my knowledge of steel needs improving

Hi, I am currently lining up a few projects for my Sherline lathe simply to learn basic skills. One project requires aisa 4130 steel which is I think is equivalent but not exactly to EN19. Any high carbon steel will do but my question is when I look up an international equivalent steel table for engineering steels I see nothing about 01 tool steel almost certainly as I don't know what i am looking for. Does 01 steel come under engineering steel and what code does it go under in the UK?Does silver steel have a unique code distinct from tool steel?

regards

Chris

I find this a most useful website... Does not cover everything but covers a lot!
Impact Engineering

Thanks mark just discovered looking under wrong standard o2 comes under sae/aisa and not British on the table I was looking at. But surely there is a BS standard equivalent. will look at your site ..cheers.

Chris

Yes and there on your link the equivalent standard was readily found Mark:

Not only does turning the steel easy to turn in a lathe, it also becomes the choice of the right turning tool for a particular steel with / without alloy and the hardness of steel when we think of cutting angle in the turning tool.
The choice of steel depends on whether the steel is tough, hardened or alloy depends on what you are going to use the steel for, for example, the chassis in the locomotive must be tough to be able to carry the weight or tools must be hardened to withstand wear. When choosing steel, follow the drawing which steel is recommended for it to last a long time in the machine or resist cracking, we choose one that is tough. There is also combined by both parts hard surface against wear and toughness in the steel against cracking as solidified steel is fragile to example in the crankshaft or cam shaft (rare used in own produced model engine due low load/wear).

There are many different codes depending on which supplier produces the closest / same quality steel. In the internet or in the catalog for steel there is listed in a table of various codes corresponding to the steel quality you are looking for.

Silver Steel is usually sold as Silver Steel, aka Drill Rod in the US, with no magic number needed.

O1 is an American specification for a Tool Steel, not an Engineering or Structural Steel. It's European Specification is 100MnCrW4, but it's often called O1 in the UK, for example as sold by Metal Supermarkets.

For historical reasons steel specifications are a confusing muddle. Nationally, internationally, commercially and over time. Following old plans can have you frantically searching for apparently exotic materials simply because the terminology has changed. Not many know what Muirkirk No 1 is, nor is it likely to matter much, because mild-steel is better!

Fortunately most of us only use a few common alloys and it gets easier once you know what 's needed in your workshop and stocked up, perhaps from a Horological specialist. However it's rarely necessary to use exactly the steel specified : for making a clock I'd think 4130, 4140, and En19 are so similar as to be indistinguishable.

Dave

Rollocks, I've just lost what I was typing. I'm not going to retype as SoD seems to have covered most of what I'd said. We can summarise as follows:

• Steel specifications are a mess and different systems have no exact equivalence
• For the purposes of making a clock it doesn't really matter if the exact steel isn't used, a rough equivalent wiil be fine
• Silver steel and gauge plate are sold in the UK as such and are roughly equivalent to W1 and O1

To be pedantic EN19 is not a high carbon steel; it's a medium carbon high tensile alloy steel. The principal alloying elements are manganese, chromium and molybdenum. The steel is also easily welded and the original 4130 specification is know as moly-chrome steel. In tube form it is widely used for welded tubular structures for aircarft and racing cars.

These people have useful datasheets on steel:

**LINK**

Andrew

Thanks Andrew the metal required is for a learning project (to make a centre punch) nothing to do with clocks at this point. You are absolutely right on EN19 being an alloy steel. I have posted in reply to a very old post asking for a supplier of 1/4 inch hex carbon steel for this project that I suspect the original poster was in possession of. The project listed 4130 as the required metal or any other high carbon metal, hence my classification error now noted, none. Regardless of all can't find suitable metal.

Regards

Chris

Great reply Dave

Chris

Christopher. See if you can get some EN8 either in round bar or hexagon. It will turn ok and then can be heat treated. Ideal for a centre punch. Jim.

Will investigate...thanks Jim.

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More material for you! :**LINK**