I was walking the two miles to Borders Bookstore last night and noticed five or six 20' lengths of 1" rebar abandoned on a highway exit ramp that was closed at both ends ten years ago. I suspect that no one from the state even knows they're there. So here's an "infinite" (for me) supply of very heavy high tensile steel available for the taking. What could I do with this? Besides building a bridge, that is.
-- Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)
You could make outdoor furniture from it.
Rebar is quite unpredictable as to content. It only has a minimum tensile strength, but could have lumps of anything in it from bailing wire to toolsteel.
Bob, I suggest you learn to pass on things like this unless you own a spare lot to keep all your stuff in! I will take scrap steel if and only if it is something I have used a whole lot in the past (like
2x2x1/4" angle or 1x1x1/4" square tube) or something I can use on a project I plan to work on in the very near future.If you think about how much a project costs, the raw materials aren't very much compared to your amortized cost of machine tools.
Grant Erw> I was walking the two miles to Borders Bookstore last night and noticed five
On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:11:28 -0400, "Bob Chilcoat" scribed:
Sell it in Mexico.
I once asked our agent there why so many buildings have Rebar sticking out of the top of them...
Simple answer... If your still building the place, you pay no tax on it in Mexico... Of course most buildings there, including offices and luxury hotels and residences still have rebar jutting out the top, even if they have been there for years...
Nice angle to that... somewhat?
Best,
Fred
or six 20' lengths of 1" rebar What could I do with this?<
Build a concrete bomb-proof bunker for you and your family so that you'll be able to survive the comming World War that GW Bush seems intent on getting us into. Dave
Seems like *all* the threads lately lead here. Wonder why eh? (BG) Regards. Ken.
From _Shop Savvy_, by Roy Moungovan (pretty good book, BTW):
Stairway railings Towel racks Pot racks
I've used it to spike railroad ties/landscape timbers to the ground.
R, Tom Q.
Tom. What kind of dril did you use to drill 1" hole in a railroad tie ?
Youre a better man than me Gungadin. :-)
...lew...
Build a shelter from kooks like Dave.
It was a few years ago and it wasn't 1", it was 1/2" or maybe 5/8"; don't remember what type of drill.
As far as drilling 1" holes, I use 25 mm AP of course, just like everyone else.
R, Tom Q.
Geez Grant. You already have the cleanest shop that I have seen.
Dan
I made a grate out of rebar for the woodstove in the basement. I did not use 1 inch for the cross pieces. And that was a mistake. The smaller rebar does not have enough stiffness when hot.
Dan
I picked up a couple of short pieces of the 1" rebar from an abandoned scrap pile several years ago. They have a green plastic coating on them that really makes a mess when cutting it off. I recommend using an angle grinder to remove the "humps" along the surface to minimize the inturrupted cut you would otherwise get.
I made a smooth-bore 25 cal black powder pistol barrel about 4 inches long. I didn't do any heat treating. It was a little harder than the other steels I'm used to cutting, so I ended up using a carbide lathe tool for the cutting and smoothed out the surface with emery cloth. I haven't finished the lock so I haven't shot it yet, but I expect it to be perfectly safe.
Agreed. Back in the '70s, I worked for a Ryerson/Inland subsidiary, and rebar was the mystery meat of steel.
Pete Brooks
GAAK!!!!!! As other posters have said and I can confirm from PERSONAL experience, rebar steel is EXTREMELY variable. You have no idea of what you have in your hand. Depending on what went into the melt, you could have a carbon content as high as .60% (same as a file), inclusions, nasty impurities like excess sulphur, and I go on. I would NEVER use rebar for anything but rebar. And don't weld on it while installing it.
Cheers.
"Bruce C." wrote:
Bruce C sez:
"I made a smooth-bore 25 cal black powder pistol barrel about 4 inches long. I didn't do any heat treating. It was a little harder than the other steels I'm used to cutting, so I ended up using a carbide lathe tool for the cutting and smoothed out the surface with emery cloth. I haven't finished the lock so I haven't shot it yet, but I expect it to be perfectly safe."
Bruce, do you plan on rifling that barrel? If so, how do you plan to rotate the cutter if you do it on an ordinary lathe?
Bob Swinney
No plans to rifle this barrel. I thought it might be a possibility for a future project. I haven't worked out the details to cut the rifeling yet.
Rebar is produced to a spec for strength not composition. So it will be strong and the strength will not extremely variable. Some rebar is produced to a spec that allows it to be safely welded, but I don't think it is real common.
On the other hand, I have made things by welding rebar and never had a weld fail. I think most rebar has a higher carbon content than .60% so if you do weld it treat it as high carbon steel.
Dan
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