If I make it out of Drill Rod do I need to harden and draw (temper) it or leave it as is in "natural" state?

Typical drill rod is annealed to 20-22 Rc. Not quite hard enough for a pivot pin IMO.

If I were doing this, I'd get a drill bit the right size, cut the shank to length and use that. They did the hard work for you already.

If you still want to use drill rod, cut off a piece about an inch long, wrap in wire to hold it, heat to cherry red, quench (depends on the rod, Air, Oil or Water may be needed). Polish off the scale and make sure it fits. It should now be bright silver. To temper, look up a chart online called a color temper chart for steel so you see what color you are after.

Use a torch to heat to a color of dark blue just turning to light blue. Heat until you get to straw, then pull the flame, it goes fast, add flame for a second, pull and check. Once you hit dark blue, quench in oil. Polish and you're done.

I cut to an inch, so I can chuck it in a drill for polishing. Then cut to final length when done.

Jeremy

What kind of rifle? Assuming it is an AR type, trigger pins are too easy to buy than to take the time to make one.
If it is an M1, or something else, maybe.

Sorry, REAL Mil-Surps
Mauser, Springfield, Enfield(1917),Arisaka.

AR stuff is dime a dozen and not of real high interest so doubt I would spend 5 minutes for them. These other pins are likely cheap too, but when one has drill rod lying around, a lathe and time to waste . . . .

I make Mauser pins out of drill rod, and do not harden it. You won't wear it out in a couple of lifetimes.
I make them once a month when someone sends in one, without a pin.
If you have time to waste, come on up; I have plenty of lathe work.....

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I make Mauser pins out of drill rod, and do not harden it. You won't wear it out in a couple of lifetimes.
I make them once a month when someone sends in one, without a pin.
If you have time to waste, come on up; I have plenty of lathe work.....

I bought a box of 100 pins from Fastenal.

Send me the part number; I really need those. I use a lot of them; didn't know they were a commercial item!

z1r
Better yet, post it here.
I doubt they are firearms parts, tather pins or rivets, but . . . BUT if they work!

dpcd
I doubt you want me doing any lathe work.
I know the limits of my ability.

How about welding then?

They aren't listed as firearms parts. I'm guessing these are what ZR is referencing.

https://www.fastenal.com/produ...roductFamilyId=20210

They have both metric and inch diameters, and you pick the length you want.

Jeremy