Which steels to stock ?

[Togalosh]

Evening Gents,

Do you have a selection of various grades of steel 'in stock' for turning & general making of.. erm, things ? If so what do you have or consider a fair range to keep ?..or does 1 steel cover what you make ? I am not asking about stainless steel.

If all goes to plan (& so far this hasn't happened) I should get my ML4 installed this weekend.. so I am thinking of getting a small amount of stock in.. however I haven't a clue as to which grade/s to get. I know this might well/definitely does depend on what I intend to make but is their a basic starter range you can recommend please? Is there a website I can go to to learn about the various steels ?..apart from Wikipedia of course.

DTR (if you are reading), what grade of steel did you use to make that puller/Centre ejector?

Today I got a few solid round bars of EN32B in various diameters but there was so much choice I thought I'd best find out more.

As ever any advice would be much appreciated.

Togs

 

[porker]

A lot of the metal stock I have is unknown origin and there are loads of grades of steel but I have some EN1A and EN8. The former turns nicely and is free cutting. EN8 is tougher and good for items that need to wear a bit better. I have quite a few lumps of bright bar and even more hot rolled which has a scaly finish which can blunt HSS tools. Also worth having some silver steel as it can easily be hardened after machining.

Have a look at Harold Halls website http://www.homews.co.uk/ He has useful info and his books are pretty good too.

 

[chaoticbob]

EN1A cuts well and it's relatively easy to get a decent finish. It's a good general purpose steel I've found, though I also use EN3B (just because the place down the road stocks it), which is a bit tougher but still machines OK. EN1A (or the leaded version EN1APb, which machines even better, but can't be welded) is a good place to start out if you're new to metal turning - sometimes people start on scrap off a skip, then get depressed thinking there's something wrong with them or their lathe, but it's just horrible stringy steel. Cast iron machines beautifully (if messily), but it's expensive in decent grades.
Rob.

 

[Togalosh]

. Also worth having some silver steel as it can easily be hardened after machining.

.

Hello Porker,

Thanks for replying .. is 'silver steel' an actual grade that all suppliers recognise ?

Hardening - by heat I take it. Is that not quite complicated & exacting ?

I will check out that website - thanks.

 

[Togalosh]

then get depressed thinking there's something wrong with them or their lathe

Hi Rob,

Thanks for replying. Would my old ML4 struggle with certain grades over others or is it about knowing it's limitations then working & tooling accordingly ?

 

[CHJ]

This PDF from my site might be of help, none of the finer details but it helps when browsing the model engineering show stalls.

I tend to hold a selection of Hex Bar stock as well as round, this then enables the easy production of fixing pillars, nuts and odd bolts as well as providing rounds if round bar stock runs out.

Consider buying packs of assorted sizes in the 600mm to 1000mm lengths. Often quite economical.

 

[porker]

. Also worth having some silver steel as it can easily be hardened after machining.

.

Hello Porker,

Thanks for replying .. is 'silver steel' an actual grade that all suppliers recognise ?

Hardening - by heat I take it. Is that not quite complicated & exacting ?

I will check out that website - thanks.

I'm sure it has a number but I don't know what it is. Also called tool steel. Hardening is not too difficult. Machine, heat until cherry red and quench. Then reheat to a straw colour to draw a temper. Easier to see it on youtube than describe.

 

[monkeybiter]

I have made milling cutters with silver steel, allows you to produce a custom profile. I reckon you could make router cutters too, but they might not have the most durable edge.

 

[woodpig]

I generally have some mild steel in stock in round and square, stainless steel in round and also aluminium alloy. I also have 01 ground flat stock and silver steel. Quite a few bits and pieces have been saved from going to scrap and are of unknown parentage!

 

[DTR]

DTR (if you are reading), what grade of steel did you use to make that puller/Centre ejector?

Hi Togs,

I used EN1A. I generally use EN1A unless I specifically need something else (not often). I have some hex in EN8, but I think that's all I could get at the time. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever seen hex in EN1A. I have a fair bit of aluminium in various sections too; it's obviously not as hard as steel but it machines easily. I often use it to make little workshop fixtures; a case in point, I just used some to make a lathe saddle-stop.

A lot of the metal stock I have is unknown origin and there are loads of grades of steel but I have some EN1A and EN8. The former turns nicely and is free cutting. EN8 is tougher and good for items that need to wear a bit better.

+1.

then get depressed thinking there's something wrong with them or their lathe

Hi Rob,

Thanks for replying. Would my old ML4 struggle with certain grades over others or is it about knowing it's limitations then working & tooling accordingly ?

Yes, you might find your ML4 will struggle with some steels. The same would be true of any other lathe of similar power. A few years ago, we had a bolt shear off at work. This bolt was 1" diameter and about a yard long. After it sat in the office for a while, I decided that no-one would notice if I took it home. Turns out the stuff is horrible! Tough as old boots and impossible to get a good finish. I still have it, but I've given up trying to machine it. A more powerful machine with carbide tooling might make a better impression on it.

 

[CHJ]

...Turns out the stuff is horrible! Tough as old boots and impossible to get a good finish. I still have it, but I've given up trying to machine it. A more powerful machine with carbide tooling might make a better impression on it.

I got involved with a shipment of components that had been made in India that had a small but significant problem, looked the business as they had been finished on a centreless grinder.

Soon found out why the finish, virtually impossible to turn the stuff to a decent finish, whatever it is, just about usable on my small lathe but not pretty.

 

[woodfarmer]

I once made the mistake of asking for "mild steel" expecting en1a. What i got turns like copper, really soft and clingy.

But why limit yourself to metals? there are a lot of good engineering plastics about that are a joy to use although they make lots of swarf I have come late in life to plastics, at first found it difficult to find any application for them.

 

[chaoticbob]

then get depressed thinking there's something wrong with them or their lathe

Hi Rob,

Thanks for replying. Would my old ML4 struggle with certain grades over others or is it about knowing it's limitations then working & tooling accordingly ?

The latter I'd say - I started out with a wee 45kg bench lathe which will turn any material my bigger machine will do, just not as fast (or as big obviously!). Your machine will probably struggle to drive carbide insert tooling, but with sharp HSS should be OK. EN1A is a good place to start if you're not sure about the lathes's capability - I suggested that in the same way as you wouldn't advise someone who wanted to learn how to hand plane to go out and get a lump of curly maple to practice on.
My own stock of metal has been built up over time by buying what I need for a specific project, but doubling or tripling the length. It's tempting to buy stuff to cover every eventuality, but unless you have very deep pockets, not possible. Same goes for tooling.
Rob.

 

[Togalosh]

Thanks very much Gents,

I can now go back into the metal shop with some confidence. Not looking clueless will be very nice. I hadn't thought about getting hex section.. or engineering plastics.

Hopefully I will be posting pics of my new metalwork area complete with slightly upgraded ML4 very soon ! ...(it won't be as impressive as that might sound).

Togs