what is to best way to cut HSS blanks so you can save the maximum
amount of material and flexible shapes. and how do you drill into HSS?
i want to make knifes and also bowl gouges.
~B

~B
For small pieces of HSS I use a cut off wheel in a Dremel or other hand
grinder. For larger pieces I use a 1/8" cut off wheel in an angle grinder. A
friend of mine swears by a 1/16" cut off wheel in his spin saw. I have no
idea how to drill the stuff but you can grind a hole through it. That is
what they used to do in the aeronaughtics branch of the manufacturing
business my father-in-law worked at.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

darrell.
what kind of wheels are you using in your dremel (AlO or SiO etc) and
which in our angle grinder? do you know what your friend uses?
is there wat to cut using a special carbide bandsaw blade or drill
using HSS carbide bits and cutting oil?

"bizHB" wrote in message
ups.com...
what is to best way to cut HSS blanks so you can save the maximum
amount of material and flexible shapes. and how do you drill into HSS?
i want to make knifes and also bowl gouges.
~B
=====================

Charlile,
Use a Dremel or similar high speed grinder. They sell Dremel cut-off wheels
(in a tube of 50, I think). While there, get some of their diamond or
carbide burrs. That will allow you to "drill" thru HSS. It will be a chore,
but it can be done this way. The other alternative is to anneal the steel,
but even without hardning, most HSS is not very easy to cut/drill,
especially if it has much Cobalt or Titanium content.
Hope this helps.

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.

On 26 Dec 2005 08:01:19 -0800, "bizHB" wrote:

darrell.
what kind of wheels are you using in your dremel (AlO or SiO etc) and
which in our angle grinder? do you know what your friend uses?
is there wat to cut using a special carbide bandsaw blade or drill
using HSS carbide bits and cutting oil?

You should be able to use a TiN or Cobalt coated bit, with cutting oil
and a drill press to drill through that. A carborundum cutoff wheel
(the nylon reinforced will cut longer) should work nicely. You could
also use a hacksaw with a carbide particle blade. I used my bench
grinder to cut my 1/4" round stock in half.



--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply.


September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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I am using the standard Dremel cut-off wheels which I believe are AO. For
the angle grinder I use the standard ferrous metal cut off wheels. The
thinnest I have found are 1/8" thick. Does anyone know of 1/16" wheels (4
1/2"). My friend uses Zip saw 1/16" ferrous metal cut-off wheels. They do
not fit my angle grinder and I do not need to buy another tool.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com

ups.com...
what is to best way to cut HSS blanks so you can save the maximum
amount of material and flexible shapes. and how do you drill into HSS?
i want to make knifes and also bowl gouges.
~B
=====================

Charlile

All, I have some .025 thick metal cutting blades about 6" in diameter that I
put on my table saw arbor and use to cut HSS. This is about as thin as you
can go and still be able to cut.

To drill a hole in HSS, use carbide tipped concrete (or masonry) drill bits.
Sharpen the cutting edge on your grinder. You can grind carbide with a
standard AO (grey) grinding wheel, just not very fast. You want to make the
edge as sharp as you can while maintaining a 5 degree clearance angle. In
other words, the included angle on the carbide will be 85 degrees. Use a
drill press and cutting oil, high pressure and slow revolutions. If you get
the HSS too hot, you will not be able to drill it. Enough cutting oil
should keep it cool.

This also works for tools made from files. Files should be annealed by
heating red hot and allowing to cool slowly. Normally, an annealed file
will retain enough hardness that you do not have to re-temper it. Many of
my scraper bits are made from bits of files brazed to 1/4" sq. steel and not
re-tempered afterward. They work just fine, but require sharpening more
often than HSS. But at a cost of about $.05 each (for brass, acetylene,
oxygen) I can afford to sharpen a little more often.

Have fun.

James R. Johnson

bizHB wrote:
and how do you drill into HSS?
i want to make knifes and also bowl gouges.
~B


I've used carbide glass drilling bits, the spearpoint kind seen at most
hardware stores. They'll cut 2 or 3 holes in HSS before needing
sharpening but they're easy to sharpen.

Ken Grunke
http://www.token.crwoodturner.com/

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