Material for a Pritchel....

[KYBOY]

I have a buddy who wants me to make him a pritchel..He took a coughing fit when he saw the prices of good pritchels Im afraid that the 5160 I have wont stand up to the repeated use of punching hot shoes..Would you recommend something like S7? Give me some ideas...Thanks

[HWooldridge]

H13 would be perfect but S7 is decent if you already have some. S1 is also good if you can get it - it has some tungsten content for hot hardness. However, H13 is generally available in most places.

[KYBOY]

yea, I guess H13 would be best for hot work, huh?

[John Martin]

I've been using H-13 for all of my hot work tooling. It's awesome. Takes abuse and doesn't care. Can also dish it out. Lol.

[brian robertson]

Since nails holes are pritcheled at a black heat H13 really isn't suitable; too expensive and not shock resistant. S7 is a hot working tool steel that is known for it's shock resistance. The quick wrap of the proper hammer blow SHEARS the slug. The pritchel should be in/out of the steel quick enough that heat should not be an issue. A properly shaped pritchel should function like a punch press. Lubrication is always helpful but not necessary.

[Mike Turner]

I am a fulltime farrier and S7 just sucks for pritchels I make all of mine including all my forepunches and creasers from H-13 it is the best steel for the job. If you use S7 he will have to rework his pritchels twice as much if not more. Just my 2 cents.

And Brian S7 is not a hot working steel it is a shock resistant steel indicated by the "S" designation and H-13 is a hot working steel designated with the "H".

Edited September 21, 2008 by Mike Turner

[John Martin]

Mike, I couldn't agree more. S7 is good for cold working, H-13 simply is the best for hot-working.

[Ferrous Beuler]

Following along on this thread, what is the average automotive tire iron made of? Would this serve as a readily available source of stock, easy to get and in most cases free to make prithcels from?
After all we are not building the Eifel tower here, just looking for some simply made pritchels...
Dan:)

[Mike Turner]

Hi Dan if I need to make punch that will only see a little bit of use then I will grab a coil spring from a car. Tire irons I have no clue what they are made of.