Local manufacture job help

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Good evening,  I am trying to figure out which metal is the best for holding durability after a weld. I have to locally manufacture a very small offset screwdriver due to tiny clearance restrictions so I am cutting a tip from a steel screwdriver (2/8") and welding it to a 1/8" steel plate because the entire screw driver head can be just under 1/2" thick. My problem is that the tips keep snapping because the metal becomes brittle after the weld. What other tip material could I use?Is there a metal that is weldable and still retain it's durability after a weld?What are the most durable post-weld metals? Attached Images
Reply:You have to Heat Treat the Screw Driver part after welding as the welding affects the properties of the Tool Steel ( as you have noticed) used for the Screw Driver.Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Originally Posted by Broccoli1You have to Heat Treat the Screw Driver part after welding as the welding affects the properties of the Tool Steel ( as you have noticed) used for the Screw Driver.
Reply:I'm wondering if silver solder would keep the tip cool enough to help preserve the hardness of the tip.Thought #2 would be to "punch" a 1/4" hex in the 1/8" plate and then epoxy in a shortened screwdriver tip from a screw gun. I've used the tips all the time in 1/4" sockets in a pinch to get to tight areas, but not that tight. To "punch" the hex, first drill a hole the size across the flats of the bit, then grind a slight taper on an old 1/4" hex key or piece of hex bar stock and drive it thru on a vise or anvil with a hammer. I've done square holes for carriage bolt this way.A demo I did in 1/2" alum plate for someone. Attached ImagesLast edited by DSW; 02-18-2010 at 05:32 AM..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I couldn't take a picture because I can't find it right now but I built one many years ago using 1/4 inch bits. Drilled holes in a piece of steel small enough that I had to gently hammer the tip in, brazed them in and then ground them off. Worked great.
Reply:What do they use to put carbide tips on saw blades with?
Reply:Sandy,Carbide tooling is brazed or silver-soldered.  You can't weld carbide anyway.  And you don't want a carbide screwdriver tip as it would be waaaay to brittle for almost anything.  But carbide is not really affected by the heat as a tool (or other carbon/alloy) steel is, so the application of the attachment-process heating is of minimal consequence for carbide.Silver solder heating will still affect the properties of the screwdriver tip.  Heating that small piece of alloy/tool steel up to say 800F or so will soften the screwdriver tip (that is definitely in the tempering temperature range).  As mentioned, welding that little piece of tool/alloy steel is changing the metallurgical properties of the steel.  In this case, making it very hard and brittle.  So you pretty much have to either re-do the original heat treatment of the steel to get that little screwdriver tip to be at the proper balance of hard vs brittle vs tough, or you have to use some other sort of attachment method.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Broach the 1/4" hex hole, and use Loctite 326 adhesive to hold it in. Been down this road many times.
Reply:Hardening / tempering info.  http://www.technologystudent.com/equip1/heat1.htm .   Note that you can use a oven at 572F (=300C) to temper the steel instead of tempering with the torch-- fredLincoln 180C MIG