What kind of steel do I need?

[Wreck™Wreck]

Thanks guys, that will get me started. The ALRO store is just a few miles from me in Columbus, and I drive past one on the way to my son's place in Ann Arbor!

I like the idea of a hex rod, too

Thanks,

-06

I am always wary of cold finished hex stock, much stress is created during the cold rolling process.
Turning it removes material from all sides so it probably would not be an issue.

 

[ki4byz]

Years ago I was told by an old gun smith friend his dad was also a gun smith, to use O-1 for most internal gun parts and screws.pretty tough as is or you can HT as needed

 

[lnr729]

A grade 8 bolt machines quite well with a good sharp HSS tool with a good finish and has the advantage of being correctly heat treated. Grade 5 bolts are not as nice to machine. Old rusty bolts are free, new ones cost. Metric bolts with 10.9 markings are grade 8 equivalent and not to be overlooked.

Grade 8 bolts are made from pre-heat treated stock and then cold formed so the threads and heads are work hardened and quite a bit harder, best to cut them off if possible.

Grade 8 bolts have a tensile of 120.000 psi so are lots strong.

 

[chuckorlando]

Arlo also sells their drops for big discounts. And thats a huge distributor so there aint much they cant handle.