Hello from Hudson Valley, what steel to use...

PGregory

PGregory

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Hi From the Mid Hudson Valley of NY State.
I have an entry level question about what steel to use for making tool holders for a tailstock turret.
I'm looking at this as a first project with steel.
The turret receiver is 3/4" straight.
There are many videos and other sources of info about the differences in available steel stock, but not at the level of saying "for your first projects stick to XYZ." Possible choices from what I've learned so far seem to be W1 and C1018.
Of course, the application is most important when choosing the steel - right material for the job.
I have to drill a bunch of aluminum standoffs in the lathe and want to set the turret up to simplify the process of drilling and tapping the standoff ends.

Cheers - Peter
 
I made mine from 1144 stressproof tgp (turned ground & polished). You can buy it that way and then not have to machine the outer diameter. It also machines nice. It's not hardenable though.
If you need hard there is o-1 and 4130 or 4140 that can also be purchased tgp. these also in my opinion machine better than w-1 or 1018.
 
The above advice is good, and good steels for the job, the C1018 less so, but you asked for the best steel for your first project, and for that I would recommend 12L14, which is very easy to machine and won't work harden on you. It is not weldable, which is probably not an issue with this project. It is also not able to be hardened, like the other steels listed above, except the C1018. Wear will be a long term issue if the parts are not hardened. In a hobby shop, that is far less of a problem. Use an easy to machine steel and you will enjoy the process a lot more as a newbie.
 
Thank you Bob and RGray - I am getting some 1144 and 12l14 to try out and I will post pics of the project as I go along. Nothing spellbinding, Im sure, but perils and outcomes will be new to me.
 
The other alloy steel that is easy to machine is 41L40.
 
1144 stressproof and 12L14 leaded are both good. The stressproof is a little harder to machine but harder steel. Both about the same price I think.
Mark S.
 
While those steels mentioned above might be the best choices, I think W-1 or O-1 drill rod would be perfectly adequate for the application.
BTW, Welcome to the forum!
 
Well, I think this project may be a good non-critical one to try a few more of these materials. I have 2 x6 turret tailstocks, one of which I am going to refurb and put up for sale, again. And, more holders will be needed over time. Thanks for all the info and I am glad to be here in the forums.
Here are seller's pics of the first and second tailstock I just picked up. The second was photo'ed assembled backwards by the seller, but it was more complete than the first one I got. Both are mechanically good.



s-l1600 (8).jpg s-l500 (1).jpg
 
Someone above said 1144 is not hardenable. That statement is not true/correct. It’s commonly called 1144 stressproof and is about Rc17 hardness. When heat treated the stressproof properties will be lost but you can achieve about Rc53 hardness. For reference, I have just heat treated ½” round 1144 and noticed a 0.002” increase in part diameter. So, be aware, this stuff can grow after heat treat.…Dave
 
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