c45

I use HSS tooling to modify setscrew and socket head cap screws all the time. Not to be a smart ass but as long as it's softer than the tool you should be able to make it work. I recently had to make some cone point set screws, I used HSS tool bits and held the setscrews in a 5C collet. Actually you get a nice finish quite easily.

Regards Paul

Thanks! I didn't have any concept on how hard the setscrew was in relation to HSS. If the hardness of the set screw wasn't listed, I would've just gotten and cut them without thinking about it.

Wayne D.

High speed steel, professionally hardened, typically runs from Rc 64 to Rc

1. The high end is the exotic powder-metallurgy steels.

The upper limit for workpiece hardness, for cutting with HSS tools, usually is taken to be Rc 40 - 45. So you're right at the margin. Above Rc 40, tool life goes to pot in a hurry. Above Rc 45, you're better off with something else, but you can get away with some limited cutting if tool life isn't an issue.

-- Ed Huntress

If they are too hard you could temper or anneal them. A soldering iron is about right.