Hardness of steel rod…

[digitaltripper]

Great thread, I’m with Tom as far as understanding steel composition. I also must state that I am not trying to hijack your thread Tom but two things, one of which I’d like to know, and one of which I just wanted to share…

What would be a good steel to make/turn on my lathe, an arbor from? Could I use a steel nail or do I need a steel that is harder than that?

Number two, is a show that I watched on netflix, called “Secrets of the Viking Sword” where a blacksmith creates the raw materials for the sword etc….Very interesting although I do not understand it all yet…

Thanks for letting me butt in….

Jim

[tmac1956]

@david pierce wrote:

Tom,
I have not heard of 2L14 before. I have heard of 12L14 and 12L14 with tellurirm. Both of these are called screw machine stock; also known as leaded stock. You can bury a cutter into the steel, run the RPMs up and and produce a finish that looks like it was polished. The tinsile strength is relatively low @68,000 psi. The carbon content is extremely low .09% and it contains .15%-.35% lead. There is no steel that I know of that machined as well as this stuff but it was extremely difficult if not impossible to weld. Steels designed to be hardened contain a carbon content of .3% up to 1.02%. The higher end carbon content steels are used for low tinsile strength high hardness applications such as ball bearings.
A2 would be a much better choice for a punch and die.
david

David:

2L14 is a new form of steel derived by not copying the “1” when attempting to paste 12L14.

Thanks for the information. It machines so easily that I figured it just couldn’t be suitable for a tool like a punch.

Later,
Tom

[tmac1956]

@digitaltripper wrote:

Great thread, I’m with Tom as far as understanding steel composition. I also must state that I am not trying to hijack your thread Tom but two things, one of which I’d like to know, and one of which I just wanted to share…

What would be a good steel to make/turn on my lathe, an arbor from? Could I use a steel nail or do I need a steel that is harder than that?

Number two, is a show that I watched on netflix, called “Secrets of the Viking Sword” where a blacksmith creates the raw materials for the sword etc….Very interesting although I do not understand it all yet…

Thanks for letting me butt in….

Jim

Jim:

I haven’t turned an arbor yet, but Bob and David can certainly answer that one. I take it that the netflix show is available as streamable content, correct? If so, I can get the free one month trial, watch the show, and then cancel my subscription.

Later,
Tom

[david pierce]

Jim,
Let me start by stating that a steel nail is definately NOT going to produce an arbor that you would be happy with. There are a lot of types of steels that are cataloged in various ways. The steels that would be more suitable for watch arbors would be in the catagory of tool steels. The most suitable of these would be drill rod which is generally classified acording to the method of heat treatment. The three major categories of drill rod are called WATER HARDENING, OIL HARDENING, and AIR HARDINING. Which one is suitable for watch arbors? The answer is ALL OF THEM. They are all good quality tool steels. The traditional material for watch staffs was purchased from watch supply houses and would come in a pack of short lengths about 1/12 inches long. The steel had the letter “W” in the classification code which ment that it was water hardening tool steel. As most watch repair people bought their staff material from watch supply centers and not industrial supply houses, most watch staffs were made from water hardening tool steel. Water hardening steel also happens to be the least expensive of the three. Oil hardening steel costs a little more than water hardening steel and is hardened by quenching the red hot part into oil instead of water (usually mixed with salt). Air hardening is the most expensive and is hardened by heating to a red hot temperature and blowing air on it. The good news is a 3 foot length of air hardening drill rod in a small diameter suitable for watch staffs is only about $10.00. Three feet of this stuff will probably be enough to last several years. Check with MSC or other industrial supply houses that carry drill rod and order some. This stuff will work much better than a nail.
david

[david pierce]

Tom,
That new form of steel sounds like it machines really well. You should immediately apply for a patent.

As far as the old blacksmithing methods go, modern materials are exponentially better than anything that was produced in ancient times. The purity of the ingredients is more consistent, the quanties of the different ingredients are more precisely measured, the temperatures are more carefully controlled, the time required for the cooking process is more carefull controlled and the quality control of the finished product is much better. In the more than 30 years that I was in the business I can not believe the crap I heard over the years about cutting tools such as end mill cutters from China that were produced by ancient swordmaker steel recipies. It never worked out.
david

[david pierce]

Tom,
I think I misunderstood what you were planing to make. If you are talking about a center punch or a prick punch or stakes and stumps, use water hardening drill rod. There is no reason to use a more expensive steel for these items.
david

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