2 generic questions... and a funny PS:

[Robert Myers]

There is an old trick I've heard/read about but never tried.  Heat the 
steel to nearly molten and then quench it in used motor oil.  Supposedly 
(it sez here) some of the oil will be seriously degraded and the carbon 
from the oil ends up in the outer layer of the steel forming a high carbon 
content surface which is extremely hard.  The process is called case hardening.

Will it work for you?  I dunno but it might be worth a try.

At 07:45 PM 7/24/2004 -0400, Louis-Alain Richard wrote:

>1 ­ How do you re-temper the tip of a punch? I have some nice nail-pushers,
>punches, screwdrivers and various things that you blow with an hammer, but
>many are broken/worn/bent.
>
>  I also have a bench grinder (nice tool to regrind the tips) and a set of
>torches. I thought that heating the tip _white hot_ and then cooling it in
>water would be OK, but the tip is still too soft to my taste.
>
>So if there’s any good advice for re-commissioning a broken punch or
>screwdriver, I would like to know it.