Can I buy 9.5mm mild steel rod?

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

Does any-one know if I can buy this? If so where?

I bought some silver steel 9.5mm without realising I cannot weld or mill it.

If not I may have to turn down some 10mm stock which will be a bit of a pain on my milling machine

[michael howarth 1Participant @michaelhowarth1]

Why can't you mill it?

Mick

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

If you look for 3/8" stock that is 9.53mm and will actually come a fraction under that so should suit your needs.

 

If you need it an exact size I would suggest getting 3/8" precision ground mild steel and making your holes with a 3/8" H7 reamer

 

Silver steel can be milled without issue, just a little bit harder than mild steel

 

What are you making, is it to fit an existing part which may well be imperial size eg 3/8" or are you working to an imperial drawing that has been converted to metric with only one decimal place used?

Edited By JasonB on 11/11/2017 13:28:50

[egaParticipant @ega]

Annealing the silver steel should make it easier to machine.

[larry PhelanParticipant @larryphelan54019]

Should not be too difficult to find 3/8 steel,silver or otherwise. I,m sure I,ve seen silver steel from some of the usual suppliers in both systems and 3/8 mild steel can be bought off the shelf,and it,s near enough to 9.5mm.

I have machined silver steel on my mill,just a bit harder than mild.

[Nick HulmeParticipant @nickhulme30114]

Posted by mick H on 11/11/2017 13:24:11:

Why can't you mill it?

Mick

Generally speaking

01 Round – Silver Steel, 01 Flat Gauge Plate

It's all 01 Tool Steel and why the shape changes the name is historical.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

You are very unlikely to find 9.5mm steel, as it isn't even on the list of 3rd preference metric sizes.

This took a lot of googling to find. It's dead easy to find charts for resistor sizes, pipe sizes etc., but this appears to be the one for metal bar. You can move the decimal point left or right for larger or smaller sizes:

Note the metric sizes are NOT rounded up from standard preferred values!

Neil

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

OK so it may be possible to mill but a google search still says it can't be MIG welded only TIG which I don't have.

The 3/8 at 9.53 should be OK the 9.3 is a snug fit but if I have to I could turn down the 3/8 a little.

This is to make a heater chisel with the rod fitting into a 100w soldering iron, the welding is necessary to get heat transfer to a bit of mild steel plate which I'll mill a chamfer onto.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Nick Hulme on 11/11/2017 22:00:31:

Posted by mick H on 11/11/2017 13:24:11:

Why can't you mill it?

Mick

Generally speaking

01 Round – Silver Steel, 01 Flat Gauge Plate

It's all 01 Tool Steel and why the shape changes the name is historical.

Silver steel is closer to American W1 (water/brine quench)

Gauge plate is oil quench, like O1.

Neil

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You could silver solder your silver steel to the flat plate.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

If the 9.5 is a hole in the 100W soldering iron it is probably 3/8 anyway. Is the welded joint taking a lot of stress? The problem with welding is not that is doesn't melt but that the high carbon leaves it in a potentially brittle state when the weld suddenly cools, which can cause cracking too. If you preheat the pieces you can reduce the cracking during the weld and then heat the finished item to red hot, hold for a minute, then cool slowly.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

I'd use 3/8" MS rod, if you haven't got a lathe, stick it in the chuck of your electric drill if you find that it needs a few thou off it. Drill in a stand, and a file with a handle, or some emery cloth. Would it not be better for hear transfer to make the rod from copper, silver soldered onto the MS plate. You could file the chamfer on the plate quicker than it would take to set up the mill.

Ian S C

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

1st off I didn't know about silver soldering – thought it would be the same as electrical or plumbing soldering with a melting point 200deg not 4-600degrees which would in fact be fine for a soldering iron.

