Cold rolled steel?

Pcmaker

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I live in Las Vegas and there's a metal supplier place called Curtis Steel. They mostly sell angle iron and stuff for welding and they sell them by 10 or 20 feet in length. They also have cold rolled steel and solid aluminum ruond bars and solid square stock.

I've tried turning hot rolled steel, but it doesn't machine well. I'm gonna try their cold rolled stuff.

Are they all the same? Or are the cold rolled stuff that machinists work on different?
 
CRS will machine very nicely. To harden you need to carborize it.
 
Hi Guys,

Its very much horses for courses. I've never had any real issues with machining either hot or cold rolled steel.
Stainless is another problem altogether.
 
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Some have mentioned getting poor surface finishes using carbide tools to cut mild steel. If you have this problem try HSS cutting tools
M
 
Cold rolling is part of the manufacturing process not a specific alloy. Some manufacturers use the designation CF (cold finished/formed).
The most common being 1018 CR, essentially 1018 HR that has been cold formed, this does not change the machining properties.
1045 CR or HR will turn a more satisfactory finish.
1215 CR is free machining and finishes nicely.
1144, 4130, 4340 and many others are readily available CR or HR.

It is the material that is important not the finishing process as far as machining goes.
 
Cold rolled does indeed machine differently that hot rolled steel, which is softer and tends to tear rather than cut freely and smoothly. The cold working of the metal makes it harder and more dense than HR. I disagree with the previous post that finishing makes no difference, that just the material makes a difference; cut a piece of HR, then a piece of CR of 1018, there definitely is a difference.
 
Unfortunately as hobbyists we have to get what's available for a decent price.It would be nice to use 1215, 12l14, 1144 but there are limits on cost, etc. I try to learn how to work with the material I can get, and this forum is useful for those ideas.
 
Unfortunately as hobbyists we have to get what's available for a decent price.It would be nice to use 1215, 12l14, 1144 but there are limits on cost, etc. I try to learn how to work with the material I can get, and this forum is useful for those ideas.
I understand this.
However many hobbyists are more concerned about appearance then function, hence the many "Can't get a good surface finish in steel" questions posted.

If I were making a hobby part and the most important consideration is surface finish I would happily pay more for a material that finishes nicely with the tooling and machines that I have to use.

Does this not make sense?
 
On the face of it, it does make sense, but availability is a big issue with most folks, it seems; surely we could all order from a convenient online source, such as Mc Master Carr, but it gets pretty expensive. I am personally fortunate to have cleaned out all the remnants of stock when I sold my business and taken them home, my very own little scrap yard, and can still go back to my old shop and beg material when needed, in exchange for such as cutter sharpening, etc.
Most hobbyists are not so fortunate, and must, by necessity use what comes to hand; by experience, they will learn to deal with less than ideal materials, and learn which cutting tools and lubricants lead to an acceptable finish, and also, they need to learn the use of files and abrasive cloth; cutting tools are not the panacea when it comes to finish.
Another thing that I have harped on several times previously is the choice of carbide inserts that hobbyists seem to gravitate to for reasons of economy, handiness, and utility; I am speaking of the parallelogram shaped (negative rake) inserts, they do not lend themselves to nice finishes to say the least, fine for roughing on a machine with sufficient power to effectively use them, machines, for the most part the hobbyist does not possess. A free cutting (positive rake) insert goes a long way to solving finish quality problems. I use nearly all TPG (positive rake) 300 and 400 series inserts for my lathe work except for work done on my 9" Monarch, where I use all HSS tools.
 
On the face of it, it does make sense, but availability is a big issue with most folks, it seems; surely we could all order from a convenient online source, such as Mc Master Carr, but it gets pretty expensive. I am personally fortunate to have cleaned out all the remnants of stock when I sold my business and taken them home, my very own little scrap yard, and can still go back to my old shop and beg material when needed, in exchange for such as cutter sharpening, etc.
Most hobbyists are not so fortunate, and must, by necessity use what comes to hand; by experience, they will learn to deal with less than ideal materials, and learn which cutting tools and lubricants lead to an acceptable finish, and also, they need to learn the use of files and abrasive cloth; cutting tools are not the panacea when it comes to finish.
Another thing that I have harped on several times previously is the choice of carbide inserts that hobbyists seem to gravitate to for reasons of economy, handiness, and utility; I am speaking of the parallelogram shaped (negative rake) inserts, they do not lend themselves to nice finishes to say the least, fine for roughing on a machine with sufficient power to effectively use them, machines, for the most part the hobbyist does not possess. A free cutting (positive rake) insert goes a long way to solving finish quality problems. I use nearly all TPG (positive rake) 300 and 400 series inserts for my lathe work except for work done on my 9" Monarch, where I use all HSS tools.
The exact point I was trying to make. Positive rake ground inserts with the appropriate radius have helped me a lot.
I found a good deal on 4" 1018 rod so I bought it, not my favorite to turn but it was half the price of 1215 or 12l14.
Choices we make.
 
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