Nothing steel from B&Q metals stock.

EN3 will disappoint you unless the cutting tool is very sharp.

Old ball cock levers are good for 6mm / 1/4″ brass rod if it’s not been bent.

If you live near either Redditch or Coventry Rapid Metals keep cheap off cuts at the counter.

Don’t get too upright about materials in the early days. While the previous replies are perfectly valid, sometimes working your way through an unknown assortment of (primarily) steels is a very useful learning exercise for newcomers (and a lot cheaper these days). When I first started out I simply couldn’t afford to buy pucca materials, just odd bits found around and about.

It helps you to learn how to identify core issues and stop to THINK –  Is it my technique? Tool type? Speed/feed? Etc. However, when doing a ‘proper’ project, yes take advice and use the best, identified materials where you can.

Just my humble opinion based on many years experience.

Note: Howard beat me to it in some respects!

I recommend that you start with aluminium, a scrapyard may have some short offcuts about 20-40mm diameter. The cutting tool top edge should be set or shimmed to as close to centre height, easily judged by the height of a centre in the tailstock. A very small amount of lubricant such as WD40 or oil will be required for use with aluminium to prevent it sticking to the cutting edge.

There are several books on the subject which members will be able to recommend to help get you started.

I use Macc models for most of my materials.

I am reluctant to use scrap nowadays, the unknown grades can cause all sorts of problems. There’s nothing worse in my opinion than being excited for a new project or idea and then that bit of scrap you thought would be ideal is actually as hard as all hell and completely unusable.

As said, stick with EN1A. It really isn’t all that expensive. Especially rounds in the smaller sizes. Its a pleasure to machine and once you have learnt how it behaves you can just keep on ordering the same.

Plastic bar stock as Pete mentions is an excellent practice material, even a serious mistake will not damage the machinery. One of the nylon types or PVC would do.

Tell us more about the lathe you have bought.

On 13 October 2026 at 16:52 Mike Hurley Said:

Don’t get too upright about materials in the early days. While the previous replies are perfectly valid, sometimes working your way through an unknown assortment of (primarily) steels is a very useful learning exercise for newcomers (and a lot cheaper these days). When I first started out I simply couldn’t afford to buy pucca materials, just odd bits found around and about.

It helps you to learn how to identify core issues and stop to THINK –  Is it my technique? Tool type? Speed/feed? Etc. However, when doing a ‘proper’ project, yes take advice and use the best, identified materials where you can.

Just my humble opinion based on many years experience.

Note: Howard beat me to it in some respects!

Sorry mate but you’re plain wrong here.  This is terrible advice for a beginner.

The early days are precisely when you need to be uptight about material selection.

A beginner using random mystery metal will be bombarded with unanswerable questions.  Is it my speeds or feeds? Am I taking too big a DOC?  Is my DOC too shallow?  Is it the tool I’m using? Is it my workholding setup? Is there a problem with my lathe?

Because that beginner cannot know the properties of the material they’re cutting, there’s no answer to “What the hell is going wrong here?”

Free cutting low carbon steel (EN1A or EN1A Pb), free cutting brass (CZ121, IIRC), and free cutting aluminium (6082) are absolutely what any beginner should start with.

That way they’ll be giving themselves the best chance of learning without frustration.

I have found the following to be reliable, amongst others, Macc Models (who also have an Ebay shop), M-Machine, Noggin End Metals, Rapid metals and streamlinemetals on Ebay.

Round of course – that’s what lathes do. If you were taking about a milling machine then some square might be in order. Hex would just waste material as you turned it to round.

Though if taking the advice of some here to make simple tools square and hex would be useful. For a start square will let you learn how to set work to run true in a 4-jaw. Hex can make nuts and bolts so turning to a shoulder and threading can make something more useful than a round headed bolt.

This may make the old blokes fall over but these days metric size material is often cheaper than imperial. Also if you can commit to it quantity is often a lot cheaper. For example M-machine want £3 per 300mm but someone like Ringwood who I also use want £15 for 3m which is half the price but sometimes it’s better to get form M-machine if you want several different items as it’s one postage cost.

All good suggestions/info above.

All I can add is my experience when I started turning metal, some 35 years ago.

My first experience of a lathe was with a very old machine that actually worked, even though in a poor condition visually.  I turned down a pin for a friend in order to get over an urgent problem.

I later bought a new chinese lathe – rather than a second hand lathe – because I thought it would readily find my deficiencies rather than being due to the lathe.  How wrong I was!  I later purchased a cheap Raglan Mkll, which served me well (when I finally got round to installing it).

I eventually bought a good Raglan 5” which, I am sure, will see me out.

Practice metals were mainly aluminium round bar from a college with an engineering department and steel from the scrap bin of a small agricultural business.  I’ve never used free-cutting steel (containing Lead) because I often needed to weld bits together.  I am lucky enough to have a small kiln, so am able to anneal small steel or cast iron parts, if necessary.

I don’t actually make models as my hobbies involved repairs/restoration at a scale of twelve inches to the foot!

BTW, given suitable grades of Aluminium, the main cause of metal sticking to the cutter is excessive heat, often caused by a poorly sharpened cutter.  Sharp cutters and good cooling with paraffin based lube/cooling usually gets over that problem.🙂

A bit off topic but, if you are a complete beginner, may I suggest getting a book such as “Lathework, a complete course” by the late Tom Hall from the Workshop practice series?

Russell