Rod Selection?

[coolidge]

Yes Bill availability is the problem. I live out in the boon docks and there is no small lot supplier unless I make a 50 mile trip. So I'm limited to TSC and Fastenal for metal at the moment. I'm sure once I start turning more material making a trip to a proper supplier will be worth while. But for now I'm restricted to whats available locally. For now I'll most likely be going with material that is 1/6 over size so I can get a nice finish.

You have a Metal Supermarkets in Hamilton, they sell small quantities by the inch with free cutting. I raided my local Metal Supermarkets rem pile yesterday and scored some nice stainless priced by the pound.

http://metalsupermarkets.com/hamilton/

 

[mikey]

Great thanks for the replies and I'm new at this. I have a Emco Maximat V10-P. My greatest concern is for a nice finished look.How is cold rolled steel for working with? I want to use it to get some practice in with as it's cheap to buy.

I would suggest 12L14 to practice on. Cheap and can be bought on ebay for okay prices. It cuts easily and will teach you a lot about how metal likes to be cut.

 

[NightWing]

Also, be sure to order a piece long enough to have something to grip onto for machining and cutting off the last piece.

 

[mksj]

Yes Bill availability is the problem. I live out in the boon docks and there is no small lot supplier unless I make a 50 mile trip.

I would checkout Enco when they have a 20% off sale and free shipping, I just ordered another assortment of their steel drill rods (usually oil hardened) in different sizes and also some aluminum. Tolerances and finish are very good (+/-0.001" with a concentrically of 0.005"), the drill rod machines well on my lathe. If you need closer tolerances or slightly over sized then move up to the next size rod (usually 1/64th up to 1"). With free shipping, their prices are hard to beat, and there is also web pricing on the more common sizes which is lower then the regular pricing. An example: 3/4" Oil Hardened Steel Drill rod 3 feet was $11.27 delivered from Enco; on eBay a similar 12L14 stock would be 3X more. I also have picked up 1018 cold rolled steel and 6061 aluminum from local supplies in larger sizes, shipping becomes prohibitive. There are many variations on metal stock, how they machine and what metallurgic properties you need. This is just an example.

Example of a turned tap holder for my mill machined from the drill rod stock.

.

 

[Wreck™Wreck]

I would suggest 12L14 to practice on. Cheap and can be bought on ebay for okay prices. It cuts easily and will teach you a lot about how metal likes to be cut.

Actually 12L14 will not teach you much about machining any steel other then 12L14 (or its lead free replacement 1215/1212), it is a free machining steel developed strictly for rapid/easy cutting. You can get a nice finish on these steels without trying very hard and the ease of cutting means there will be little deflection of the part or tool, they also will not chatter under reasonable conditions.

As a very important added bonus it is incapable of forming a stringy chip, lathe chips come off similar to 360 free machining brass, small discreet pieces.

Don't forget the possible lead poisoning (-:

Very difficult to weld and cannot be hardened, has low tensile strength and poor abrasion resistance.

As can be seen by its machinability rating it is roughly 2 1/2 times easier to machine then 1018 cold rolled.

I have turned and milled a good deal of it.

 

[mikey]

Actually 12L14 will not teach you much about machining any steel other then 12L14 (or its lead free replacement 1215/1212), it is a free machining steel developed strictly for rapid/easy cutting. You can get a nice finish on these steels without trying very hard and the ease of cutting means there will be little deflection of the part or tool, they also will not chatter under reasonable conditions.

As a very important added bonus it is incapable of forming a stringy chip, lathe chips come off similar to 360 free machining brass, small discreet pieces.

Don't forget the possible lead poisoning (-:

Very difficult to weld and cannot be hardened, has low tensile strength and poor abrasion resistance.

As can be seen by its machinability rating it is roughly 2 1/2 times easier to machine then 1018 cold rolled.

I have turned and milled a good deal of it.

Yup, all of this is true. However, I recommended it from the standpoint that nothing succeeds like success, especially for a new guy like the OP. Better to begin with 12L14 instead of buying 1018 from the hardware store and then wondering why his tool is cutting like a rutted road, only to find that this is how 1018 likes to cut. Better to learn to turn a thread easily with good thread form so he learns to screw cut before trying it on 4140 or 303. Better to bore a clean hole that he can learn to bring to dimension reliably while he learns about cutting forces.

Sure, 12L14 cuts easily and nicely, which makes it simple for the new guy to learn to do new stuff on his new lathe. In the beginning, easy is good so he can succeed. As he improves and gains skill he can carry what he learned forward and apply it to new materials, learning to adjust to them as he grows.

 

[royesses]

Online metals ships to Canada. If you sign up for the email notifications they send you a 20% off code on your first order and 10 to 20% off each month. They ship fast.

 

[markknx]

With larger material you will need to leave more do to % tolerances. I have seen 1" rods that would only net about .875 once turned. Try these guys check their prices against on line metal Some time better some times not. Make sure to consider shipping costs. Watch their fire sales I have got some pretty good deal out of there.
http://www.speedymetals.com/default.aspx?
Mark

 

[nuturner]

Simply how much larger should the material you select to turn be then the finished part. I'm talking about when you go out and buy a rod for a specific job.Lets say finished size 1/2 inch should it be 1/16" or 1/8" larger in diameter?

"How much larger ... " is a pretty broad question. Obviously, it needs to be larger than the finished job requires but for a 1/2 inch finished size anything over 1/2 inch would work. The objective, as I see it, is to start with material that is near the finished size and only slightly larger. As a rule thumb I try to start with a 1/16 inch margin. That allow me to true up the material and still have enough to obtain the finished dimensions I'm looking for. However, in a pinch, I admit to having started with 1 inch material to make a finished 1/2 inch size. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[Wheresmywrench?]

Makes sense to me nuturner, I guess its going to be a matter of trial and error for me. The better I get the finish the less I'll need to go over size on the material.