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Masonry Nail Chisel

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44-henry

45 Cal.
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Was playing around with some masonry nails I had and forged a small chisel. I figure it is probably something like 1075. Didn't get crazy with the heat treatment, did everything in the forge and quenched in oil and tempered it by eye. Holds a good edge even when cutting maple end grain. Cost me about 50 cents for the nail, some scrap cherry and my time.
 

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Here another picture of the tempering. Nothing high tech but got the job done. I did it three times using a bar I heated in the forge. I was shooting for a straw color at the cutting edge. The tang is square and tapered, before heat treatment I heated it up and used it to burn a rectangular hole in the pre-drilled handle. Worked like a charm. Afterwards I simply epoxied the heat-treated blade into the handle after it was finished using shellac and a beeswax polish.

Simple methods give a good functional tool. Total time including getting the handle put together was about 1.5 hours.
 

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I was a BLACK SMITH, not a FERRIER, they are the guys that shoe horses, for 30+ years, only used a coal forge, none of that new fangled GAS FORGE'S, and you are spot on with the heat treat! BTW, did you use a coal forge also?
 
I used a gas forge at the University where I work, coal is neat but I don't have a space to set one up. I have a really nice coal forge back on my farm in North Dakota, but being as how I live in Pennsylvania that doesn't help me much.
 
I used a gas forge at the University where I work, coal is neat but I don't have a space to set one up. I have a really nice coal forge back on my farm in North Dakota, but being as how I live in Pennsylvania that doesn't help me much.
also COAL when used in a forge imparts CARBON into the metal that is being heated. great for making knife blades. don't get rid of your coal forge.
 
Was playing around with some masonry nails I had and forged a small chisel. I figure it is probably something like 1075. Didn't get crazy with the heat treatment, did everything in the forge and quenched in oil and tempered it by eye. Holds a good edge even when cutting maple end grain. Cost me about 50 cents for the nail, some scrap cherry and my time.
I dont think the steel is 1075. they snap in half easily when nailing sills onto concrete walls. I hit thousands in they are hardened so very brittle. can you harden 1075 that hard?
 
They harden find and break clean in tests. It is just a guess that they are 1075, but an educated guess anyway. Doesn't really matter, from a performance standpoint it takes and holds a good edge and holds up to the type of work that I put it through. If I want a tool made with specific properties I have a rack full of tool steel of known types, this was just a moments diversion to see what could be done.
 
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