Stop using rebar for your forge tools

I keep seeing guys making tongs and punches out of rebar and they crack after a few heats. Rebar has unknown steel composition and hidden stress points, so just spend the 8 bucks on a proper bar of 4140.

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2 Comments

sam_wood603mo ago

People refuse to pay eight bucks for the right part and then act surprised when their shitty shortcut breaks. It's the same thing I see with dudes using drywall screws for framing or trying to weld muffler pipe together for a bumper. You get what you pay for and rebar is not structural steel, it's concrete reinforcement. The unknown alloy is a gamble every time and that gamble is gonna cost you more in time and ruined work than the eight dollars you saved. If you can't afford basic tool steel then just keep using a chunk of railroad tie until you can.

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elizabeth_king3mo ago

@sam_wood60 nailed it with the drywall screw example, same exact mindset. Bought a cheap rebar forge set once just to see, first crack appeared after the third heat on a punch. Tossed it and grabbed 4140, that one's still going years later. You really are just buying yourself extra time and headaches for basically nothing.

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