Just to show what a minefield you are getting into, Benjamin

This paper lists [on page 2] the 'Composition of the main types of High Speed Steel' **LINK**

http://www.biancogianfranco.com/Agg%20Area%20UK/Materials%20and%20treatments/Materials%20used%20to%20manufacture%20hobs.pdf

Search, and ye shall find similarly exhaustive lists for other materials !

It is the duty [rarely fulfilled] of the designer/author to note any stringent requirements, and preferably to mention realistic alternatives.

MichaelG.

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Other opinions are available, and will probably be forthcoming.

There are lists in many of the 'Engineering Handbooks' but these things (the materials available, not the books) change quite frequently. One thing to bear in mind is the fact that many reduced scale models are over-engineered, not out of any grand plan, but let me offer an example:

To make a full size glider you will expect to use a lot of aluminium alloy, perhaps some fairly strong wood, some steel, some clever plastics and adhesives, and so on. Make a model of the same plane and balsa is all you need. And of course, the flights are much shorter, and the payload much less (if any) but isn't that just the same with your table-top traction engine?

In brief, then, there is nothing to worry about, generally, with not finding exactly the same, or the 'correct' material for a modelling job. It only matters, really, when some specific special property is required. Examples of this latter might include stainless steel (not for its strength but because it won't corrode) and spring steel ( because the elasticity is important). Or perhaps brass because the original was that colour and anything else would look wrong.

And if you have a query about a specific material which does not appear in current suppliers' lists, ask us. There may well be a good reason, and perhaps an even better alternative. Example – celluloid, now forbidden, and replaced by PVC, Nylon, Delrin, and other plastics, depending on what it has to do.

Regards, Tim

There's a section in Harold Hall's Metalworker's Data Book, page 153, where he lists various steels and makes some recommendations as to their use.

Also John Slater MEW146 page 47, R J Loader MEW 20 etc A Plain Mans Guide to Materials; Dave Fenner, MEW162 page 26

Happy reading,

Peter G. Shaw