So, I got me a 3' piece of 5/16" drill rod to top off my toolrests. I'm lucky to have a local Fastenal dealer...great folks there!

Now, I've got about an 8" piece of the drill rod leftover. It's the oil-hardened variety, so my question is this - Can I use pieces of this drill rod to grind some sort of edge on, or groove in, and put in a handle (cold-rolled steel, not wooden) to use as a small gouge? Will this metal hold up to cutting wood as a tooltip, or should that be another piece/type of metal?
Thanks!