What Tool Steel Grades for Shop-Build Turning Tools?

[Vaughn McMillan]

Seeing Dominic Greco's thread about his recently-built turning tools got me into research mode. Thus, a question:

What is the recommended grade of steel for turning tools? In looking at drill rod prices, I see there are several different grades available. A2 looks like it'd fit the bill, but I'm ignorant about such things. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[Gary DeWitt]

Depends on what you're going to do with the steel. Drill blanks are already hardened, so all you have to do is grind them. Good for half round (aka skewchigouge) and three sided point. But they're impossible to drill with standard drills. So in the case of making hollowing tools, and if you want to drill a hole to attach your tool "bit" to another bar of steel, you would need O1 (oil hardening steel) which you can machine but then need to harden. Google for how to harden steel, there is lots of info out there. Metal machine supply companies sell various sizes of square bar stock, 3/16 is popular with woodturners. It's already hardened, you just grind the profile you want on the end. Attach it with CA, epoxy, or a screw and washer arrangement.
Two other low budget possibilities are concrete nails, which are already hard and can be ground to any shape or heated and hammered/twisted into hook tools for hollowing, and allen wrenches. Oh, one more. You can sometimes get very hard HSS round bars from auctions, such as ebay, which were used as inspection references in machine shops. Incomplete sets and old worn ones are useless to the machine shop, so are sold cheaper than you can buy the steel elsewhere. Again, grind only.
Have fun, there's something very satisfying about making and using your own tools.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Depends on what you're going to do with the steel. Drill blanks are already hardened, so all you have to do is grind them. Good for half round (aka skewchigouge) and three sided point. But they're impossible to drill with standard drills. So in the case of making hollowing tools, and if you want to drill a hole to attach your tool "bit" to another bar of steel, you would need O1 (oil hardening steel) which you can machine but then need to harden. Google for how to harden steel, there is lots of info out there. Metal machine supply companies sell various sizes of square bar stock, 3/16 is popular with woodturners. It's already hardened, you just grind the profile you want on the end. Attach it with CA, epoxy, or a screw and washer arrangement.
Two other low budget possibilities are concrete nails, which are already hard and can be ground to any shape or heated and hammered/twisted into hook tools for hollowing, and allen wrenches. Oh, one more. You can sometimes get very hard HSS round bars from auctions, such as ebay, which were used as inspection references in machine shops. Incomplete sets and old worn ones are useless to the machine shop, so are sold cheaper than you can buy the steel elsewhere. Again, grind only.
Have fun, there's something very satisfying about making and using your own tools.

For the round drill stock, there seems to be different levels or types of hardening. For example, these guys list five different grades of drill blanks, and a boatload of flat stock grades. Any suggestions?

I do have some old Allen wrenches that I'll probaly be eyeing for hollowing tools in the future, and I hadn't though about concrete nails.

Thanks for the help.

[Rich Souchek]

Vaughn,
You must be like me, I think to hard on some things, instead of just doing.
On tool steels for turning tools, Gary DeWitt above has you covered. The list of tool steel you linked to includes the O1 Gary referenced and all of the tools steel grades shown there need to be hardened and quenched before use.
As Gary said, the drill blanks are already hardened and one can just grind them (without overheating) and then use them.
Some companies sell HSS rods, but I don't know what hardness they are when purchased. (Wholesale Tools is the store I go by in Houston....)
Rich S.

[Phil Powell]

I have purchased M2 HSS from Enco in rounds and squares. The steel
machines well enough and is as hard as commercial turning tools. They
are a great company to deal with and very fast delivery.

[Gary DeWitt]

Are you prepared to harden and aneal the steel after rough grinding/machining? Not too difficult, if you have a torch, a metal can and some cheap olive oil (for O1, the easiest). A magnet is handy too, as the steel will become non magnetic when it reaches the temp it needs to be for you to quench it. You also need to cook the steel at 300-500 degrees for awhile to make it not so brittle. This step seems to be optional, some home tool makers don't bother. I just buy already hardened steel, since I don't have a mill to make flutes for gouges anyway.