salvi Report post Posted March 22, 2011 I have just bought a set of Barry King's stamping tools for sheridan Style small/medium work then surfing the web I have seen that other tool makers use different types of Steel. I think Mr. King uses Stainless Steel, Tandy uses plain carbon steel and other like Hackbarth or Robert Beard use 1080 Steel. It is suposed that different steels makes different quality so can someone explain what are the differences between Steels as well as wich one steel is the the hardest, the bets and the most durable for stamping tools? Thank you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve hansl Report post Posted March 22, 2011 Any of the higher carbon steels will work ,they just have to be hardened and tempered to meet the needs of the job.Carbon steel tools will rust quite easily without a little care(keep lightly oiled).I use coil springs of all sizes to make all manner of tools and punches.I have engraved a few to stamp my metal work,haven't made any leather specific ones yet,but I am going to stamp my letter "H" on a sheath I'm making to see how it works.Coil spring is usually 1095 so it is a good steel to use and it is tough. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Report post Posted March 22, 2011 I know my metallurgy may be a little rusty (pun intended), but spring steel is usually 5160 or a reasonably reproduced version of it. I think Bob Beard uses O-1, at least the last time I talked to him. Gomph-Hackbarth is using 1018 I believe, at least on the set of 15. God only knows what metal Tandy uses. Whatever steel you use, the heat treat is as important as the steel used. For stamping leather, any heat treat resulting in a RC-55 or better should be great, but lower isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is leather you're stamping. A good rust blueing as Bob Beard uses will help to preserve the finish although the occasional use of the oil rag won't hurt either. Art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve hansl Report post Posted March 23, 2011 Hey Art,5160 is usually leaf spring.The coil spring has a higher carbon content and a couple of other ingredients to help with retaining the shape.5160 is good blade material. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGGUNDOCTOR Report post Posted March 23, 2011 (edited) www.iforgeiron.com has a thread on junkyard steels. A lot of the modern springs in cars are now 5160. We have been having a hell of a time finding 1095 round stock for a project at work. We can get flats all day long, but rounds in sizes .1875 on up are not that common it turns out. My whole thought on this is that you are stamping a steel tool with a rawhide , or poly mallet into wet leather. How hard does it need to be? Brass would work. As well as anything else that is harder than wet leather. O-1 is a high carbon oil quenched tool steel. Inexpensive, and readily found. 10xx steels are plain carbon steels. The first 2 digits tell you the major alloying element, and the last 2 digits tell you the carbon content in points of carbon IE; 1018 has 18 points of carbon. You need to get up around 25 before you can get any hardness from heat treating. 1095 has 95 points and will get brittle hard if fully hardened. Tempering can adjust that hardness to the usage. 1095 is a high carbon spring steel, it can also be used to make files. The only difference is the tempering done after heat treating. Again, metal stamp vs wet leather. I have seen old tools made from common nails that are still usable decades later. Plastics like Delrin will work, brass, aluminum, copper, even a dense hard wood would make a stamp for leather. If you want to make one, use what you have available, and that you can work with the tools available to you. I wouldn't get all hung up on tool steels, heat treating, etc. Just make it, and use it. In the years that I have been doing leatheworking the only stamps that I have seen ruined in use were ones that had been hit on the wrong end, or someone tried stamping things that shouldn't have been stamped. If you are interested in Stainless, brass, copper, rods I have a steady supply from where i work. I buy the bar ends off of the screw machines, and resell them to hobbyists, and artists. We run from .0625" - 1.000" diameters, although not all alloys we run are in that range. Copper goes to .875" Stainless tops out around .5625", and brass is usually up to .4375", but it all depends on what the jobs require. We do some aluminum, and 1018/4142 but not much. Edited March 23, 2011 by BIGGUNDOCTOR Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WyomingSlick Report post Posted March 23, 2011 Bravo! I couldn't agree more. Properly cased leather will take an impression from most anything, including your finger nails. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Report post Posted March 23, 2011 If you pull a set of coils out of a 80's era Cadillac, they are 5160, they never have been 1095, that is way too much carbon for a spring steel without some other compensating products. If they were 1095, there would be a line around junkyards to get 1095 rounds. Art Hey Art,5160 is usually leaf spring.The coil spring has a higher carbon content and a couple of other ingredients to help with retaining the shape.5160 is good blade material. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGGUNDOCTOR Report post Posted March 24, 2011 Actually 1095 is listed as a common spring steel with most of the companies that I have checked with. We get 1095 spring tempered strips at work for some of our in house applications. The newer alloys like 5160 offer better fatigue resistance = less cracking from what I understand. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
