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» »How to harden a screwdriver bit
Our market is simply overwhelmed with low-quality Chinese tools. And the point here is not even in the manufacturer, but rather in the resellers who massively carry cheap Chinese screwdrivers, passing them off as a brand. There is also an excellent, high-quality Chinese instrument, but it is rather difficult to find.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

We will not discuss much what and how, but we will try to improve the quality of a screwdriver or screwdriver with interchangeable bits.
I will harden the bits. Quenching has the goal of increasing the strength of steel, changing the properties of the metal, making it harder, but more fragile.

How to temper metal with your own hands


The hardening process is extremely simple and does not require special knowledge or special work techniques from you. But you will have to be especially careful when working with hot metal and a gas burner.
So, what is needed for hardening?
  • - The bits themselves first.
  • - Heater. Ideally use induction heaterbut if you don’t have one, you can use a gas burner like me.
  • - Engine oil. Any one is suitable, it’s better to even use the used one, since it is thinner.

We proceed to hardening the metal. To hold the bat over the burner, it is necessary to make a fixture for holding. I will do this from ordinary steel wire by wrapping several turns around the bit.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

In principle, you can simply hold the pliers by the thick end of the bit so that only part of the bit that interacts with screws and screws is tempered.
We ignite the gas burner. We bring the bat and begin to heat the metal.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

We warm to a bright pinkish color. Bel is not recommended to heat up, although on such a burner you are unlikely to succeed.
As soon as everything has warmed up, quickly dip in oil, for 5-6 seconds. Then take out.
You can use another process: 4 seconds in oil, and then sharply in cold water, they say the effect is better, but, again, I have not tried it.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

How to temper a screwdriver bit

That's all. The process is completed. All that remains is to wipe the bit from the oil and start using it.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

In appearance, it became darker.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

I want to add that not all bits are quenched. I don’t know what is mixed in them, but there are instances, the hardening of which does not just not affect, but even destroys them, and they become like plasticine after heat treatment.
I would also like to add that this method does not lie at all with factory hardening, so you do not need to wait for the same hardness of the metal. Since even metal is not the same as the factory one. But the effect of increasing hardness, and hence the operating time, is still there.
How to temper a screwdriver bit

Watch the video of hardening bits


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Comments (16)
  1. Vladimir
    #1 Vladimir Guests November 18, 2017 19:45
    2
    If the carbon content in the metal is less than 5%, which can be determined by the generated sparks when sharpening an inoperative tip, then it will not harden
    1. Alexander
      #2 Alexander Guests November 19, 2017 08:55
      17
      If the carbon content in iron is more than 2.14%, then it is already cast iron. Bits do not make of it)))
    2. Guest Nikolay
      #3 Guest Nikolay Guests April 15, 2018 08:19
      1
      An alloy of iron with carbon where carbon is more than 2% cast iron. I agree with Alexander. Steel st (grade) 45 (carbon content in SOT%), etc.
  2. Vladimir
    #4 Vladimir Guests 18 november 2017 22:01
    2
    It is better to throw into the water, then let go to a light tint color.
  3. Pasha
    #5 Pasha Guests November 18, 2017 10:32 PM
    1
    Why buy a deliberately bad thing?
  4. Alexey
    #6 Alexey Guests November 18, 2017 23:33
    7
    Quenching does not increase the amount of carbon in iron, saturates the surface layer of iron with cementation, but this is a completely different story ...
    1. feelloff
      #7 feelloff Guests November 19, 2017 07:45
      2
      Cementation of steel - surface saturation of mild steel with carbon in order to increase hardness and wear resistance.
  5. Valery Prusenko
    #8 Valery Prusenko Guests November 25, 2017 00:58
    2
    The one who is all interested, but who is on the topic of mechanized wheelchairs for the disabled? I want to build for myself, due to severe arthritis of the knee joints. - the head understands, there is technical knowledge, but the legs do not move.
  6. Stanislav
    #9 Stanislav Guests December 5, 2017 8:19 p.m.
    11
    A meaningless operation is described. If the metal bits can be hardened, it will be hardened at the factory. If the bat is soft, then it’s just hack, you can ruin it at all, harden it - no.
    Someone here wrote about cementing, but this is not suitable for screwdrivers, since the thinnest layer of several microns is hardened and this layer will crumble upon first use. In general, this is a lengthy process that requires special equipment and a lot of time.
    Summary: throw such a bat.
    1. Guest Andrey
      #10 Guest Andrey Guests May 27, 2019 9:57 p.m.
      0
      The top layer is hardened by nitriding or carbonitration. Cementation is carbon saturation of 0.1 mm per hour.
  7. BBB
    #11 BBB Guests December 21, 2017 15:03
    1
    if it is raw / if you know what it is / it does not lend itself to hardening
  8. Guest Yuri
    #12 Guest Yuri Guests March 24, 2018 5:49 PM
    3
    The best way is to pour 3/4 volumes of water and 1 \ 4 oils (of any) into the tank, then slowly pour the incandescent bat into the water through a layer of oil. Dive time is practiced empirically. Personally, I ship pretty quickly. He lowered it for 2 - 3 seconds and held it out. I do not recommend keeping it in water for a long time, in addition to the quenching itself, the metal also needs to be "released" - let it cool slowly.
    1. Beloglazov Anatoly Georgievich
      #13 Beloglazov Anatoly Georgievich Guests March 1, 2019 00:21
      0
      Oil on the surface of the water certainly and critically worsens quenching conditions. Sometimes carbon flocks burn through water into oil, but not vice versa!
  9. Clumsy
    #14 Clumsy Visitors December 13, 2018 15:41
    0
    In production and for ourselves, mounters and installers even made nail gunners from 16-20 fittings. warmed with a cutter and not even a crunch in the development of what is now the Chinese shit ...
  10. Guest Alex
    #15 Guest Alex Guests April 5, 2019 8:11 p.m.
    0
    I hardened in graphite (graphite powder + welding machine)
  11. Vyacheslav Ovsyannikov
    #16 Vyacheslav Ovsyannikov Guests June 12, 2019 9:34 p.m.
    1
    The author confuses burnishing and hardening. Low carbon alloys do not harden, do not waste time ...

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