What are Crow Bars made from?

What kind of steel are crow bars made of? Is it 4140 or 1018? What makes them so strong to where they dont break or fatigue when you pull on them? They are hardened but is it case hardened or tempered? Are all bars made from the same material? (Flat bar vs. big crow bar) What is there breaking strength is it measured in tensil or grade like a bolt?
Look forward to hearing what you can teach me.
Thanks,Cory

The first crow bars were made of wood. They were just simple structures where crows could get together after a days work and have a couple of drinks with their buddies. As time went on more exotic materials were used but the purpose has remained the same. There was a temperance movement at one time but I don't think this changed the overall structure. Hope this helps.

Crows, of course. Be wary, a lot of imitators use artificial crow and these taste terrible. Although I've eaten crow on a number of occasions, I really prefer a good pigeon shake.

I have a cat claw made of titanium. It's about 3/4 inch diameter with each end forged and overall length about 18 inch. Supposedly Russian army surplus. As to the alloy I have no idea.

Should I retitle my thread to PRY BARS? Is there any other info you can provide on these simple wood structures that dont apply to my topic?

Any tool steel will work, and 1018 certainly would not work. To keep cost down, I would expect W1 or 1095 steel would be used instead of highly alloyed steel. The tensile strength should be around 180 KSI. Pry bars are quite similar in strength to leaf springs for trucks, or automotive suspension coil springs, so you can look up information on those items.

The question and the way it was written suggest a school project. Hope you learn a lot.

Larry

strokersix said:

I have a cat claw made of titanium. It's about 3/4 inch diameter with each end forged and overall length about 18 inch. Supposedly Russian army surplus. As to the alloy I have no idea.

Click to expand...

A friend has one of those, bought at auction, and had no idea where it came from. I have not been able to talk him out of it. Wanna sell yours?

Sorry for the hijack..........

strokersix said:

I have a cat claw made of titanium. It's about 3/4 inch diameter with each end forged and overall length about 18 inch.

Click to expand...

That's one bad-arse cat. Wonder what his fangs looked like?

FG

Some time ago before television people used to gather to socilaize and entertain each other. Specialized venues arose to serve these niches and among these were drinking houses where people could arise to offer toasts, sing, etc including places where one could announce deeds and successes to one and all.

Frequently someone in his cups would brag on and on not wishing to relenquish his day of triumph but there was often a line waiting their turn. It was said that so and so had to be "pried" off the stage. Different remedies were tried and eventually a special implement was made and used something like the "hook" was used in vaudville. This implement took the form of a lever. Often the stage manager only had to display this implement to gain compliance. Naturally since bragging and drinking was involved and drinkers love double entendres this implement came to be called a "crow bar".

Later developments brought in the steel crowbar as somehow being more effective. The blacksmiths who made them were quick to adapt the implement for other purposes thereby gaining a wider market among the cinstruction trades.

Nowadays the original purpose of the crowbar has been lost in the mists of time and only its present function remains familiar to its users but the name "crow bar" persists. It has been fitted with claws, nail pullers, crooks and special features to make construction demolition more efficient. A wide variety of styles and size are common on the job from tiny ones use to remove trim from windows to 20 lb monsters 8 ft long used by rail roadbed work crews (gandy dancers).

As for material, a plain higher carbon steel is more than adequate. More expensive alloy steels would be expensive overkill. 1060 to 1080 would be my choice. Its toughness and other properties are products of its heat treatment and extensive hot working.

The etymology and antecedents of of the crowbar and other basic tools can be a fascinating study. For example how many names for the crowbar and its derivations can you cite?

They are forged. This Swedish one- http://www.fine-tools.com/prybar.htm- is worth the price.

It's probably going to be a plain carbon steel, like 1075, or an alloy steel like 6150. I believe these were the general stock at Baltimore Tool. Other manufacturers will use something slightly different. It will be heat treated if it's a quality tool.

PS: I assume "crow" refers to the split or claw end on some, and is now a generic term.

I have not tested any, but I always suspected they were 1080. I think Forest is probably correct.

jabezkin said:

A friend has one of those, bought at auction, and had no idea where it came from. I have not been able to talk him out of it. Wanna sell yours?

Sorry for the hijack..........

Click to expand...

I have one too. It seems to be indestructible.

You can buy one here:

http://www.materials.com/Titanium_tools.HTML

Sorry for the missspelling of crowbar. I am talking about the tool to pry with.Thanks for all your input so far.

years ago i made a long pry bar out of oil field sucker rod, about 1" diameter, i have no idea what that rod is made of, but it is about as
indestructable as any bar i have ever seen.

you can't bend it, yet is is soft enough to beat the crap out of without
splintering the end,

far as i can tell that stuff, whatever it is would be my first choice for
any prybar.

another note about crowbars, i have seen good ones shatter when dropped from 15-20 ft onto a concrete floor if the temp is down to
around 10 degree's F below zero. so contrary to popular belief they can be killed under the right conditions.

i have had my sucker rod bar in use down to 20 below zero and it shows no tendancy to chatter.

fwiw,, about as much as you paid for it



bob g

steel hand said:

I have one too. It seems to be indestructible.

You can buy one here:

http://www.materials.com/Titanium_tools.HTML

Click to expand...

There goes the money for Mom's chemotherapy....................

strokersix said:

I have a cat claw made of titanium. It's about 3/4 inch diameter with each end forged and overall length about 18 inch. Supposedly Russian army surplus. As to the alloy I have no idea.

Click to expand...

I have a titanium gardener's shovel, bought off Ebay. A lot of ordinary noncritical-use tools must have been made of titanium by the Russian black market for export to former Eastern bloc countries to whom sale of titanium stock was prohibited. Tools were ordered to get the titanium and were melted down upon receipt and cast into stock to be machined or formed. This is the story from the Ebay seller anyway.

Wooden crowbar = johnson bar.

We all know what that's named for.

Jim

Rarely have I read such a disgusting travesty in response to a serious question from someone in search of knowledge, especially since most of you should know that the name actually came from the inventor, Jim Crow. He invented it as a defensive weapon, one that could outreach a switchblade, and found that it was also useful for prying things open such items as coffins, when grave robbing, which led to the expression "to jimmy".

Bill

The McMaster-Carr catalog says "Forged from high-carbon steel", alloy not specified.

- Leigh