Hi Bob,
I use a bit of both and from my narrow experience W-1 seems more brittle
than O-1, It's almost as though it isn't as dense or as well molecularly
bonded. I know that sounds strange. I use W-1 for the cost factor and some
of the stuff like square drill rod that I use isn't available in O-1 unless
I use ground stock...again the cost factor for perishable tooling that gets
consumed anyway.
--
There are 10 kinds of people...Those that understand binary and those that
don't


"Robert Swinney" wrote in message
...
There is a big difference in being able to heat in the home shop. Tool
steel, i.e., O-1 and W-1, is heat treatable in the home shop. High speed
Steel, (Hss) which most commercial tools such as drill bit, taps, dies,
etc. is made from requires a multi-step procedure not ordinarily available
in the home shop. IMO, and from what I have read, "tool steel" is very
adaptable to the more casual heat treatment available in the home shop.
In
fact, in the book, "Tool Steel Simplified", from the 30's, recommends
using
W-1, then O-1 and only then HSS for the toughest jobs. From my limited
experience there seems to be very little difference in tools made from W-1
and O-1.

A footnote and kudos to Ed Huntress for turning me on to Tool Steel
Simplified!

Bob Swinney
"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
y.com...
They have different chemical contents and different properties. I use
different tool steels for different applications, sometimes chosen by
price
rather than perfectly matching applications. HSS is a bit pricey. What
do
you make with the O-1?
--
There are only 10 kinds of people...Those that understand binary and
those that don't.


"Damned if i know" wrote in message
news:PhI7c.126223$Up2.25042@pd7tw1no...
I use a fair bit of O-1 steel and depending on whos catalogue I read
it's
either tool steel or hss.