Can anyone shed any light on the type of steel I should use to make a reamer.
I read Roy Dunlaps book & he describes the method of making a reamer using a lathe, mill etc.
I just need to know the type of steel.

Is it the same type of steel worldwide with regards to grades & naming etc.

Thanks in advance
Morton

M-2 hi speed steel
find a pro to heat treat it for you.

The home-made reamers are usually made from tool steel (W-#, O-#, or A-#) or sometimes from shock resistant steel (S-#), which you can get from Enco or Brownells. They are heat treated after shaping and fluting, and the heat treatment usually causes them to warp, or at least, that was my experience. Sometimes the reamer is shaped oversize, then heat treated, then the final dimensions are cut with a toolpost grinder on the lathe, to clean up the warping. However, it may warp more than you think.

A store bought reamer will be ground from M2 high speed steel or cobalt steel. I believe the reamer maker starts out with a round blank that is already hardened, and does all shaping and fluting in the hardened condition. He uses grinding tools instead of a lathe and mill.

The Modern Gunsmith by Howe gives details of making reamers [I have a copy for sale ]He mentions tool steel by trade name not type. Different countries have different specs for steels and it can be confusing to translate.For a one shot deal an A-2 [this is an AISI type] would be a good choice .It's air hardening so warping should not be a problem like it might with an O-1.

Contact Doble Troble. He has made several of his own reamers and has/had a nice little website put together that explained the process.

Morton3:

Most comercially mad reamers are made of M-42, M-7, or Carbide. Carbide is for comercial use only.
You might look at PT&G's, Manson's, JPG, or Clymers web sites.

Longshot