PM4 rivet former

[Josh Crutchley]

I have a few powdered M4 rivet formers/dies for a rivet press. About 4"x.5" with one end being concave. Besides a punch and chisel what could I make. Does powdered steel react well to being reforged? I know some PM gets hip'ed into bars then cut to shape. Not sure how hard they are my s110v wont scratch it.

[The Mastiff]

Does powdered steel react well to being reforged?

I'm not so sure this is a good bet. It's not so much the powder steel part as it is the amount of tungsten and moly. This is a steel designed to have "red" hardness. ie: operate at high temps.

M4 should be available in sheets or bars rolled for knives and it would likely be a better bet to go that way. The" Is it possible?" question is followed by "is it practical?" and for that IMO no, it wouldn't be. Knife sized M4 shouldn't be all that much more expensive than the more usual steels knifemakers are using like S30V, S35Vn, etc.

Joe

[Mike Blue]

I've read many specification sheets for steels that contain the word "unforgeable." As has been noted, you have to get it hot and use forging tools to get it close to a final shape for the customer. Powdered metals also need to be pressed to close the gaps between the powder grains, in the original weld, so that it's a solid billet before further manipulation.

You're not likely to change any of the microstructure with hand or small shop tools, but working that steel will require close attention to the forging temperatures. If you get it too hot, you'll have grain growth problems and you'll lose all the advantages of a powder based material. Too cold and you'll have a stiff material under the tool.