# Drill Rod



## Pmedic828 (Aug 18, 2015)

Can anyone answer my question on drill rod - I understand that different types of steel are quenched in air, water, and oil.  Is drill rod soft when you purchase it and then you harden it or is it hard from the factory.  I wanted some smooth rod to use as a guide for a spring so I purchased some 1/2 drill rod - I wanted to thread about 1 inch on each end so I can place a washer and nut to capture the spring.  Can drill rod be threaded or drilled with a standard die, tap, and HSS Drill Bit?  Thanks for your replies.....


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## TTD (Aug 18, 2015)

I've only used 01 drill rod so far, but it was always soft when I purchased it. Machines pretty nice w/HSS and no problems threading with my cheap tap/die set.


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## JimDawson (Aug 18, 2015)

Pmedic828 said:


> Can drill rod be threaded or drilled with a standard die, tap, and HSS Drill Bit?



Yes.  It is normally shipped in the annealed state.  It is workable with HSS tools.  Be a bit aggressive with the feed, any tool steel will work harden if you treat it too gently.
.
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## Sandro (Aug 18, 2015)

Drill rod is soft when purchased. Ordinary HSS will cut it, cutting speed would a little bit less than mild steel. 

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## Franko (Aug 18, 2015)

What's the difference between oil and water hardening drill rod?


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## Doubleeboy (Aug 18, 2015)

Oil hardened is the easiest to machine IMO.  If you want to use the drill rod without hardening I would use water hardening, not as friendly to machine as Oil Hardening but is certainly harder in its original shape.

cheers
michael


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## Franko (Aug 18, 2015)

Thanks, Michael. Oil hardening rod is also less expensive.


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## RJSakowski (Aug 18, 2015)

Franko said:


> What's the difference between oil and water hardening drill rod?


As I recall from my blacksmithing days, W1 was an earlier steel used by blacksmiths to make tools.  It tended to have greater distortion during the heat treating process.  O1 is less prone to distortion and therefore preferred for precision tools.  Chemically, W1 has about 1% carbon, .2% silicon, and .4% manganese.  O1 has about .95% carbon, 1.2% manganese, .5% silicon, .5% chromium, and .5% tungsten.  O1 can attain a higher ultimate hardness, around Rc 65 vs. Rc 60 for W1.  O1 is also supposiedly tougher than W1.   IMO, O1 is a better choice for tools.

Bob


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## blaser.306 (Aug 18, 2015)

from my research, w-1 is listed as 100% machinability compared to 1212 carbon and o-1 is listed as 66-70% Where I am in Canada the w ( water quench ) is about 2/3 the price of o-1. The w-1 is a little less dimensionally stable when hardened, but for most things I really do not think it will show in most of our projects. Just my thoughts YMMV.


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## Wreck™Wreck (Aug 19, 2015)

Franko said:


> What's the difference between oil and water hardening drill rod?


Not to be pedantic here (-: but the difference between easily available tool steels is the recommended hardening method, D is often oil hardening, W is water hardening, A is air hardening, they all serve different purposes in use as actual tools, I have little personal experience with the finishing end of these materials, the heat treatment part. However I have been required to machine all 3 in the annealed and sometimes hardened state in the past including PH stainless, this morning I drilled a 9/16" hole in 440 stainless rounds, 12" deep, twice, 1 1/2 hours or more per hole.

Tomorrow is hard turning, +50 Rockwell C, ceramic inserts and no coolant allowed which is nice.


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## Franko (Aug 19, 2015)

[Wreck slipped so some duplicaton]
Thanks, Wreck. I did some Googling after I asked the question.

For clarification, W designation is Water, the number after is carbon content.
There are three that I know of, W (Water), A (Air) and O (Oil).

When I purchased some drill rod from Enco, I noticed that the O rod was slightly less expensive than the A rod. I was mostly buying it to be consistent, smooth, straight rod to fabricate with. Since I was getting a selection from 1/8 to 1/2, I chose the O rod, as money was a factor.

My understanding, is that A rod hardens with slow cooling, so if you get it hot while you are working it, it will harden as it cools in air, where O and W rod, requiring respectively faster cooling to harden, stay annealed a little better, so are slightly easier (less complicated) to forge and machine, and can be easily re-annealed.


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## Billh50 (Aug 19, 2015)

I know A-2 requires it to be hardened in a stainless steel bag (or tight wrap). There is also a trick we used to use if we had no bags or wrap. Using a stainless pan deep enough. Put the part in the pan and fill all around and pack tightly in cast iron chips. This does work as I have had to use this method several times. I always kept cast iron chips in a box under the bench just for that purpose.


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## bobl (Aug 20, 2015)

Yes can be but take care if you harden as can be a problem with threads as you need to temper after hardening


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