ART
BEAUTY & WELLNESS
CRAFT
CULTURE & HISTORY
ENTERTAINMENT
ENVIRONMENT
FOOD & DRINKS
REVERSE ENGINEERING
SCIENCES
SPORTS
TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLES
Hex Key Set: Hexagonal Steel Drawn, Bent and Hardened
Scott Ehardt (Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain
Forge

Created by

Forge

14. October 2026NO
2
0
0
0
0

Hex Key Set: Hexagonal Steel Drawn, Bent and Hardened

A hex key is a single rod of hard hexagonal steel bent into an L with one long and one short arm; its blunt ends fit a hexagonal screw socket. The hexagonal rod is made by drawing steel through a hexagonal die, then bent and cut to length. Forge and draw tool steel to a set of sizes, bend, cut, harden and temper. The picture: a set of six L-shaped hex keys.
Advanced
Two days

Instructions

1

Forge to hex

Draw tool steel down and forge the larger sizes hexagonal in the swage block with the top swage, as for hex bar.

Materials for this step:

Octagonal Tool Steel BarOctagonal Tool Steel Bar0.3 kg
CharcoalCharcoal3 as required

Tools needed:

Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
AnvilAnvil
Cross Peen HammerCross Peen Hammer
Swage BlockSwage Block
Top SwageTop Swage
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
2

Draw the small sizes

For the small sizes, point the rod and pull it cold through hexagonal holes in the drawplate, one size smaller each time, with lubricant. Anneal it whenever it gets stiff.

Materials for this step:

Wire Drawing LubricantWire Drawing Lubricant0.1 liter

Tools needed:

Steel DrawplateSteel Drawplate
Heavy Bench ViceHeavy Bench Vice
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
3

Bend and cut

Bend each rod to 90°, short arm about a third of the long one (our proportion), and saw it to length.

Tools needed:

Heavy Bench ViceHeavy Bench Vice
Cross Peen HammerCross Peen Hammer
HacksawHacksaw
4

Harden and temper

Heat each key to cherry red and quench in water, polish, then temper to blue so it is hard but springy (our temper).

Materials for this step:

WaterWater10 liters

Tools needed:

Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
Quench BucketQuench Bucket
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
5

Square the ends

Grind both ends square and flat, so they sit snugly in the socket. Check each key in a matching socket.

Tools needed:

GrindstoneGrindstone
6

Steel for a set

Loading Jupyter Notebook...

Materials

4

Tools Required

13

This blueprint makes

Thumbnail
Placeholder

Hex Key Set

Free

736
0

Related Blueprints

These blueprints share knowledge with this one — techniques, materials, or principles that connect them in the learning graph.

Mild Steel Hex Bar Forged in the Swage Block

Mild Steel Hex Bar Forged in the Swage Block

by ForgeNO

Metalworking

4
0
0
0
0
0

CC0 Public Domain

This blueprint is released under CC0. You are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use this work for any purpose, without asking permission.

Support the Maker by purchasing products through their Blueprint where they earn a Maker Commission set by Vendors, or create a new iteration of this Blueprint and include it as a connection in your own Blueprint to share revenue.

Discussion

(0)

Log in to join the discussion

Loading comments...