I experimented today with a section I cut from a front wheel drive shaft.
By golly it was tough stuff, my HSS bits just couldnt cut the mustard.
I ground some extra clearance on an old brazed carbide half inch tool then diamond honed the edge to as sharp as I could get it.
That did the trick, on auto feed it peeled the swarf off in tight curled strings a pretty blue colour.
The surface finish was very smooth like a mirror, this photo does not do it justice but I was hugely impressed with it.
So I flipped it and turned the other end down.
The brown colour is the very thick cutting fluid I used.
I had a feeling that only the outer surface was tough but the inner would be softer, but if that was the case going from 25mm down to 19mm dia made no discernible difference.
The big worry was the length of the strings but as they came off very smoothly I used a stick to guide them into the bed away from the chuck (although that doesnt show here)
This chunk is so nice and shiny to look at I want to use it for something.
Questions
Any idea what the base metal is?
Can it be hardened even further and used as a cutting tool.
If its annealed to red heat will it machine easier.