Steel inlaid into wood? | Problem Solving | Forum

I have seen it done on mallet heads and posts, they make the ring about exactly the size of the round end of the wood, should be too tight to go on , (just),  then heat ring to low red heat, drive onto wood (very fast), then cool immediately in your slack tub, pull out just so a little heat resides in the ring and you are done.  (If you do 2 ends, you have to completely dry out the wood, this only works on dry seasoned wood, [not greenwood, as it shrinks] ).  helps if slight rounding at edge of wood to start driving.  DO NOT STOP DURING DRIVING or you will fail. Use an arced chisel and two persons if possible, since you want to drive evenly. Ring must end up perpendicular (straight across the wood).  

A separate way is to slightly wedge the post end and just drive on cold, but results may vary, since hard to hit at more than one spot at once, using an arced chisel like a barrel maker.

  also note that too slow to cool and you get large burn/black on the wood, with some char-coaling.

Similar to wagon wheels. It can be done on stumps, pilings, etc.

Ringed Japanese wood chisels are another good technique, maybe check with Arnon K. for details on that.