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Wanted O1 drill rod 1.5" dia. approx. 2" piece in Calgary area.

P

Perry

Ultra Member
Looking for a short piece of O1 drill rod 1.5" dia. . Any short length will do, even less than 2". I'll be cutting 1/16" slices off to work with.

Failing that I would be happy with some O1 flat stock. 1/16" thick (but open to what you have) by 1.5" (again willing to work with larger stuff) Approx 6"inches or so. I would make a few 1.5X1.5 pieces.

What am I up to? I'm trying out an idea for some watch hands. Most of the supply places will sell me this in 36" pieces. A little to much material for a test run.


best regards, Perry
 

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Not cheap. Even more expensive when you add in the shipping.

I noticed the link you posted for the drill rod goes to 1-5/16 drill rod. The price flashes $71.00 really quick for me, but changes to $111.18 .

Not sure what is happening there. Is the $71.00 US?


Perry
 
Hmm.. I don't get that effect. It just shows the one price. I clicked on the KBC .ca website. I also entered the PM in separately & same effect.
I think in the rectangular stock KBC sources Starrett brand which may well be seeing import & currency effects. The link I provided (unfortunately USA again) has narrower widths of 1/16" so it must be available somewhere.
 

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Maybe try this guy. He did some heat treating for me & seemed like a good dude.
Not that much selection in 1/16" nominal because blades are thicker although maybe this might work.
https://www.knifemaker.ca/Stainless-Blade-Steel/AEB-L-Razor-Steel/
Otherwise if you are willing to finish a rough cut end cut, then skimming some material off a 1/8" thick section may not be too bad.

I have to ask - assume you are hardening because you are looking for high carbon steel? Watch hands seem like they would be a bugger distorting with the quench.
 
I think I figured it out. If I click on your link, the $71.00 price comes up for just a second. Watching the address bar I see the site change from the .com site to the .ca site in a blink and the price changes to $111.

Screenshot_2019-09-27 1-950-120,1 5 16 O-1 DRILLROD,PRECISION KIDD STEEL CO,090119SaleFlyerPro...png

I did stumble across the www.knifemaker.ca . I see he has some 1/16 in annealed 1095 or annealed 1075.

I'm looking for the higher carbon steel. From what I understand it will give a better blue when I finish the watch hands. I have made hands from 1095 before and the final bluing turned out very nice.

This test run was to see how much distortion I would get on the quench. Now I'm not 100% sure if I will need to harden the material. I have read that a hardened steel will take on a better polish. The higher the polish prior to the final bluing , the better the bluing results.

I could try this with the 1095 but from what I have read the O1 will be easier to machine. I will be milling very small lume slots in these hands.

Final_3_piece2.jpg

Perry
 
Hi Perry, not O1 but I have a piece of 4140 that is 1-5/8” OD by 1.835” long. Would that work for you?

77463232-ECA2-44FE-80F9-40F0C7701E65.jpeg

Let me know.

Cheers, Rudy
 
OK, now I get you. I think blue-ing is basically one way heating to a significantly lower temperature than what would be required for hardening. In the case of conventional hardening the tool steel is typically heated to dull red (say 1500F) way beyond where colors go through blue. Even that elevated temp isn't a real problem distortion wise. Its when it gets dunked in liquid quench medium (oil or water) that the rapid temp change across thin, long aspect ratio shaped parts that distortion could be a real problem. Your clock hand is a smaller scale but even more delicate variation of a sword blade.

Then, just to finish off the HT description, the part is 'tempered' which draws back the part's glass like hardness from quenching into whatever desired final number. The part goes through a range of colors & the heating is stopped at a certain color indicative of a corresponding hardness number. But as mentioned this all happens at a much lower temp range regardless of steel in hardened state or annealed state. I think the blues start to come out around 550F depending on the alloy. For tools we usually are a bit lower than that, the straw color or 450F-ish range. Things like springs & fasteners are blue-purple-black
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempe...Tempering_standards_used_in_blacksmithing.JPG
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51958

Maybe some inspiration.
http://www.my-time-machines.net/my_current_project3.htm

I'm sure you have seen the ClickSpring vids on YouTube where he torch blues. And of course there is also artificial blue-ing which gets the color without the heating leaving the door wide open for material selection.

