[How-To] Drill rod vs graded bolt

[ironwrx]

Hi I want to make a tap follower for the lathe/drill press/mill. I’ve been watching the series Tubalcain put out on the subject. I want to create the center for the follower. Lyle suggests using drill rod stock, and then hardening and tempering it. I don’t have drill rod and I was wondering if using a grade 8 bolt, or a socket head cap screw would be a similar type of metal that could be anealed, machined, then re-hardened and tempered? Second question, if either of these would work, then would they get water hardened, or oil hardened?


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[RandallsRaceShop]

Ha!
Dude, I made a tap follower out of 12L14. Yes, all of it. I seriously only use it here & there, but it's holding up just fine, hell, I don't even think my center is even scored at all.
Even if it gets scored up, it's easy enough just to make a new one.

Your water/oil hardening question:
That depends on what type of tool steel you buy (it's relatively inexpensive). If it's O1 oil, if it's W1 water, A2 air, etc, etc.
i seriously always just get O1. I always have used oil around to quench with, so it's just easiest (I guess) for me to do.

Seriously, just grab what you have & go for it, man. If it doesn't hold up, make a new one. Experience is a good thing always. This is after all just a hobby.
Have fun & be safe

 

[ironwrx]

Ha!
Dude, I made a tap follower out of 12L14. Yes, all of it. I seriously only use it here & there, but it's holding up just fine, hell, I don't even think my center is even scored at all.
Even if it gets scored up, it's easy enough just to make a new one.

Your water/oil hardening question:
That depends on what type of tool steel you buy (it's relatively inexpensive). If it's O1 oil, if it's W1 water, A2 air, etc, etc.
i seriously always just get O1. I always have used oil around to quench with, so it's just easiest (I guess) for me to do.

Seriously, just grab what you have & go for it, man. If it doesn't hold up, make a new one. Experience is a good thing always. This is after all just a hobby.
Have fun & be safe

Hi. Thanks for your answer. I do, however, wonder if a graded bolt or a socket head cap screw (which is proported to be better than grade 8) would be a hardenable grade of steel, and, if so, would I use water or oil to quench it?


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[RandallsRaceShop]

Hi. Thanks for your answer. I do, however, wonder if a graded bolt or a socket head cap screw (which is proported to be better than grade 8) would be a hardenable grade of steel, and, if so, would I use water or oil to quench it?


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Oh, i conveniently forgot about that part of your question. I honestly do not know the answer to that one. Someone else may be along & be able to answer that on for you.

 

[mksj]

You could use a grade 8 bolt, more surface hardened then through hardened. Grade 8 is bolt properties not metal specification. But you should be able to heat treat as it has medium carbon content. Tap followers I make use O1 not heat treated, it is inexpensive and handy to have different sizes for projects. I did make a center punch and scribing tools out of O1 and heat treated, then tempered.

 

[IHinIN]

I used SHCS for the centers on my spring loaded center. No more force than the centers see, I doubt I’ll have to worry about wearing them out.

 

[rwm]

Tap followers are a low wear item unless you are in production. I made mine out of 304 stainless just because. You can use any material. A grade 8 bolt is overkill but would certainly work. If you want to learn, get some O1 and make your tip from that. It is fun to experiment with hardening and not hard with a hand torch.

 

[extropic]

You should be able to turn either SHCSs or Gr8 without annealing. They are not that hard. Just make your parts and see how well they work for you.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I used 303 stainless, just because I have a lot on hand
I wouldn’t worry about the hardness of the follower as they are simple to construct and don’t show appreciable wear after many years of use.

If you gotta heat treat a bolt again, aneal the bolt until it glows, machine it, heat it up slowly to cherry red and dunk it in used motor oil, clean the oxide off, heat slowly to dull amber- test with a fine file to see level of hardness

 

[rwm]

Another thought. It would be cool to have a brass center with a hardened steel tip. The brass would slide well in the holder. I have not see one done that way. It would be an elegant solution. But I like to improvise!