1/2" taper rebar drift punch

[Frank S]

Found another short piece of rebar today this time a 1/2" and 14" long figured it would go well with the previous one which is 3/8" and 9 inches long
This one I managed to turn the taper on the lathe then heat to cherry and quench it became hard enough to resist a file so I heated to light straw and air cooled it is pretty tough but not brittle Should complement my collection of punches.
I also have some 3/4" rebar and a piece of 1 1/2" rebar but think I might make other plans of them.

[metric_taper]

I would have never thought of using rebar as tool steel. I know it's "mystery" metal, at least when purchased from the local home supply. I will look at it as high carbon steel in the future.

I made some sand blast nozzles the other night from 1/2" oil hardening drill rod, them I did not temper.

[Philip Davies]

I would have never thought of using rebar as tool steel. I know it's "mystery" metal, at least when purchased from the local home supply. I will look at it as high carbon steel in the future.

I made some sand blast nozzles the other night from 1/2" oil hardening drill rod, them I did not temper.

Will you be showing us the nozzles? I have made holdfasts from rebar, but they lose their spring rapidly, and have to be bent again. (I’ve made better since.) I take it, Frank, that you do not intend your punches as drifts, to drive right through material?

[DIYSwede]

Rebar is absolutely underrated, check for yourselves what some ingenuity and cheapness can achieve!:



For the nosy ones: Rebar barrel

Note the wire and bubble-gum-colored pink (!) epoxy for the scope rings and front sight mount - keeping it cheap-to-the-bone.

[Frank S]

I would have never thought of using rebar as tool steel. I know it's "mystery" metal, at least when purchased from the local home supply. I will look at it as high carbon steel in the future.

I made some sand blast nozzles the other night from 1/2" oil hardening drill rod, them I did not temper.

I wouldn't put it in any class as tool steel. The properties of rebar are too loosely controlled. While some of it will have a higher carbon content it is not consistent. Rebar can be a lot like the old bed frames made a long time ago some can be drilled while there can be hard spots and soft spots. I've seen some bed frames that you could drill with bargain basement bits then just a few inches away not even a cobalt bit will go through.
You can get lucky and heat treat rebar so that it will resist a file on the surface but just under a thin case hardened layer it will still be butter soft. I try to think of it as the poorest excuse for Damascus without the pattern and no expectations of hardenability. If I can get a slight case hardening then I will stress relieve it and hope for the best.
With drift punches I often just need something to nudge 2 parts into alignment to be able to bolt something together.

[metric_taper]

Will you be showing us the nozzles? I have made holdfasts from rebar, but they lose their spring rapidly, and have to be bent again. (I’ve made better since.) I take it, Frank, that you do not intend your punches as drifts, to drive right through material?

Once again, I've hijacked Franks post.


Pretty boring nozzles, just straight sections of 1/2" material, bored out 17/64" nozzle hole, with the 120 degree conical lead in from a larger drill. I heated them to cherry red heat with the O-A torch, and dropped them in a jar of peanut oil that was sitting out in my shop for some unknown reason. I used a piece of welding filler rod, I bent a small dog leg hook on. I let gravity hold the nozzle on the hook, then when up to heat flicked them over the open jar of oil. The hot drops caused the jar to crack, but all of these cooled off. I think I should have used water.
The gun came with the sand blast cabinet.
Top side of gun showing set screws for holding the nozzle, and the air jet that is 1/8" diameter.
This is a real crappy sketch I made of the gun back in 2001 (on a calendar sheet).

I just tested them on my Rockwell hardness tester, C scale they are 64-66 hardness. One was 52, that is now a reject.

[metric_taper]

I wouldn't put it in any class as tool steel. The properties of rebar are too loosely controlled. While some of it will have a higher carbon content it is not consistent. Rebar can be a lot like the old bed frames made a long time ago some can be drilled while there can be hard spots and soft spots. I've seen some bed frames that you could drill with bargain basement bits then just a few inches away not even a cobalt bit will go through.
You can get lucky and heat treat rebar so that it will resist a file on the surface but just under a thin case hardened layer it will still be butter soft. I try to think of it as the poorest excuse for Damascus without the pattern and no expectations of hardenability. If I can get a slight case hardening then I will stress relieve it and hope for the best.
With drift punches I often just need something to nudge 2 parts into alignment to be able to bolt something together.

Back when I was building my garage (1988), I threaded the ends of 56 of 1/2" rebar I used for the hold downs that the code requires on slab built buildings. I laid up 3 courses of concrete block, on top the slab, so my building was up out of the splash zone. So every 4 feet I had one of these rebar stubs. I made an extension for the concrete drill bit, so I could hammer drill in the 3/4" Red Dot threaded concrete anchors for the rebar bolt downs down in the cored block holes. Lots of work, but it made the inspectors happy.
I chucked the pieces in my undersize 10x24 lathe, removed the raised surface, then used a 1/2x13 die to cut the threads on each end of the 2.5 foot rebar bolt. I ran into what must have been a ball bearing, as there was no threading of that section, and it destroyed the die. That is when I learned about true HSS dies as well, as I thought those hex dies were for cutting new threads, which I learned are rethreading dies (lasted for 6 threads each). (I was pretty ignorant back then, probably still).

[Philip Davies]

Your sketch is perfectly clear. I wasn’t sure at first what you meant.

[Dr Stan]

I wouldn't put it in any class as tool steel. The properties of rebar are too loosely controlled. While some of it will have a higher carbon content it is not consistent. Rebar can be a lot like the old bed frames made a long time ago some can be drilled while there can be hard spots and soft spots. I've seen some bed frames that you could drill with bargain basement bits then just a few inches away not even a cobalt bit will go through.
You can get lucky and heat treat rebar so that it will resist a file on the surface but just under a thin case hardened layer it will still be butter soft. I try to think of it as the poorest excuse for Damascus without the pattern and no expectations of hardenability. If I can get a slight case hardening then I will stress relieve it and hope for the best.
With drift punches I often just need something to nudge 2 parts into alignment to be able to bolt something together.

Amen. One is not only risking one's own life and limb with this very dangerous use of steel of indeterminate quality, but also those in the vicinity of the rifle when it is in use. Ricking one's own life and limb is one thing, but putting others at risk especially when they are probably completely unaware of the danger is immoral and unethical.

[mrehmus2]

Amen. One is not only risking one's own life and limb with this very dangerous use of steel of indeterminate quality, but also those in the vicinity of the rifle when it is in use. Ricking one's own life and limb is one thing, but putting others at risk especially when they are probably completely unaware of the danger is immoral and unethical.

Agreed,
That is a post that should be pulled.