But now I'm thinking I'm using the wrong material I looked up thermal conductivities –

Rank	Metal	Thermal Conductivity [BTU/(hr·ft⋅°F)]
1	Copper	223
2	Aluminium	118
3	Brass	64
4	Steel	17
5	Bronze	15

I didn't realise steel was so bad! I've actually broke one soldering iron already by overheating with a steel rod but it was a bit shorter and smaller diameter so I thought it was the size now I think its very much the material!

So I'm thinking steel is a bad choice (though the chisel tip would stay sharp for longer) so perhaps I try all aluminium or copper shaft with aluminium chisel point (I'm sure copper will be too soft for the chisel point) . Probably for ease of use I'll try all aluminium and I have some aluminium brazing rods already so I'll order yet another metal bar, at least the other stock will come in handy at some point I'm sure.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

If this is for a soldering iron then Aluminium isn't a good idea because it can't be tinned. Also the amount of heat stored in Aluminium will be low because it's a light metal.

Old fashioned soldering irons, warmed on a gas ring or similar, use a heavy copper bit on a steel or iron shank.

The bits used on Electric irons for electrical and electronic work are made of copper-plated iron. They are thermally sized to maintain the right temperature with a fixed heating element. Too small or poor conductivity will over heat the element. Too big and the bit won't get hot enough to melt solder. As it's a balancing act the bit that came with the iron would be a good guide to the dimensions and materials of a home-made replacement.

A thermostatically controlled electric iron would be more tolerant of a home-made bit.

Dave

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

If you are making a bit for a soldering iron then copper has to be the best choice, over time it will be attacked by the solder but can be re dressed with a file, commercial bits are iron coated to combat the erosion problem but I don't think this is a home process. The iron coating only prolongs the bit life, it too will finally fail.

Mike

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Mike is correct. Weller bits for example are copper with an iron coat which resists erosion by the solder better. Molten solder slowly dissolves copper. I find that once a weller bit wears through the iron the copper very quickly gets eaten away.

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

My experience with Weller bits is the same as Johns, when I did bench repair work my iron was on all day and once the coating failed the erosion was rapid. Copper bits that are only heated on demand do not suffer such rapid erosion as continuously heated bits. I suppose the rate is the same but as the heated time is so much shorter the erosion is not so obvious, my tin-mans gas heated irons last years but they spend most of their life in a drawer.

Mike

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

The sharp appearance of a new soldering iron is not an indication that the tool is used to cut anything. The object is to transfer heat to the work directly, rather than from a flame which spreads and corrodes, and the shape allows the bit to get into narrow spaces. The tinning of the 'iron' bit coats it with molten solder and in use this liquid metal improves the transfer of heat to the work.

And in reality, it not that steel is a bad conductor, it is about average for metal. But copper is particularly good and solder will wet it – no contest. Many materials are very bad conductors of heat; they can be called insulators, but this term prompts confusion with electric effects (which are similar but not the same).

Hope this helps

Cheers, Tim

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 14/11/2017 12:13:48:

…

The bits used on Electric irons for electrical and electronic work are made of copper-plated iron.

…

Doh! A copper-bottomed mistake. Meant to type "The bits used on Electric irons for electrical and electronic work are made of iron-plated copper."

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

The idea is that I can cut/shape rubber blocks with a heated chisel shape so no soldering involved!

I'll try the aluminium and see how that does, using copper would be much more difficult for me.

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

Oh! It would have been better, in my view, if we had been told this at the beginning. We could then have advised about the tread-grooving devices used on commercial truck tyres.

Regards, Tim

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

Posted by Men Ifr on 14/11/2017 17:15:45:

The idea is that I can cut/shape rubber blocks with a heated chisel shape so no soldering involved!

I'll try the aluminium and see how that does, using copper would be much more difficult for me.

Ahh

Mike

[Men IfrParticipant @menifr84251]

Sorry – thought I had explained it earlier.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Men Ifr on 12/11/2017 18:45:12:

This is to make a heater chisel with the rod fitting into a 100w soldering iron

.

Looks like it to me

One tiny typo and your message was presumably missed

[heater / heated]

MichaelG

[Author]

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