[TheForge] 1045 Steel (?)

[Peter Hirst]

I am having a terrible time locating a supply of 1045 steel (or equivalent) in eastern Massachusetts.  Doesn't seem like it should be that tough an order, but my two old reliable sources were no help.  The sales people didn't even know what I was talking about, much less where to refer me.  1018 cold drawn was the nearest they could come up with, and that aint gonna cut it.  I am making  garden tools (I have done the prototypes in 1018), like the ones that were made near here by Snow & Neally until a couple of years ago.  They are easy designs, and just require material a little tougher than mild steel, and after a little research I have determined that 1045 is just about the stuff I want.  I can buy a shipload of it from Earle M Jorgensen, but so far I havent found anyplace I can get a hundred feet or so (of 3/8 round).  AM I asking for the wrong stuff?  SHould I be looking at something else?  ANy Ideas?  Thanks.