Guest
A while back I bought three screwdrivers from TOW.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/120/1/TOOL-TURN-U
The description says they are tempered. Well”¦.maybe I just got a bad batch, but the three they sent me were more like annealed. The slightest amount of torque twisted the screwdriver instead of the screw. I pretty much chalked it off to the “oh well” category but hoped that they might be tweakable.
This morning I had a little time on my hands so I decided to give it a shot.
The first step was to straighten the blade. It was bent cold to begin with, so making it straight cold was no big deal.
The next step was to harden it.
A few minutes with a mapp torch on the blade tip turned about ½ to ¾ of an inch a nice bright cherry red. It was then quenched in water. Cooking oil would probably have been better, but water was what I had available.
Next was the tempering process.
A quick sanding (150 grit) shined up the tip to where it transitioned from flat to round. I then applied the flame of the torch to the round section just behind the flat/round transition. When I got a dark blue about ¼ inch or maybe just a little less from the tip I quenched again.
The acid test, whether or not it would break or still twist in use was performed and it passed.
One down, two to go.
I haven’t done any blacksmithing in many, many years so it’s possible - even likely - that I should have relied on different colors for tempering. I was doing it from memory. So far, what I did use seems to have worked.
Alternative suggestions for the next two are welcomed.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/120/1/TOOL-TURN-U
The description says they are tempered. Well”¦.maybe I just got a bad batch, but the three they sent me were more like annealed. The slightest amount of torque twisted the screwdriver instead of the screw. I pretty much chalked it off to the “oh well” category but hoped that they might be tweakable.
This morning I had a little time on my hands so I decided to give it a shot.
The first step was to straighten the blade. It was bent cold to begin with, so making it straight cold was no big deal.
The next step was to harden it.
A few minutes with a mapp torch on the blade tip turned about ½ to ¾ of an inch a nice bright cherry red. It was then quenched in water. Cooking oil would probably have been better, but water was what I had available.
Next was the tempering process.
A quick sanding (150 grit) shined up the tip to where it transitioned from flat to round. I then applied the flame of the torch to the round section just behind the flat/round transition. When I got a dark blue about ¼ inch or maybe just a little less from the tip I quenched again.
The acid test, whether or not it would break or still twist in use was performed and it passed.
One down, two to go.
I haven’t done any blacksmithing in many, many years so it’s possible - even likely - that I should have relied on different colors for tempering. I was doing it from memory. So far, what I did use seems to have worked.
Alternative suggestions for the next two are welcomed.
Last edited by a moderator:
