld!)

Well I guess I’m half blind, or I forgot when I cleaned it up last year…

 I just did a closer inspection after you said that about being delaminated and sure enough there’s some cracks I hadn’t noticed before or don’t remember…. Shows how observant I am lol. 

Hey you've found enough using anvils that a dud or two's OK.  I got to where I would collect seriously abused anvils for display---if I could get them cheap enough...

I make sure to keep a big ball bearing on me now when I go “hunting” around the countryside now. So I don’t make that mistake anymore but I see your point if they are cheap enough even a dud makes nice looking door stop lol.

 

Some more sucker rod hardies i worked on today, 

 a bending fork,

the ball hardy is a 4-5 pound auger ball from a feed hopper, 

 a mandrel, 7” over all with a 5” spike

and I started on a leafing stake but I’m only half way through with it,

"Sucker rod Hardy hole tooling".  A hardy is a chisel that fits in the hardy hole.   If we don't keep our jargon straight how will we ever confuse the new smiths!

 

The other correct term is, "bottom tool." 

Keeping ourselves straight while confusing the youngsters is important. 

Frosty The Lucky.

  Where did you get those "feed hopper" balls at?  I would like to get my hands on some of those.  More so if I could find them cheap or free...

Lol, Thomas an Frosty, I was gonna call them

(sucker rod hardy hole bottom tooling)

but (sucker rod Hardy’s) had a nice ring to it lol, 

Nodebt, there are 100s of industrial poultry farms in my area an these auger balls are used to bust up clumps of feed in the hoppers, so they are pretty common around here, 

It’s  kinda funny, some times you see them in antique stores being sold as “cannon balls” for some ridiculous price,

I’ll see if I can scrounge you up few 

Just did a little searching and only found a couple hits. One that pops up is a 3" ball for about $7.usd. don't know what shipping would be.  look up "cannonball agitator"