[TheForge] h13 for chisels

[Dave Brown]

At 09:41 03/25/02 +1030, you wrote:
>Does anyone here use H13 for tooling, a local supplier reccomended it above
>s1 as a good hot work tool steel, Ive heard of it being used before but
>wondered what its like for slitting chisels etc.

It's about the best thing you can use for hot work.  Work it until it's 
starting to show color and simply put it aside.  No water or oil, it's an 
air hardening steel.  Once shaped and sharpened it'll last a long 
time.  The person who inherits your tools may be the one who redresses the 
chisel for the first time after you make it.

Got my first exposure to it from Jim Enloe, but he didn't know what the 
steel was.  Bob Schade was the guy who finally clued me into it's usefulness.

Dave Brown