Good luck & show us your journey.
 
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RobinHood, Thankyou for checking for me, I'll keep it in mind. I'm hoping on finding something with more carbon.

PeterT That artificial bluing does not hold a candle to the real thing. A true piece of blued steel has reflections that can not be duplicated.

I believe you gave me that ClickSpring reference a couple years ago when I first joined here. He is a true artist. Well worth watching his videos. :) Thankyou.

Great description on the hardening, tempering and bluing.
From my reading, I've read that you can obtain a higher polish on the metal if you harden, temper, and then polish. After polishing then of course you do a final bluing.
 
I’m curious as to the overall dimensions. How critical is the thickness? Are these hands 1.5” long? If so would a piece of the mainspring of a mantel clock work?
 
I have plenty of 4330 which is much tougher then 4140 (I have both so I can tell). Not sure whatever that will work.
 
Johnwa, The minute hand is approx 18mm long and the hour hand is around 16mm. Both hands are 0.30mm thick. If you look at the CAD picture in my earlier post you will see each hand has a short tube. I have made these hands from flat stock before and they work (No tube section). Not 100% correct style, but they work.

The plan this time was to use 1/16" (1.5875mm) stock. Drill a center hole. Mount it on a brass plate on my lathe and turn it down to the 0.30" thickness for the hand. Leaving the center tube section as required. The reason for the 1.5 inches? I figured a full disk would turn nicer on the lathe then a short section engaging the tool each revolution. The hour hand tube is the longest and measures approx 0.95 mm including the hand thickness.

Once I have the tube formed and the stock down to the 0.30" the rest has will be completed on a small CNC mill. In reality I probably could do this all on the mill, but I am working my way forward to another version of this hand if these turn out. It will require the hand to be flipped on the lathe after the tube is completed and a little more work completed on the top side (visible side) of the hand before the disk is moved to the mill.

The mainspring idea is a good idea. I believe mainspring is basically 1095 carbon steel. I used annealed 1095 on my first attempt from flat stock. PeterT's link to www.knifemaker.ca shows me I can get the 1/16" 1095 annealed. That might be my approach if I can't find the O1. The O1 is high carbon but is suppose to be easier to machine then the 1095. With the super small bits I'll take every advantage I can.

Tom Kitta, Thankyou. I'm going to hold out for a bit more to see what I can find.

Goodnight gentlemen, Perry :)
 
Just like that this shows up on Amazon...

O1 Tool Steel Sheet, Precision Ground, Annealed, 1/16" Thickness, 1 1/2" Width, 18" Length
CDN$ 19.71

I needed one other item so it got me over the free shipping threshold.

Should be enough to test out my plan.
 
So I just went back on and the price now shows $29 Tried to re-order from the order I had just placed and it shows current price $29. I guess it pays to keep an eye on the prices on the amazon site.

Glad I jumped on it and placed the order when I seen the first price.
 
Amazon has a price adjustment AI (like if statements but with fancy names) which increases or decreases prices based on demand. Demand can be number of views.
 
Be aware that free (transportation) shipping on his end may well still incur customs broker fees over & above that charged to you using UPS courier. Wouldn’t shock me if it was 35-40$ extra depending on the market value. If he can ship USPS you would incur max $5 if it hands over to Canada Post, otherwise zero if it lands at your doorstep.
 
Get a private company that clears UPS shipment. It is like 5x cheaper then UPS. For example I use Border Bee but there are many companies out there that do brokerage. USPS may be cheap with option set to global shipping on eBay. Brokerage is handled by Pitney Bowes & is relatively cheap (but not super cheap).
 
Yup I’m just mentioning in case he missed the fine print. I’ve had good luck with DYK for clearing & trucking to Calgary.
 
I bought from AMAZON.CA I think I'm ok.

I know what you mean about UPS. Sellers have lost sales to me due to the fact they use UPS. Fool me once.....lol.

A lot of the US suppliers had some good pricing, the shipping was more than the cost of the metal. :(
 
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