Hi there Everyone,
I need a metalurgist to help me with a problem. I am trying to drill a hole in drill rod that I have heated up and let cool. The drill rod is too hard to drill. What I am doing is making some hollowing tools. I am making a gooseneck tool and I heat up the drill rod to bend it. After bending the tool - I cut off what I do not need (but did need to get the nice bend - this part was held in the vise while I was heating the tool). Then I try to drill the hole in the end for the tool bit. The steel is too hard to drill. I have tried to make a gooseneck tool by drilling the hole first, but I find I do not get as nice a bend due to having to hold the tip in a vise to bend it.
What I want to do is heat and bend the tool, cut off the tip and then drill it. What do I need to do to soften the drill rod after I have heated it up and it has air cooled? I am using water hardening drill rod.
One thought I had was to put the whole tool into the hot coals in the fireplace and let them cool slowly as the coals die out. Will that work?
Then once I get the hole drilled, I can heat up and harden it and then temper it. I can do this. It is the drilling of the hole that is the hard part. Can anyone help me here? Thanks.
Hugh
I need a metalurgist to help me with a problem. I am trying to drill a hole in drill rod that I have heated up and let cool. The drill rod is too hard to drill. What I am doing is making some hollowing tools. I am making a gooseneck tool and I heat up the drill rod to bend it. After bending the tool - I cut off what I do not need (but did need to get the nice bend - this part was held in the vise while I was heating the tool). Then I try to drill the hole in the end for the tool bit. The steel is too hard to drill. I have tried to make a gooseneck tool by drilling the hole first, but I find I do not get as nice a bend due to having to hold the tip in a vise to bend it.
What I want to do is heat and bend the tool, cut off the tip and then drill it. What do I need to do to soften the drill rod after I have heated it up and it has air cooled? I am using water hardening drill rod.
One thought I had was to put the whole tool into the hot coals in the fireplace and let them cool slowly as the coals die out. Will that work?
Then once I get the hole drilled, I can heat up and harden it and then temper it. I can do this. It is the drilling of the hole that is the hard part. Can anyone help me here? Thanks.
Hugh