Author Topic: Old drill bits?  (Read 2827 times)

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Offline paulc

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Old drill bits?
« on: October 15, 2019, 11:10:10 am »
Food for forging something? Never see them mentioned so probably not?

Paul

Offline dylanholderman

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Re: Old drill bits?
« Reply #1 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.

Offline Mesophilic

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Re: Old drill bits?
« Reply #2 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.
Trying is the first step to failure
-Homer Simpson-

Offline paulc

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Re: Old drill bits?
« Reply #3 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...🤣🤣🤣

Offline Mesophilic

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Re: Old drill bits?
« Reply #4 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.



Trying is the first step to failure
-Homer Simpson-

Offline Hawkdancer

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Re: Old drill bits?
« Reply #5 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
Life is far too serious to be taken that way!
Jerry