Wondering what your experiences with O1 toolsteel was. Bad machining, Ok or what? I mainly use brazed carbide bits do they hold up against this particular alloy. I made some parts out of tool steel many years ago but I dont remember the alloy and it machined like hell, a total nightmare with the part being so complex. I dont want to get into that again but had some items that O1 Drill rod was recommended for. Thanks in advance.
Rick

Yes O1 can be nasty to machine. It tears and does not give a good finish unless you baby it. On a CNC with the correct carbide grade you can go like crazy and get a beautiful finish; on a manual machine with brazed carbides you may need to stay down around 200fpm and use a cutting fluid like Tap Magic. If you are machining off a large amount for your final cut of a few thou switch to a brand new tool

ooohh that sucks. the pieces are toolholders and the starting OD will be 1 1/2 with the majority at 3/4 and it has to be 1 piece. May have to think this through again. Thanks Geof.

ooohh that sucks. the pieces are toolholders and the starting OD will be 1 1/2 with the majority at 3/4 and it has to be 1 piece. May have to think this through again. Thanks Geof.

You can do it, probably :). Chew the bulk of it off not worrying about the finish and then switch to a new tool and play with speed, depth of cut and feed to get a nice finish at the end. This kind of thing separates the men from the boys :D.

I may give it a try maybe I can find somebody that has a short piece of 1.5 that I could buy to play with instead of buying a 36 inch length. Little to heavy for a head knocker if I got 30 inches left over. Thanks again Geof

I have engraved and turned O-1 steel for years with good results. The machinability rating is very good for this steel, but the finish can be rough depending on how it's cut.

I use positive rake carbide inserts which leave a much better finish and require less power for the cut. Their disadvantage is you can't flip them over and use the back side when they get dull. Also, using a flood of cutting oil greatly improves the finish. With carbide, either use full flood or none; intermitent flooding creates thermal shock which destroys carbide inserts. Also, finishing up with one or two very fine passes improves the finishand reduces surface tearing.

If you want some O-1 and a few other grades to experiment with, I can send you some cutoffs in various diameters but most are only 1 to 2" long and 1 to 2" dia. No charge but the actual postage. If you want I,ll machine a sample of each grade to show what,s possible by using the methods above.

Having a few pieces to try would be great. I'll shoot you a PM with my address and you can PM back with how much you need for shipping and how you want the funds. Thanks Diecutter.

Got some stock to try today thanks to Diecutter. Played with it for a few this evening, O1 isnt as back as you think. New Brazed carbide bit, no coolant, probibly 300-400 rpm ( i dont have a tach ) hand fed (didnt want to change my changegears back) cutting 25 thou. at a pass cut good. Not 6061 mind you but not much worse than 1018 really. Chips were just dull no super glowing red chips or blue/purple skin killers flying off. Alot better than I expected. Made a few 5 thou. finish pass' then a 0 pass and surface finish looked pretty good. Hit the area with some 180 grit then 600 grit paper and it really shines up good. I think I will be good to go with the toolholders. Thanks everyone for there help.