Hydraulic rod - good for forging?

D

DHackney

Joined
Jul 12, 2004
Messages
178
Hi folks,

I was handed a pretty good sized (2" x 36") rod from a Cat scraper from a friend at the coffee shop this morning. He thought I might be able to use it for my knife making ventures when I get into the forging process later on.

Does anyone know if this is, indeed, something I could use? I have heard that some folks use something of this sort from John Deere's machinery but was unsure if this
piece was of the right composition for knife blades.

Best regards,
Dana Hackney
Monument, CO
 
"Most" hydraulic rods are case hardened mild or medium steel.

To see if it is hardenable. Check the end of the rod with a file. if the file bites into the end, it is case hardened run a file on the side it will slide off.

Quench test the end that will tell you if it is mild or medium steel. Might be 4140 0r 4340.
 
I'm pretty sure that most hydraulic rams like that are hard chromed. Might be mild steel on the inside. Even if its not you have to deal with the chrome.

I'm pretty sure the shafts you've heard about from John Deere are actually drive shafts, like for a PTO or axle :confused:
 
What you are referring to are load shafts, also referred to as rock shafts. I have to give credit to Bill Burke and Ed Fowler for my initial education on these shafts. The shafts are made from very high grade 5160 steel and make superb blades. Talk to your local John Deere mechanics or the service manager. I find that the mechanics around here will trade shafts for donuts! :D I believe Ed Schemp said he makes pinch and pry bars out of some of them for the mechanics in his area.

Most mechanics and service managers will know what you are talking about. The shaft is actually part of the sensor unit for the three point hitch on J.D. tractors. Its spring characteristics sense tension on the hitch and automatically raise the hitch to avoid damage. The shaft seals take on a lot of dirt when tilling, which wears down the shaft at those points, creating leaky seals.

I check in with the local service manager about every 45 days and he lets me know if they have a few. Donuts have been a cheap price to pay and I now have a few shafts in inventory.
 
Bummer! I thought I had something here. I'll definitely run down to the JD dealership in Colorado Springs and see what they might have.

Thanks again,
Dana :grumpy:
 
Don't discount it too soon, I'm sure that its hard chromed, but there might be good steel underneath there. A ram the size your talking about would probably be under considerable load, and might just be made of something fairly good :)
If you can cut a thin wafer off the end, you might heat it to non magnetic, quench it in oil, and then file test it to see if it hardened.
 
Thanks Matt. I'll give that a try at my next bladesmithing class at Dove Knives here in Colorado. Steve Rollert has a few forges I can use to do this test.

Best regards,
Dana
 
Most hydraulic cylinder rods are made from 1040 steel and then hard cromed fro wear resistance. some are made from 1018 and a few will be found that are made from 4140 or 4130. I'll bet yours is made of 1040.
 
Checked with my rep at prince hydraulics, he says that theirs are 5200, but they are hardened by electrical induction. I grabbed a piece from him, and wore my arm out forging it down. It is extremely hard, but now I don't know how to temper it. I'm going to try 450 for 4 hours, and check it.
 
Welcome Jason,
This is a 15 year old thread.

Hope your arm recovers. The blade won't harden if the steel is 5200. Perhaps he said 52100?
 
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