"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
OK, from what Ed & Tim said, I do want something harder than mild steel,
so that it won't "yield" as soon as mild steel would.

As to heat treating facilities, well, minimal - maximum heat capability is
propane forge. Obviously no automatic temp control.

As to what I'm making: it's for taking down tin ceilings. The ceilings
will be salvaged, so the specifics of the tool are needed to minimize
damage. The bar needs to be about 16" long, to reach over the back of a
24" tile. It needs to have a long taper, coming to a thin edge, to work
under the nails without distorting the tin. One edge needs to be 3/4"
wide to fit into a nailing space. One end will be straight & the other
have a 90 degree leg. It will be pulling out 1" long 16 ga nails, so it
won't have to be very strong - I'm thinking 1/16" thick (from trials with
a 1/16" thick putty knife).

If it wasn't for the length, I would re-shape the putty knife. Which
suggests brazing or silver soldering the knife on a longer handle - is
that doable? How about a 90 bend in it - I assume that would require
heating to bend, quenching, and tempering?

Thanks,
Bob


I'm going to bow out of discussing making this one from scratch because
there are a lot of unknowns, and I'd only be guessing. I will offer a couple
of thoughts on another approach, though.

First, what you're describing sounds quite a bit like a Red Devil pry bar
that I have -- my thinnest one, which is tapered very thin, about 1-1/2"
wide, and really strong. But it's only about 12" long and would have to be
bent near the end, which probably would leave it a lot *less* strong after
softening with a torch and a half-fast re-heat-treatment. That can be
tricky, depending on the alloy.

But if you could find one of those things you probably could drill a couple
of holes in it and screw on a longer handle. We can discuss spot-annealing
with a drill press if necessary.

I'd start with something already made if at all possible. It's not that you
need great strength, it's just that you're otherwise dealing with more
variables than it's worth.

Good luck.

--
Ed Huntress