Silver steel is not the only grade which can be hardened. You may find it worthwhile to phone one of the metal retailers who may know where to source a suitable hardenable grade in hexagon form. From past experience the guys at Mallard Metals and Noggin End Metals are both very approachable and can get stuff not normally stocked.

David

Hi Dave,

Don't think in terms of silver steel being the only hardenable steel, it is essentially just a high carbon steel that looks pretty. It looks pretty because it is ground to a precise (?) diameter and is therefore not available in hex. There are many other high carbon or alloy steels that can be hardened just as easily as silver steel in a home shop. You might not get the very best results at home, compared to professional heat treatment works, but for our purposes usually good enough. An easily available steel, in hex form, that you could ask for is EN8 but you might have to anneal it before you harden it depending on the version you buy.

chriStephens

Won't having the whole section as hex just be a nuisance at the other end in mounting it? A round section with the end milled hex for half an inch seems more convenient, unless you don't have the facility to mill it.

Hi Dave, What are you going to make ? I use EN8 or EN9 which has more carbon and is easier to harden and will harden to a higher rockwell number than EN8 but it is more difficult to machine.

Not sure if you can get Hex but it is quite likely — try M-Machine metals but you may well have to order it. You can of course use mild steel and case harden if appropiate.

Regards John

Ah you want to make parallel punches, I think we all thought you wanted to punch out hex shapes, at least I did

J

Edited By JasonB on 13/03/2013 13:55:07

You'll probably have to source high carbon steel and heat treat it. If its for a punch then only the tip needs to be hard, with the shank tempered to a deep blue so it with stands the shock of hammering. Back when god was a boy we used to make small chipping chisels from square carbon steel, then harden them, I'm still using some of them today.

Hi Dave, I would not case harden if you want long term use, better to use a through hardening steel and temper accordingly.

This way you will have tough tip and head and a relatively soft shank.

John

hi dave,

ive got a 3ft length of what you want (cant remember if its hex or octaganol). send me a PM and i'll send you what you need.

cheers,

julian

You can buy hex steel stock in many different sizes in North America in 1045 or 4140 steels. I'd be surprised if you can not get similar items in UK.

Stop following the project and use your engineering skill to redesign it to available materials.

When actually needing a bit of hex as per the beginning of this thread just find an old Allen key in a car boot sale.

The Classic eclipse centre punch has a square end so start with a piece of GFS or square tool steel and turn and knurl.

Mike