THE FORGE

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To drill hard metal. you need to apply pressure more than speed to a high speed, metal-cutting drill bit. Best in my experience is a multi-speed drill press the bigger and more powerful the better. A powerful drill press will handle a milling head and permit you to machine steel so as to make such delights as a steam engine. Foron-site work such as drilling plow-mounting holes through the frame under your truck, get large slow, but high-torque, powerful shovel-handled (electric) 1/2" drill. You will need a set of 1/2"-shank high-speed drill bits and a bit sharpener to keep the cutting edge sharp. A sharpener that is powered by your 3/8" hand drill costs loss than $40. (It's either a bit sharpener or having to buy replacements when they're dull. Good 1/2" bits ain't cheap.)

PARTING TOOLS

The traditional way to hand cut metal is with a hacksaw: a rectangular, sliding-steel frame with a pistol-grip on one end, holding a 10" or 12" fine-toothed steel blade. I have one made of tubing rather than flat steel; it is a little more expensive, but more rigid and holds the blade wide greater tension for less flex in the cut. The longest-lasting blades are made of a thin strip of brittle hardened steel or Carborundum containing long-lasting teeth welded to a backing of softer more flexible steel to prevent breakage. A good bimetal hacksaw blade will last for years doing occasional jobs and in serious metalworking but will outlast common blades many times.

Blades come in 24, 36 and higher tpi (teeth per inch). The finer the teeth, the less metal is removed in a pass, the finer the cut and the harder the metal that can be parted with it. Get an assortment of sizes and use what works best for the job

For easiest cutting, place the work in a heavy vise, with the area to be sawn as close to the edge of the vise jaws as possible. Hold the free portion of the work with your free hand. This will reduce vibration, and make the work go faster and the cut straighter.

Use a file to make a deep scratch in hard metal to give the blade a first-cut tooth-hold so it doesn't dance all over the work, scratching it as you try to get a purchase with the blade.

Cut in easy strokes using the full length of the blade.

As noted above, my candidate for the single most useful parting tool is a reciprocating saw, with a full-hand hold at one end and a saw blade at the other. The stroke of the blade is only an inch or so but blades run to a foot in length and they can get into places where no other tool will fit. The variable speed feature is critical. In cutting either very thin or very trick hard metal, you want a slow speed: thin so that the stock does not tear, and thick so that the blade doesn't heat up and burn.

To cut bar stock, plumbing pipe and the like, metal shops use an endless-blade band saw with a Circulating pump system that keeps a cooling fluid flowing over the cut, much like a dentists water-cooled high speed drill. At $1,000-plus apiece, these saw systems are a little steep for most home/farm shops. The reciprocating model will do the job if you have a good vise, the time and a squirt can of coolant (use a pan to catch the reusable liquid). So will your hand-powered hacksaw, but an inch of mild steel would take all morning.

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