Tool Steel

[Sean Troy]

Hello all, where might one find a place to purchase some cold rolled steel for making smaller hollowing tools? Thank's, Sean

[David Klug]

Sean try a blacksmith shop or a place that does steel work.

DK

[Travis Stinson]

Sean, I've gotten lots of material from ENCO.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRHM

[Tyler Howell]

Try an old file. Tough stuff

[Raymond Overman]

Try an old file. Tough stuff

I know a lot of tools have been made with files but I've also read that there are possibilities of cracks along the grooves in the steel making it weaker in places. There is a possibility of catastrophic failure while turning.

As for cold roll bars, I've purchased up to 5/8 at the big orange/blue boxes. I get my M2 bits from www.wttool.com (http://www.wttool.com) but they're local to me so I walk in and buy them instead of ordering from Enco. They also carry drill rod. I've made a straight boring bar as good as the $40-50 ones for less than $10 in material and still had enough left over to make a second one.

For very small hollowing tools I've heard of people using ground hardened allen wrenches to reach around shoulders.

[Curt Fuller]

Hello all, where might one find a place to purchase some cold rolled steel for making smaller hollowing tools? Thank's, Sean
If you're talking about steel to use as a shaft, that can be drilled to accept a cutting bit for a hollowing tool and stuck into a homemade handle, then just plain old 1/2" round bar that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes in the hardware section works fine. As for the cutting bit, I used old dull 1/4" drill bits, cut off the drilling part and used the end that goes into the chuck. Glued it in with CA. Grind a flat side to it and then sharpen it as a cutting/scraping bit that comes on the store bought tools.

[Sean Troy]

WOW ! great info, thanks, Sean

[Gary DeWitt]

Please, no files! They're much too brittle, so tend to break.
They wouldn't substitute for cold rolled steel anyway, much too hard. Cold rolled is NOT tool steel.

[Wayne Bitting]

I haven't bought metal to make my own tools yet, but I've bought it for other projects. Try Mc-Master Carr (mcmaster.com) for the price of a one foot piece of metal I needed at Lowes, I bought six foot and had it deilveried with cash left over! Website can be a little tough to work with at first.

[Bob Opsitos]

www.mcmastercarr.com (http://www.mcmastercarr.com)

Everything you could want.

Bob

[Paul Engle]

Hey Sean,
Pleaaasse do not use a file...in fact dont use anything that has already been hardened ( cold chisel's etc ) as a machinist for 30 some years it is the worst to use ,waaaayyy too hard / brittle and only meant for hand operation on non moving parts. There should be a steel supplier in your area serving the machine shops around , machine shop may even sell you some scrap too small to mount on a tool post, call one of them as most tool steel is very reasonalby priced and not that hard to regrind, drill rod is very cheap and i have used severial size to make bowl scrapers out of ( use a h2o dip to help keep cool) to what you may need , the smaller carbide turning bits are also not that expensive but require a specific wheel to sharpen on.

[Martin Braun]

Another thing that I have been tinkering with is making the tool articulated. That is fairly easy, as all you need is a hacksaw & thread tap. I found out the hard way to be sure to oil the tap as you cut the threads.

http://www.woodworking.org/photo/albums/userpics/15132/IMG_3024.JPG

In Ellsworth's videos, he mentioned that he fel that allen screws were a bad idea for turning tools because corrosion can cause them to freeze up. I have not had that issue with mine - yet :D.

[W.C. Turner]

I was at a friend's shop, over the weekend, and I saw some hollowing tools he had made using files. He used the Tang, for the business end, as that is not brittle like the rest of the file. He wrapped tape around the milled end of the files.

[Sean Troy]

Hey WC, are ya drying out down there yet? Looks like more rain on Wed.

[Frank Fusco]

Please, no files! They're much too brittle, so tend to break.
They wouldn't substitute for cold rolled steel anyway, much too hard. Cold rolled is NOT tool steel.

Files can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Knifemakers love them and the finished product is not brittle. They must first have the hardness drawn out. Then when finished, if you wish the ends or edge can be case hardened again.

[W.C. Turner]

Hey WC, are ya drying out down there yet? Looks like more rain on Wed.


Thank the good Lord, I'm on higher ground!! I think the folks, in the flood prone areas, just leave their belongings on a U-Haul, so they're ready for the next rain!