High speed steel blanks

[Spatula Tzar]

I've searched plenty, but I can't seem to find anything. Does anyone know where I can get long high speed steel blanks? I need something like 1/8" by 3/4" by 18". I want to make some lathe chisels, since most everything out there is garbage Everyone makes them with a very short tang, which always falls out.

I can find plenty of 4" long stock made for lathe tools, but anything longer seems to be rather rare. Any suggestions?

[Midnight Sun]

Find a local machine shop and ask them if they have any stock near what you're looking for that you could buy a cutting of?

[1983]

Ask a recycling yard where their metal goes to and work your way up the chain.

I actually have a few cards from different companies that will order me in what I need but it usually has a bit of a bump in price.

Just my $0.02 though.

Al

[Turd_Smasher]

http://flat-stock.com

S7 steel in that size would be around $16

[Spatula Tzar]

Flat-stock.com seems good. I'm not really sure what alloy I need though. Most everyone uses M2, which they don't have.

Most alloys they sell are annealed. Is this good or bad? I intend to use this mainly for cutting hard silicate filled wood, though possibly aluminium and alabaster as well.

[Mantikore]

Heh, i get my knife steel from a place that has exactly what you have. Its a mom&pop hardware store, so you might want to look there

If it comes annealed,it wont be as hard, and youll probably be expected to heat treat it yourself, which is actually pretty tricky with M2

[1983]

^What about case hardening it?

Al

[Vargus]

Originally Posted by Spatula Tzar

I've searched plenty, but I can't seem to find anything. Does anyone know where I can get long high speed steel blanks? I need something like 1/8" by 3/4" by 18". I want to make some lathe chisels, since most everything out there is garbage Everyone makes them with a very short tang, which always falls out.

I can find plenty of 4" long stock made for lathe tools, but anything longer seems to be rather rare. Any suggestions?

I'd call a few steel manufacturer's. That size is definitely odd, and M2 is pretty tough to get a hold of, not to mention ridiculously expensive. It's also got a special heat treatment process that's very difficult to do without a very high-powered, computerized oven.

And why M2 and not something like O1 or A2? Much cheaper, are through-hardening, and are very hard. W5 file steel would probably be cheaper than M2, and I've never seen anyone carrying it.

Originally Posted by 1983

^What about case hardening it?

Al

You'd wind up with an extremely brittle part because of ferric carbide contamination if the carbon even takes (eutectoid points) or if it does you will see alloying element precipitation. Tool steels typically have enough carbon and alloying elements to thoroughly harden a part to very high hardness. The compositions are extensively researched, no need to mess with them.

[Mantikore]

^^ M2 has tungsten as one of its major carbide formers, about 10 times more than O1. Tungsten carbide is really good at resisting high temperatures, so its good for high speed applications compared to other tool steels. This temperature resistance is what makes it pretty tricky to heat treat, and usually requires multiple cycles in tempering.

You can purchase M2 that is already heat treated to 58-62 HRC, and its not too difficult to grind in the hardened state, although youll need some nice belts/wheels.

[Spatula Tzar]

Considering I mostly do woodworking and I have regular HSS tool bits for metal, I really don't need the thermal resistant properties of M2. What I need is an alloy which will stay sharp longer than carbon steel, can be sharpened with a grindstone, and can be made sharper than tungsten carbide inserts.

Any suggestions? Most wood lathe chisels are simply labelled "HSS", which is all I really have to go by.

[Turd_Smasher]

In that case I recommend 01 steel. It's easy to harden at low temperatures and gives a badass edge. It has deep hardening properties, so overheating won't have as much effect as most steels would.

[Spatula Tzar]

Hmm, I'm concerned about O1 being too soft, and not very rust resistant. I think I'd prefer something which can hold an edge longer, considering I like to work with extremely hard exotic woods with lots of silicates in them.

[Hilary Duff]

Theres a place near me that sells M2.
It's at: http://www.speedmetals.com/metal_products.asp
You can ask them for a quote, and if they try to overcharge you for shipping, I can order it from them and ship it to you for less. I can also cut it to the sizes you need. Let me know if you're interested.