Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: New guy with questions

Speaking of air hardening steels...if you use 440C stainless, wrap it in a
sheet of stainless foil and seal the edges, place it in an electric furnace
for heating and let it slow cool outside the furnace when done, after you
remove the foil, there won't be any scale at all. However, you will have to
polish it to remove the slight discoloration. You will need to temper it in
the oven at about 400 degrees for an hour and then re-polish.

Smoke


On the shop made cutting tool subject, I would definitely recommend the air
hardening tool steel. It cuts nicely and has the least distortion of the
hardenable tool steels. Another benefit is that there is very little scale
to clean up after hardening, unlike oil or water quenched tool steels. I
just recently made some guide blocks for my vertical bandsaw and was able to
install them immediately after air cooling. That's convenient!

Thanks,