Tool steel needed

[rolland]

I need to make a small part for an obsolete pistol, the part is small enough that a piece of CRS will not hold up. I need to be able to harden it past what standard carbon steel will. I had a piece of A1 but the gremlins got into my shop and made off with it. I needs to be 1/8 thick and large enough to hold it in the mill. 1 1/2 square would be more than enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can't seem to find a supplier that has that thin of material, I used to be able to get it to make extractors for rolling block rifles but the supplier no longer exists or at least I can't find them.

[elf]

Griggs Steel has 1/8" thick flat stock in HSS. You should be able to harden it sufficiently with the same process as O1 although it would be better to use the proper heat and temper procedure.

[Sparky_NY]

+1 to what elf said. I very recently made several flat firing pins and extractors using O1 ground flat stock. There is lots of it on ebay and good prices. O1 is a common go-to metal for such parts and easily hardened in the home shop.

[JCHannum]

McMaster Carr is a good source for tool steels, oil water or air hardening flat and round stock. Many, if not most of those small parts were of mild steel and case hardened in the original firearm. I regularly use Kasenit or other case hardening compounds for these type of parts.

[gzig5]

Speedy Metals has A2, D2, and S7 that should suit your needs. you can buy small qty and they will ship. Mcmaster is a good source too. If you strike out, I may have a smallish piece of A2 in the Misc bucket

[Fasttrack]

Looks like you can get 6" of what you need for around 10 bucks, plus shipping. Not too bad, in my book. I would be leery of buying tool steel for a critical application from eBay. Too great a chance of getting counterfeit material from China...

Look at O1 or A2 and select 1/8" thick, 1.5" wide:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#tool-steel/=18ohzrg

[Bob Ford]

Most knife makers supply has what you are looking for.
Here is one. http://www.jantzsupply.com/
Look under blade steel.
Bob

[JRouche]

Griggs Steel has 1/8" thick flat stock in HSS. You should be able to harden it sufficiently with the same process as O1 although it would be better to use the proper heat and temper procedure.

I have never made anything out of HSS like that. How do you do it??? Anneal first?? Or was this a mis-print?? Thanks, JR

[epicfail48]

Newjerseysteelbaron.com is my pick for a metal supplier. Good selection and prices, they charge about the same for a 4 foot bar as most places seem to for a quarter or that

[doctor demo]

. I had a piece of A1 but the gremlins got into my shop and made off with it. I needs to be 1/8 thick and large enough to hold it in the mill. 1 1/2 square would be more than enough..

I may have something close to what you want, can it be thicker than 1/8" without causing you any major problems?
I'll look at what I have and report back.

Steve

[Toolguy]

I prefer an oil hardening steel for general applications like this, over an air hardening steel. The air hardening steels can go hard during machining if they get a bit too hot during the cutting operation. Oil hard is more forgiving in this regard. Common oil hardening steels are O-1, 0-6, S-7. 0-6 is the freest machining tool steel of all. S-7 is easy to machine as well, 0-1 is fairly easy. S-7 can be oil or air quenched.

www.mcmaster.com and mscdirect.com are our 2 main suppliers.

[rolland]

I don't know why I did not think of McMasters they had just what I wanted