"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

*******************************************
Joel,
The quickest way to cut any steel is with a cutting torch, but then you
either have to grind away a lot of metal or reharden the piece, or both. The
other way is with abrasives, such as a cutoff wheel in a right angle grinder
or die grinder. If you don't have either, but do have a Dremel and lot of
patience, you can get some diamond cut off discs (about 1 inch dia) at most
hardware stores and some Walmarts. These take some time to cut off a big
planer blade, but they are good for shaping smaller pieces, such as HSS
drill rod. I have cut and shaped some larger pieces (like the planer blade)
just using a bench grinder. Again, it takes patience. In addition to
shaping, you might want to check with the manufacturer of the planer blade
to see what the steel grade (M2, M4, etc.) and hardness they temper it to.
It could be that if it's at maximum hardness it may be brittle like a file.
If that's the case, you may want to temper it some by putting in an oven at
around 450 degrees for an hour or so. That will reduce the hardness some,
but make it tougher.
And be sure you have a good face mask if you use the die grinder. You'll
have the metal and grit to contend with, but if you happen to have the wheel
start to self destruct, you'll need good protection. Stay out of the "line
of fire"!

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX