where to buy m2 hss

[joe zarnitz]

looking for a place to buy about 24''

[Greg Just]

Try Enco or MCS. Either one should have what you are looking for.

[Paul Gilbert]

If you are going to make lathe tools with this, remember that M2 must be tempered. I bought 3/8" round bar from Enco to make a round skew. The first buy was labeled as drill rod. It was not tempered and the skew held an edge for about 10 milliseconds. The second buy was from the same source, but the round bar was labeled tool bits and was tempered. That worked fine.

When I found out that Thompson http://www.thompsonlathetools.com/ would supply round bar I threw out my skewchigouges and skews and replaced them with his blanks. I don't buy anything but Thompson unless he just can't supply it.

[Greg Just]

If you are going to make lathe tools with this, remember that M2 must be tempered.


Paul:

you might consider watching Alan Lacer's video on tool making. He covers hardening and tempering steel. Very good video.

[Dave Noon]

Joe,
If you are looking to make tools you will need to buy annealed bar, shape it and then heat treat.
Hardening temperature is around 2200F which is not usually attainable in a home brew set up, needs an industrial type facility.
For homemade try O1, it only needs around 1200F.
Dave

[Dick Strauss]

To add to Dave's comments...and O-1 steel can be tempered (so it is not too brittle) to a hardness (Rc) of 56-64 in your home oven!

[Dave Noon]

Thanks Dick - I should have followed through the whole process to make it more clear.
All tool steels should be tempered after hardening otherwise they are too brittle.
In the case of M2 you will probably find most tools are double or even triple drawn (tempered).
Dave

[Jeff Nicol]

There are places that sell it already treated and ready to go but then the price goes up considerably. There are companys who sell it for people who make mouldings and custom wood trim etc that can be ground into the shapes needed. It is also for large planers too but usually has one side with grooves in it to mate with the mounting surfaces of the shapers or planers or whatever tool the steel is being used in. Here is a link to a company that I have bought steel from and blades for my planer.

http://globaltooling.bizhosting.com/products/knives-corrugated/m2-hss-corrugated-moulder-knives.html

You can get the steel in different thicknesses and the cost is not all that bad. You will have to grind off the rigdes if you want but all I have done is smooth them down so the are not sharp and you can't tell that they are there. They may sell you unground flat stock if you contacted them, I just never have asked.

Good luck,

Jeff