Hello Forum,

I purchased a length of 'free cutting mild steel' a while ago. I turned various parts using it and was very impressed by the quality of the surface finish. Every other length of 'free cutting mild steel' I have used since has been poor in comparison. I took a sample back to the supplier and they had no knowledge of what it was they sold me. They claimed that all their stock was the same material, but my results showed that this was not the case.

I did some googling on various forums to try and understand what kind of finish to expect from different grades of steel and decided that what I must have was EN1A. I ordered a length and tried some test cuts with the same insert/feed rate/cutting speed/cutting fluid and the results were no where near as good so decided it was not EN1A.

Short of sending a sample to a professional laboratory to perform a proper analysis, I'm stuck for ideas to enable me identify it and get some more of the same. It really is so much better than any mild steel that I have used since and it stands in my stock rack reserved like a fine wine for extremely important jobs. Every time I cut a piece off, I realise that one day it will all be gone. I really like this stuff and I want to buy some more.

Does anyone have any recommendations? It looks like stainless and has no surface rust at all, although it is not as hard. It turns beautifully, from reasonably large cuts, to very light cuts.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Neil.