O1 Toolsteel Round Turning??

[maxboostbusa]

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

[Geof]

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

[maxboostbusa]

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.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by maxboostbusa 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 .

[maxboostbusa]

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

[diecutter]

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.

[maxboostbusa]

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.

[maxboostbusa]

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.