Has anyone tried heat treating drill rod for mandrels?

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raar25

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I have used drill rod to make longer mandrels but I have not bothered heat treating the O1 rod yet. But it does wear and groove pretty easy when you hit it with a tool . So I was wondering if anyone has tried doing this? My main concern is the mandrel warping after heat treat.

Thanks for your input.
Ray
 
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O1 would need to be heated evenly to non magnetic then quinched in oil. Not sure if you could get the rod hot enough in an oven to do this or not. You could try to use a torch and run the flame along the lenght to get an even heat.
I also use drill rod for my mandrels and have not had much problem with them grooving. It seems you would hit your bushing before you would hit the mandrell. Just my 2 censt
 
I actually think the bushings and/or mandrel saver grooves the drill rod mostly. Based on the work involved in heat treating the rod it seems easier to just replace them when they get grooved. My current rod has lasted for a couple years so I really cant complain, just the engineer in my wanting to design the best system.
 
I'm thinking there is a basic technique problem, that you are spinning the bushings enough to mark the mandrel. Doesn't address your question though. Heat treating done wrong may get you something so brittle, it may be a little dangerous. Putting really hard steel into a vibration can cause it to shatter.
 
An O-1 rod will warp and bend during the quench process unless the oil is circulated and the rod drops into the quench oil end first. If it drops in side first or on an angle, it will bow significantly. Quenching is done at about 1475 degrees. After quenching you need to draw it back (temper or anneal) it so it is usable safely. Being quenched in oil will also possibly leave an undesirable surface finish.
 
I have made a couple of mandrels in the past with drill rod. The problem I see with heat treating along with warping, is the damage it will then do to your tool when it hits the mandrel. Same with hardening bushings. Thought is good, but it is a tit-for-tat thing to me. Which would I rather replace more often.
 
Ray, I think you just need to use a different material drill rod--O1 is pretty tricky to avoid warpage when heat treating--I know this from having made some knives out of it. I'm not sure what type drill rod I got but I bought it from Mcmaster Carr, and it is some type of stainless but it tapped pretty well--I figured out I didn't need to tap the end of it since I use it with a mandrel saver and the other end goes in a compression fitting that is on the Morse taper, so you just need to cut it to size--it doesn't groove or mark very easily though. Good luck finding the right stuff for your needs--if you need me to check what I ordered I can.

Best Luck--Don
 
Is the correct size drill rod to buy 0.246"? I sure hope so because I ordered a couple 3' long pieces from McMaster Carr just last week.

I'm not sure how long it'll take for it to be delivered to my home address but a few years ago I worked as a facility manager on the same road MC is on in Atlanta. We could order in the morning and get delivery that afternoon or just drive down to the warehouse and pick up darn near anything in the catalog. I guess I could have drove the 20 miles down there now but I'll just wait for them to deliver it.

Hi, I am the LoneOak:peace:
 
Having considered all of the input from folks and some engineering analysis, the answer is either get a group of people together and purchase H13 drill rod pre-hardened and have it centerless ground to size (not cost effective) or just stick with O1 and leave it annealed. At $5/foot from amazon this is the way to go. I would also hate for a rod to get brittle and break at 3500 rpm because of a bad heat treat.
 
The rod I ordered arrived today. It is "multipurpose 01 tool steel, tight tolerance rod, .2460 diameter, 3' long, Macmaster Carr Item 8893K202. I purchased 2 3' pieces and with delivery and tax it cost me $19.86.

I could have saved the shipping if I had gone and picked it up myself but it worked out swell as the gentleman that delivered it bought 2 dozen fresh eggs which was a dollar more than the shipping. I live close enough to McMaster that they use a local delivery service instead of one of the big 3.

I know I can get at least 3 mandrels out of each stick and if I watch it close I should be able to get 4. I just hope that the material is strong enough that it won't bend easily and get to shaking.

If anyone lives close to 30122 I'll be glad to share a piece for a visit and idea sharing lesson. I'm still new at this and could use some local hands on advice.

Visitors are always welcome at the LoneOak Terrace!:cool:
 
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It has been one month now since I received the piece of drill rod and so far I am having good luck with it. I found a couple weeks ago that the tail stock was off just a hair with the head stock on my lathe and I now think that was the problem I was having bending my mandrels.

I realigned the parts after bending the first piece of drill rod I cut and am now on the second week with the second piece and no problems have show up. I am trying to make at least one pen a day (miss a day ever now and then) in my learning process so I have made at least 10 pens with this rod and it is still straight as an arrow. Previously I was bending a rod after only 2 or 3 pens.

My offer still stands on a free piece of rod to anyone local to 30122 that wants to come out and share some knowledge about making pens!:peace::RockOn::usflag:
 
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