Which grade of steel to use?

[niner]

Guys, I have a couple of newbie question:

1) I want to replace the compound slide of my lathe with a solid block of steel, which grade of steel should I use? I have some AL 7075 stocks, but not sure if they are appropriate for the use.

2) I got a few BT30 holders. Unfortunately, the pull-bar is not long enough, so I have to make a adapter. What grade of steel rod would you use to machine it?

Thanks!

 

[gadget_lover]

There was a thread on another web site that said that (for this use) just about any steel would be OK, so pick one that is easy to machine. A leaded steel? 1020l ??? I can't seem to find alloy designations this morning.

The logic is that it does not need to hold an edge, it does not have to be extra hard. The stiffness (IIRC) is pretty much the same. You might want to case harden it to keep bearing surfaces from wearing.


Daniel

 

[niner]

Thanks for the reply. I may be able to get a piece of 4140 steel block.

 

[cmacclel]

Guys, I have a couple of newbie question:

1) I want to replace the compound slide of my lathe with a solid block of steel

WHY?

 

[niner]

WHY?

The compound slide is not as rigid as it should be. On top of that, I'm converting the lathe to CNC, so I don't really need that anymore.