Best steel for home made tooling?

[umnik]

What is the best steel for making tooling like lathe cutter holder, quick change cutter holder, fly cutter and such. What about heat treating them for better wearability and rigidity? What is you experience and recommendations?

 

[markba633csi]

Ordinary steel such as 1018 would serve for all three of those items, since they aren't typically highly stressed, the fly cutter a possible exception
There are more exotic choices such as 1144, 12L14, 4140 and so forth if you need higher strength, better machinability or some other feature
Usually, several steels will be suitable for any particular job, often the choice is made easier by what we have on hand
Mark
ps heat-treating is a whole other subject, I'll let someone else cover that

 

[Canus]

I agree with Mark on choice of steel. I have made all of the items you mentioned from odds and ends I had laying about and have not needed to heat treat any of them. If you want to make cutting tools you will need some sort of hardenable steel (O1, W1, etc). The heat treating process can be tricky. You must be able to heat the subject item to the proper temperature and keep it there for the proper amount of time for its grain structure to stabilize throughout the part, then quench it in the appropriate medium (oil or water) to lock in that grain structure. Make sure you agitate the part while quenching to ensure proper cooling. Then if using a torch for heat you must polish the part so that you can identify the color you want when tempering. If you have an oven that can reach tempering temperature that would be better. As far as heat treating goes a visit to your local library and reading all you can on the subject will help immensely.

 

[BGHansen]

I use O1 drill rod for punches and dies and most other tools that need to be tough (actually doing the work, not just holding the tool doing the work). Have heat treating capability with a couple of Thermolyne muffle furnaces. You can heat treat with a torch and toaster oven too.

Heat treating the steel will not make it stiffer or more rigid. On high carbon steels it will raise the point that the tool permanently bends at, but the plot of stress vs. strain for steels is pretty much the same regardless of the alloy. You can make the tool stiffer by using carbide (about triple the stiffness factor) or by increasing the size (bigger moment of inertia).

Bruce

 

[astjp2]

Better quality steels typically tend to wear better, I prefer a 41 or a 43 series series steel for many things. If they are hardened, there is less of a chance for galling in the chuck, etc. That is my opinion. I would not use them for cutters, but they do good for tool holding. Tim

 

[dulltool17]

Better quality steels typically tend to wear better, I prefer a 41 or a 43 series series steel for many things. If they are hardened, there is less of a chance for galling in the chuck, etc. That is my opinion. I would not use them for cutters, but they do good for tool holding. Tim

Agreed! 4140 and 4350 are great choices.

 

[Larry42]

If you are going to use these tool holders in a commercial/production environment the use of higher strength steels may be justified. I find it hard to believe they are justified for the hobbyist. Heat treating seems beyond necessary and if not well controlled may actually cause more harm than good.

 

[jdedmon91]

If your home shop for QC blocks and such. I use what’s handy. My homemade tool blocks that I use a block of A36 structural steel. My fly cutter holder is 8620 because I had a piece of material of it

I had good results with each


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[rgray]

My fly cutter holder is 8620 because I had a piece of material of it

Also awesome stuff there. And heat treatable.

 

[jdedmon91]

Yep, it’s good stuff, I have a small amount of stock. It was scrap parts from Eaton Transmission I got before I retired


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