Looking for some 1/2" tool steel bar

[picard4747]

Hi,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for somewhere in Sheffield or local area e.g. Rotherham, ( as long as it has a bus service ! ) where I can get some tool steel ( or @ a push, low carbon steel ) bar 2' 6"/2.5 ft long. And when I get it worked out more exactly, I'll be looking for TWO more of a similar length. -TIA

[Obelix]

Hi,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for somewhere in Sheffield or local area e.g. Rotherham, ( as long as it has a bus service ! ) where I can get some tool steel ( or @ a push, low carbon steel ) bar 2' 6"/2.5 ft long. And when I get it worked out more exactly, I'll be looking for TWO more of a similar length. -TIA

 

Lots of choices...

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+factors+sheffield&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=metal+suppliers+sheffield

 

Phoenix on Canal street is probably easy to get to.

[RJRB]

Yeah Phoenix Steels stock O1,D2/3,H13,EN30B etc

[picard4747]

Yeah Phoenix Steels stock O1,D2/3,H13,EN30B etc

 

As you know more about tool grades than I do, I'd like to take this opportunity to further pick your brains.

With mass produced tyre levers, I can't find any with all the feautures I want

for removing rear tyres ( 110 - 140 m.m. wide ) off a dirt motor bike. And

during my time away from bikes the tyres have grown from 4 ply to 6 ply thick so I'm struggling. This length is for a trial one & includes some spare length for doubling back to make a handle when the length is finalised.

So what grade(s) of steel would you recommend for that?- TIA

[cassity]

Hi,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for somewhere in Sheffield or local area e.g. Rotherham, ( as long as it has a bus service ! ) where I can get some tool steel ( or @ a push, low carbon steel ) bar 2' 6"/2.5 ft long. And when I get it worked out more exactly, I'll be looking for TWO more of a similar length. -TIA

 

 

Have you considered stainless?

[RJRB]

I am sure there will be a metallurgist on here who might comment but I would have thought that what you need is a blacksmiths.

For what you want to do I would have thought that a high carbon steel (1% Carbon) is adequate. This is a standard tool steel grade and is also called Silver Steel.( only because it's supplied in a bright shiny annealed condition.)

The annealed condition means that is relatively soft so that it can be formed 'machined etc.

However,after it has been made into the shape that you want it then needs heat treating to give the steel it's hardness.

This would mean heating it to approx 800/850 centigrade and then quenching in water.

At this stage it would be hard'but very brittle so then it needs annealing at around 200 centigrade.

Try googling silver steel.

As I said at the start a blacksmith would have the steel and the know how to produce to yor design.

Forget the other grades.These are specific tool and die steels used in cold and. Hot metal forming operations.

[RootsBooster]

Hi,

As the title suggests, I'm looking for somewhere in Sheffield or local area e.g. Rotherham, ( as long as it has a bus service ! ) where I can get some tool steel ( or @ a push, low carbon steel ) bar 2' 6"/2.5 ft long. And when I get it worked out more exactly, I'll be looking for TWO more of a similar length. -TIA

 

Would a ready made 2ft tyre lever do or does the finished lever need to be 2.5ft ?

[Kidorry]

Why not go to a blacksmith and he will knock you one up in no time.

[RootsBooster]

Would a ready made 2ft tyre lever do or does the finished lever need to be 2.5ft ?

 

The reason I ask this question is that you can buy a pair of 2ft tyre levers for about £10 !

[picard4747]

Rather than answer each one individually, & probably get into a lot of repetition &/or dilution, I'll make a more general one, which I hope makes things alittle more clear. - I'm a B.A.B. ( Born Again Biker ) trying to get back into bikes after a brutal & quite unnecessary divorce ( but then that's women for you ! ); sowhile I've been away, tyre technology has changed i.e. for road use radial tyres are now the way to go. And with dirt tyres, they've moved on from 4 ply to 6 ply.

So, whether road or dirt, they're both a LOT harder to change. - As in a LOT of guys have simply given up & pay a garage to do it. I object to that, for a

number of reasons - e.g. I do NOT like being deskilled; I can't afford to pay others to do something I used to be able to do ; I need to be self reliant, particularly in isolated areas I can get to on a dirt bike. ( And while I can use tyre sealants, they are only good for up to 1/8" holes ).

Yes, I can buy a cheap mass produced tyre lever. Trouble is all those I've looked @ haven't been fully thought out e.g.most firms only supply 2 levers, when actually using THREE is FAR better !) some aspects are quite good on one make, & on another other different lever other aspects are good, but no one make has ALL the aspects needed to make a good tyre lever. When it comes to fitting a tyre it's not too difficult to get the first 3/4 of a side on, but the last 1/4 is more than a bit of a bar-steward! While a lot of it is technique, ultimately it comes down to MORE leverage & some carefully applied brute force.

Putting that together, the ONLY solution I can see is to get some hand made levers made up. I know that's going to cost significantly more, but hopefully, in the long run they'll pay for themselves? While I know that as I get more practised I'll get better & hopefully need shorter levers ( which will be of benefit out in the field & have less weight to carry, but then longer levers will still be beneficial/easier to use in my garage ), but the point is I am @ the point I'm @ now, & I need to overcome this obstacle in order to progress ( such is life ). At this stage I want to make up only one lever as a trial one to find out the length I need, from direct experience of changing some tyres with a longer lever..

While I'm aware of the general concepts of hardening & annealing, it now seems to me there might be a problem because the steel is initially supplied in an annealed condition, in order to be machined, for if that then proves TOO soft to practice with, that raises the implication that I might have to get the trial lever hardened & annealed twice? ( First time so that it won't bend when I'm testing it. Second time , after cutting down to length, -To explain further, when I do work out the final length I want, I'm then going to need about 4+ inches heated & bent round, then partially flattened to make a handle that I can press against [ "normal"flat tyre levers use such a narrow section that,even with gloves it's FAR too painful on the heel of your hand to exert the kind of force needed ] ).

Blacksmiths don't come cheap, & there are many other things I could usefully spend my money on, rather than getting him to do part of the process twice.- So, am I better off looking @ using stainless steel or similar?