New project, advice needed (not a blade)

V

vannmann

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Feb 19, 2011
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I have a new project in mind, and could use some advice as it is off the the blade topic somewhat...
One of my "other" hobbies is breaking open hard dolomite rock structures and finding quartz crystals...some of the other guys use old leaf springs, cut in four inch lengths and ground down on one end to fit in natural cracks in the rock face. They pound one into a crack in the face of the rock, then another right next to it to split/wedge the rock open. The three or four inch width of the leaf spring works way better than chisels which just make a hole.
MY QUESTION...I plan on using the same grade 5160 steel (I think that is what leaf spring steel is) but I am unsure on what hardening/tempering process I should use, as one end will be contacting hard dolomite stone, the other will be hit with a 6 to 15 pound sledge...Any ideas?
As far as forging, I will just taper one end to fit in cracks.
*Just picture a thin wood splitting maul wedge, no thicker than 1/4 on the end being hammered with the sledge.
 
Either through harden, temper as usual, then draw the areas away from the cutting edge with a torch, or you could quench only the cutting edge and then temper.
The theory is that you want the edge to be hard and the rest of the blade/tool softer to absorb impact. You can achieve this by through hardening and then selectively over-tempering certain areas, or by hardening only the edge to begin with and leaving the rest soft.
 
I have a friend who is into "prospecting" within the Canadian Shield. I have heat treated his pick hammers and chisels. He likes it best with the tip hardened and the body spring tempered. I through harden the entire tool and temper (after throroughly cleaning) back to a deep straw or about 400F. Clean it to bare metal again. Then, with a torch, I SLOWLY bring the body of the tool up to a blue colour or 500F. I'm sure that if you simply harden then spring temper the whole wedge, it will be a great place to start.

Rick
 
I will through harden and temper a few and quench the tip on a few and see which stands the test on some granite I have here! thanks guys.
 
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