What to do with rebar

[BillinOregon]

We're having a remodel done, with the result that there is quite a bit of twisted old rebar in a pile to go to the dump. I wouldn't mess with this stuff for anything needing to hold an edge, but are there useful articles to be forged out of rebar? I was thinking I could try some S-hooks, etc.

 

[Powder Keg]

Have you tried heat treating it? When I was in school we made center punches out of 3/4" rebar. We heat treated the end in Oil. I still use mine, 12 years later. I hated turning the bumps off with HSS.

Wes

 

[blacksmithman64]

Scrap yard gives me 28 cents a pound for it! :rotf: Seriously, I tried making some tent stakes with it,they either snapped off on the anvil at cherry red or snapped off pounding into the ground.And I went through a lot of coal to get it hot enough to work.To me it isn't worth fooling with IMHO

 

[halfstock]

Rebar is made from junk iron there is no way to tell what it is made from ( short of a chemical annalysis ) so it probably would not be worth the trouble. If I were you I'd sell it to the junk yard and put the money back and add to it untill I had enough for what I desired.

Just my two pence worth
Halfstock

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

Depending on the length of the pieces, you could make some dandy target holders...just poke the legs into the ground and fasten heavy cardboard ( gray area ) inside to staple your targets to:

 

[RC]

it do make great targets! specially twisted pieces,,gee ya ought hear em groan on the woodswalk when we come to one.....last time i put 3 in a row(3 dfferent shoot stations) one horizontal..they wanted it vertical..hehe, next was vertical,all of sudden horizontal wasn't bad..hehe, next bent it in a zig zag form... best of both worlds? hehehe,, gees the names they call ya,,,jes ain't nice! but ya know ya did a good job settin it up if they complain,,well they always complain,,but the more complainin the better,, hehehehehe! hey it's fair! they is all shootin at the same thing...next is a rebar circle with a straight piece hanging centered behind it,,,tell them to shoot thru the circle without hittin the circle or the straight piece.......where would you shoot? :hmm: RC

 

[hobbles]

My $.02
rebar swingin target

 

[ameling]

28 cents a pound for scrap rebar? 28 cents a pound? That's $560 a ton. Let me know where this place is - I'll bring over a semi load. Even with the current prices for fuel it would still be profitable.

I think you must have misplaced a decimal point. 2.8 cents a pound would be more believable. Around here they only pay around $80 to $100 a ton for sorted scrap steel. That's 4 to 5 cents per pound. I just bought new 1095 high carbon tool/spring steel for around 20 cents a pound. And new mild steel has only been running around 12 to 14 cents a pound retail. They usually don't buy scrap for more than they sell new steel.

Rebar made in the last couple decades is mostly re-melted scrap. Everything is thrown in it. I had a friend try to hacksaw through a bar, and about a third through it his hacksaw became instantly dull. He snapped the bar apart and there was a complete ball bearing - which hadn't melted and gotten mixed it with the rest.

If you get some old rebar - from the 60's or earlier, it can be some pretty good steel. A lot of the high school metal classes through the 60's and 70's made chisels and punches from old scrap rebar as part of their metal working and blacksmithing sessions. And they heat-treated and held up very well. But that was the old stuff.

So, rebar should generally be viewed as generic welding shop steel. But be careful about using it for high-stress areas. That "melting pot" mixture could end up stress cracking - more than generic welding shop steel (which is commonly listed as 1018, 1020, or A36).

Just my humble thoughts to share.

Mike Ameling

 

[jacqueeagonsr]

I had the same problem with rebar getting brittle and breaking when used. I solved the problem with this little trick. After it's been forged into shape (for me it was tent stakes) I put the finished one back into the fire along with the next piece I was gonna work on. When the new piece was hot enough to forge, I just threw the hot finished piece on the ground and let it cool on it's own; no quenching. rebar is pretty much junk but this worked for me at the time. My son's have been camping with those stakes for about 4-5 years now.

 

[spudnut]

bend it in a squiggly line about five feet long hang it on chains ,paint it up and you have a dandy snake target for a clanger woods walk :thumbsup: ...Mark

 

[blacksmithman64]

Its good to live in a place where these hillbillies think old rusted metal ain't worth nuthin'! Which it mostly ain't except to the hillbilly scrapyard owner. No decimal missin', .28 cents a pound for scrap steel, whoever figgered a scrap pile was a "savings account!" :rotf: Bring me that ol' nasty scrap,boys,just pile it all right thar! :rotf:

 

[freetrapper20]

One of my blacksmith friends used to make handles for campfire cooking utensils out of rebar. Not exactly PC but the flatlanders and tourists and general public loved 'em. Long handled spatulas, spoons and such. The rebar makes a unique looking pattern when you twist the handles. Then he would brush em' down while hot with those brass looking brushes people use for cleaning grills. It gave the handles a bit of color. Think he sold them for about $40 a set or so. He got rid of a bunch of rebar that way. The pattern on the twisted rebar makes those that don't know think you worked you tail off. :winking:

 

[John Taylor]

Hobbles, I hope you don't miss and hit the horse trailer.

 

[Otter]

It's been about 5 years since I bought rebar for new construction, but back then I was getting fabricated (cut to length, bent into specific shapes & etc) rebar for about $0.28 per pound. Now that was in quantities of several hundred tons, but to get that price for SCRAP rebar is astounding . . . Sell it all ! ! !

Bill,
If it's grade 40 rebar, you could do some forging of non-critical items (hooks, handles and such) but if it's grade 60 rebar, it would be very brittle and not much good for anything . . .

 

[hobbles]

Mornin John Taylor

I believe round ball told me the same thing a while back,,, ;>)~~~