good blade steel?

[radeo]

i posted this in the wrong place earlier so here it is again. i have a source at an eaton mfg plant that says they just through out all of their old tooling. would this be a good steel for forging blades? my source doesnt know any particulars on the steel. im hoping that it w-2 tool steel.

thanks in advance

 

[A C Richards]

What kind of tooling?? Are you talking cutters? If you are then they will probably be HSS or M42 cobalt. Some may even be tungsten carbide. If you are talking fixtures, it could be just about anything. See if you can talk to the shop guys to find out what they were made of.

 

[A C Richards]

I see your source does not know, sorry missed that. you could have some tested or try a quench test to see if it will harden. If it is HSS, Cobalt or Carbide it will be tough to forge, or even anneal.

 

[wnease]

if you have a significant quantity of matching pieces (likely the same alloy, especially if same supplier etc), get it tested... $25 at metaltest in oregon 1 800 200 1376, ask for Blaine