"Tim Williams" wrote in message
...
In case anyone was wondering, rebar is indeed any composition. Tonight I
was forging on some and out of curiosity, cheezily heat treated one end
(brought it to orange heat, quenched, reheated for a little longer than it
took the water to boil off to sorta temper). Took a strike with the
hammer
and sure enough it broke. Spark test reveals something like 1040 but it
must have some other alloying elements since it bears some resemblence to
higher alloy steel (wrench stock for instance).

So yes, it's real crappy material. On the other hand. It can be
hardened.
What a scary thought, toolbits forged from rebar. Hmmmm. But
still........

Tim

Not necessarily true, Tim. Rebar is available in heat treatable grades, so
you may have landed on a piece of it. I recently had to weld some #5 bars
to the top of a support beam, upon which I would place the blocks we're
using to build our house. Before welding the rebar, I heated one to red heat
and plunged it in water to be certain it wasn't medium carbon. It was just
as soft after heating and quenching as it was before hand. The welding
went well.

Harold