Just ordered the AAW book on making tools. Who is a good source of HSS or other materials for making turning tools? TIA.
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HSS source?
- Thread starter John Torchick
- Start date
I've bought several pieces of HSS off of Amazon and ebay. They have square, round and rectangular shapes, usually about 200 mm in length which is about 8". I'm sure it's Chinese made HSS. I have no way of testing it but it seems to hold up alright. Thompson also sells the higher end steel blanks that you can grind into tools.
McMaster-Carr or MSC are both good sources.
I've had good luck with these folks.
https://www.wttool.com/index/page/p...Round+Tool+Bits&update_continue_shopping=true
The link is for round tool bits, we are going to have a class and make one end a skew and the other a pyramid tool. It is definitely fun to turn with a tool you've made... Here's one but with 1/4 inch stock.
https://www.wttool.com/index/page/p...Round+Tool+Bits&update_continue_shopping=true
The link is for round tool bits, we are going to have a class and make one end a skew and the other a pyramid tool. It is definitely fun to turn with a tool you've made... Here's one but with 1/4 inch stock.
I know, It's HF, but these are M2 steel and I use them for detail carving.
https://www.harborfreight.com/5-pie...king-lathes-40641.html?_br_psugg_q=lathe+bits
https://www.harborfreight.com/5-pie...king-lathes-40641.html?_br_psugg_q=lathe+bits
I buy several things from HF but the HSS items are too small/short. Thanks.
I like the fine sanding sponges for lightly sanding pen blanks.
I like the fine sanding sponges for lightly sanding pen blanks.
Enco. Sadly, they were bought up by MSC and the extensive array of steel options has shrunk dramatically. 
I too have recently purchased some tool steel on amazon, with reasonable results. Nowhere near the ease and satisfaction of buying online from Enco, but eventually I was able to find something that will work, that somebody has in stock and can deliver faster than a slow boat from Wuhan.
I too have recently purchased some tool steel on amazon, with reasonable results. Nowhere near the ease and satisfaction of buying online from Enco, but eventually I was able to find something that will work, that somebody has in stock and can deliver faster than a slow boat from Wuhan.
odie
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I have purchased some 1/2" x 1/2" square M2 stock for my homemade scrapers from WT Tool......I'm satisfied with their service.
-----odie-----
I want a special tool. I have approached a few black smiths about making it and no one has yet even considered it enough to even give me a price. I just don't know quite enough about tempering to finish the job. I even have a piece of HSS already. The problem is that it is more than just grinding, it will require some forge work to achieve the shape. I have not done any such work since Jr. High school. I want this: shown in the opening
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsHqFUnsFAc
That is, to me, a skew which can be bought in several types and widths. Look for a farrier (shoes horses) in your area. They would have a high temp furnace and anvil to shape the tool.
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Watched a few minutes All I saw was a skew and hook tool.
you can make a close match to the skew from a round bar of HSS
Or even an octagonal bar.
Alan Lacer rounds off the edges of his skews, and he uses some monsters. But the round shank, I think presents some advantages for rolling beads and coves. The edge angles seems more acute than the standard skew here but with far more bevel for support of the blade against the stock. Riding the bevel where the bevel on a half inch skew is less than 3/16 inch is not the easiest for a beginner. Riding a bevel, where it is an inch or more, is a piece of cake. To me it seems round shank makes for more stability against the rest but still give the length of blade that a standard two inch wide skew would offer. Since I first watched these videos, I have been using my skew for a parting tool with much cleaner cuts. Could be this is the one tool that could advance me to turning greatness
))or just another in a long line of promising let downs oops.
Only one tool to turning greatness? With my kind of luck, my ship will come in and I'll be at the airport.Could be this is the one tool that could advance me to turning greatness
Perry, if you look up the heat treating schedule for HSS, you will understand why a blacksmith won't touch that. However, O1 is a different story and with a few basic tools such as a ball pean hammer, a splitting wedge sunk into a fair sized log, a blow torch, oil for quench and some imagination and determination, it's amazing some of the things you can come up with. The problem is, like woodturning, you can get caught up in the vortex... I now have an anvil, a post vice and a line on a forge. I'm trying to talk myself into not going to the "Dan Boone's Pasture Party" this Saturday. Advertised as "a small gathering of 300+ of Dan & Judy Boone's close friends in the blacksmith community."
I'm weak and have no discipline...
I'm weak and have no discipline...
When I lived in No VA, there were black smith get togethers with lessons at Frying Pan park , but my ex-wife always had something that interfered with me going. I think she intentionally scheduled her relatives' weddings and reunions to interfere with the date. I suppose I will give it a try myself. .
Alan Lacer has a pretty good DVD on making your own steel tools, which includes the forging and tempering. I'm no expert but I've made about 4 hook tools and a variety of less complicated tools. It's a pretty straightforward recipe, and when you goof up the tempering, as you will, you just start over. And keep doing it over until you get it right.