I make "D" bits out of HSS drill rod. I just grind them. Have tried just
with a grinding wheel, but found that a handheld one to be the most
efficient. I will use the wheel grinder for final shaping, though along
with the Zirconia belt on my 1" x 42" vertical belt sander. I have soften
HSS to drill a hole through it, though. I will then reheat it and quench it
in oil. Don't know what has happened to the steel, but it was for a
situation that didn't need full strength HSS.

Leif
"Joel" wrote in message
om...
I have been turning for less than a year now and other day (feeling
especially full of myself)I decided to try my hand at making some
simple turning tools. I found an old jointer blade and started to
work it into a 3/4" flat nose scraper. A hacksaw won't cut it, a file
can't scratch it and when I tried to make a starting dimple with a
punch, it didn't even mark it...probably can't drill it
either...obviously, this material is from an alien space ship and not
a jointer blade like I thought. Do you think I need to start with
high carbon steel until I grow some skills? Does anyone work HSS
routinely? A search on this site yielded an enormous amount of info on
tool making and a number of sites that have how-to's. I guesss I just
wanted to share my less-than-successful experiences.

Joel Crabbe
Temple, Texas