tool steel selection small jobs

[petertha]

I want to buy a selection of progressive round sizes for general projects. Its actually surprisingly cheap, $1.50 - 6.00 for 36" lenths for 1/16" - 3/8" dia respectively. Mostly I'm after its close sizing for related do-dad's want to make that wont require any hardening, just used in its annealed state. But the odd time I want to harden for simple cutting tools like I see on the forum

I found this link that referenced relative machinability of tool steels
http://www.simplytoolsteel.com/machining-tool-steel.html

There is virtually no price difference between O (oil) & W (water) & A (air). But the machinability of W looks better according to the link. Water seems less fuss than oil I suppose, keeping a jug of oil on hand, smoking... nothing major. But wondering, is there any downside to water tool steel I should be aware of at these sizes? Distortion maybe?

I dont have an oven, maybe one day. HT would be torch work for if at all possible. Although... I have seen some local hobby knifebuilder types that will do this kind of work on small scale, presumably to help pay for their HT oven.

 

[gmac]

Aside from the issue of machinability; the difference appears to be the depth of hardening and the hardness rating achieved.

http://www.onlinemetals.com/toolsteelguide.cfm

http://www.alro.com/datacatalog/tooldiesteelhandbook.pdf

Just a note; don't forget the "slightly" undersize and oversize from standard diameters (ie reamers), so holes and shafts can be properly clearanced. I've found water hardening tool steel to be readily available locally even in small towns, but only in the standard dimensions. Air and oil hardening not generally stocked here.

Cheers Garry