Salem, I have a handful of different drawing dies, but the two sets I use the most were both made from 3/4" thick X 3" wide flat bar.
Set 1- I ground down to a nice even arc. They will draw out VERY fast.
Set 2- Same flat bar, but with a facet ground on front and back, leaving a small flat in the center peak (got this idea from my friend Mike Quesenberry)
The second set still draws fast, but with less chance of crazy pattern deformation in damascus billets.
Deforming the pattern drastically (when NOT intentional) is,
for me, a bigger concern with the drawing dies than things like shearing or cold shuts.
You can go down to very small diameter round for drawing in certain circumstances, AS LONG AS you're careful, as I'm sure YOU will be Salem.
I have one set made from 1" round. I rarely use them, but it's nice to have them when I need 'em. They can darn near pinch a bar in half.
About 95% of my press dies are mild steel. My ladder dies were initially made with some mild rounds, but I upgraded to A2. I didn't heat-treat it, just pre-heated the ends of each rod before tacking in place. The dies with A2 have seen about 4 times as many billets as the mild did, but are in much better shape than the mild was in. Another thanks to Mike Quesenberry for helping me with that!
