Recommended place to buy HSS blanks

T

TexasPyro

Registered
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Messages
21
Being new to machining (lathe) I took the easy path to immediate "success" and bought some carbide insert tooling when I bought my lathe. As time wears on, so does my confidence. I'm wanting to mess around with grinding my own tooling out of HSS. Where would yall recommend to purchase them? I've got some in my McMaster cart but wonder if a $30 blank from there is really better than a $12 Accusize blank from Amazon, at least for a noob? I dont mind spending the money on quality, but am curious if the $30 route is really all that much better for messing around with different tool shapes. I dont intend on cutting anything very hard for now, mainly mild steel, aluminum, delrin, etc..
 
Wholesale Tool, KBC, Travers, MSC. Plenty of others. Depending on size, around $5 to $10 each. EBAY (and Amazon) are very expensive in comparison with free shipping, but you can just buy one. The other sources, you really need to make up a decent order of stuff to justify shipping. I add HSS blanks, drill bits and taps to each order to build up stock and spread the shipping out.

I have nothing against McMaster Carr. I find their prices somewhat high. BUT they have the stuff that nobody else has, so some of that is justified. Start making a list of McMaster stuff that you need and can't find else where. I do buy from them, but not real common items that I can source elsewhere.
 
Last edited:
cdcotools.com was where I got most of mine. Bought by the dozens years ago when purchasing other items. so haven't bought any for years now. Price was much better 8 years ago. lol:guilty:
 
Pricing definitely seems to be all over the place. I guess my real question is, is a $25 M2 1/2x1/2" blank from McMaster really worth that or is that considered way over priced. I see MSC has blanks all over the place price wise as well. I know the Chinesium stuff isnt generally as good, but is it that bad for a noob? I have no idea how honest their alloys are, to say, McMaster or MSC.

Chewy, I haven't heard of a couple of those places, I'll have to check them out! Thanks!
 
I don’t know the length of the blank you’ve looking at but I can buy a 4” long 1/2” blank locally for $9.
bda28b5528c712cf51a72e343cfef436.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The blanks from the places I mentioned will do you fine. As well as CDCO, LMS, AR Warner, etc Don't know about KMS tools. Have to look into that, but if David put it up, it is a reputable company. Point to think about. You will grind the heck out of the first blanks, learning how too do it. You are not working on exotic materials. You could take a piece of key stock and use it on brass and aluminum. M2 blanks from any "in business" USA or Canada company will more than meet your needs. I do have EBAY blanks that I bought several years ago and they work fine.
Save your money for quality measuring tools and save it on items that the don't make that big a difference,. The people on the forum will give you all sorts of places to check into. More then I know about!
 
KMS Tools is a local Canadian chain.
KBC has 1/2” blanks for $9 Canadian so likely about $6 US.

$25 for a HSS blank is completely bonkers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I agree David. Disclaimer! Didn't mean to imply that companies from other countries like UK, Austrailia, ETC aren't good. Just don't buy much from them, although that will be changing soon because I'm getting into steam engines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top