The Craftmans Shop > New from Old

Cutter thingy

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Joules:
Attack the outer with an angle grinder then cut up with bandsaw if you have one.  Manageable chunks can go in the wood stove.   No, I wouldn't turn down material like that either.

sparky961:
I've got some irons in the fire tonight... lol, literally.

I grabbed two of the hardest pieces of steel I could find in my box of odds and ends and when I had a nice roaring fire going I tossed them in right where it was hottest.  I let the fire roar about as hot as I felt safe with for maybe 15-20 minutes and the pieces were glowing maybe light orange with some orange-yellow at the corners.

I have a feeling they'll be nice and soft with the slow cool down overnight, but we'll see.  Pictures to follow.

One thing I did wonder about is carbon content.  I guess in most cases we aren't planning to re-harden these pieces we come across, but would anyone care to chime in on the likely chemical changes in the steel?  To what depth might it likely be affected, if at all?

sparky961:
The pieces were retrieved from the fire yesterday morning after spending maybe 10-12 hours in the fire overnight.  They were air cooled the rest of the way on a fire brick near the stove.

The pictures that follow should tell the story pretty well, but if you have any other questions I can answer I'll be happy to try.

And just as a reminder, prior to annealing these pieces were so hard I was afraid of damaging my file on them!

kayzed1:
Thank you Sparky, i will give it a try when next i have a big fire going....me thinks this week i may have a load of old wood to burn :beer:
Lyn.

jcs0001:
As far as annealing I've had decent luck also.  I needed a big ball bearing (about 1 in. diameter) for a Howard Hall grinder rest.  It needed annealing as I had to drill and tap a hole in it:



I used two of the usual small propane torches, heated it as hot as I could get it (glowing red) and then submerged it in a can of sand till it was cold.  Surprisingly it worked very well.

Very recently a friend loaned me a small forge so heating things up now will be much easier.  It gets very hot very quickly.



John.

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