Please Identify These Drill Rods

[obillo]

Please this ignorant but sincere question.
I need a length of drill rod to use as a smooth-surfaced honing steel for butcher and chef’s knives. I found drill rod by the long ton at a commercial, but I would like to know what is meant the specifications: Water Hard, Oil Hard and just plain “Steel.” Here’s a sampling of what I found: Steel Rod ½" diameter, Water Hard 3/8" and Oil Hard 3/8". Also, which if any could be easily cut by an ordinary hacksaw? Could any of them be threaded at one end with an ordinary hardware-store tap-and-die set? I’ll appreciate any help and advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[RJSakowski]

Water hardening would be W1. Oil Hardening would be O1 Steel would be mild steel as in 1018 or 1025. All should be furnished in annealed state and machinable. They can also be threaded but hardware store varieties of taps and dies may not be up to the task. They are usually carbon steel and meant primarily for restoring damaged threads.

 

[ThinWoodsman]

A burnisher will have to be hardened, so on top of the machining you would need to heat-treat the steel in order to harden it. No doubt you've seen the make-your-own-burnisher guides online, that claim you can do it with a propane or mapp-pro torch. Not sure how reliable that is.

I made a burnisher for woodworking tools out of round HSS (high speed steel) lathe cutting bits. These are probably not going to be as long as you would need for chef's knives; the ones I used were about 6" long for 3/8" dia. The HSS is hardened and cannot be readily machined; I just pressed it into a wood handle.

EDIT: Looks like there some longer options, like a 3/8 12" HSS drill blank

 

[brino]

@obillo,

Welcome to the group!

Those words indicate how you harden those pieces of tool steel.

Oil hardening means that you bring it to a high temperature and then quench in oil.
Water hardening steel is of course quenched in water.
There is also air-hardening.

It will be "soft" when you buy it and therefore cut-able with a hacksaw.
It is meant for making tools, and comes soft so it can be machined into a useful state before it gets hardened.
Once hardened it can cut other steels.

-brino

 

[fcs]

I have a carbide rod which makes an ideal scraper burnisher. 6 inches long and approx 0.15 diameter. Very smooth. I got it years ago from Small Parts which is now somehow part of Amazon. They have many sizes. Seem to be about $15-20 now.