Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => At the Forge => Topic started by: paulc on October 15, 2019, 11:10:10 am

Title: Old drill bits?
Post by: paulc on October 15, 2019, 11:10:10 am

Food for forging something? Never see them mentioned so probably not?

Paul

Title: Re: Old drill bits?
Post by: dylanholderman on October 15, 2019, 11:30:50 am

So long as they’re not carbide they should be fine to forge, but not really worth the trouble.
Getting the flutes untwisted and flattened out is a lot more work than it looks like and is a lot of trouble for unknown steel, not to mention some bits are high-speed steel which can cause trouble in forging and heat treating.

Title: Re: Old drill bits?
Post by: Mesophilic on October 16, 2019, 08:53:01 am

I just use them to teach my kid and her friends about forging basics.  We use 1/4" and up, and draw out only the shank portion of the drill bit in to a little knife.  Usually a blade not much bigger than a scalpal. 

If I get some time today I'll post a pic of our current batch we just heat treated and cleaned up a little.  I may have a finished "knife" or two laying around as well.

Title: Re: Old drill bits?
Post by: paulc on October 16, 2019, 07:53:49 pm

Love to see what you've done...I had this idea I could somehow make some Damascus type steel :-) my first smithing project...🤣🤣🤣

Title: Re: Old drill bits?
Post by: Mesophilic on October 17, 2019, 12:08:50 am

Almost forgot.  Pic quality isn't great from the phone but you get the idea.   I just drill into a block of wood, glue the "tang" in, and let the kids shape the handle.

(https://66.media.tumblr.com/677674d07372f9e3e95daa05fcf91096/a34136fe242db477-c5/s1280x1920/8f0cee402e10b3e8f031b22726ed6d978cf07f50.jpg)

(https://66.media.tumblr.com/f1ed28b6e059a9bc0522f1b8cbae2581/db516e44bdf29c83-00/s1280x1920/27de50b9e655f9a2a40d92a25674357843a4c96c.jpg)

Title: Re: Old drill bits?
Post by: Hawkdancer on October 17, 2019, 08:46:10 am

Ready made tangs! (f). I bet the kids get a bang out of shaping their own knife, and learning how to keep the metal cool!
Hawkdancer