I have a 36" piece of A2 tool steel. It came from a drop room so it's an odd size: roughly square and about 44/64". I've been looking for a way to use this and I was thinking it would make a nice spring fuller. To fit this purpose, I'd need to flatten part of the bar to give it the "springiness" I need. I will also need to bend the A2 to give it a hairpin shape. If the bending is doable, I may double a section of the bar first and drive it into my hardie hole.
If A2 will work for this application, what impact will heating have on the bar's hardness and temper? I'd appreciate any pointers.
ToolSteel

I wouldn't waste A2 on a spring fuller. It's more suitable for punches, chisels, and dies (lots of cold work applications). You can make a spring fuller out of just about any steel including A36.

Ciladog,
You're probably right. The more I read about A2, the more I see it requires far more knowledge than I currently have. What I may do it saw off a 4"-6" piece, weld it to a shank and drop it into the hardie hole of my anvil. If I don't screw up A2's hardness and temper, it may make a pretty aggressive bottom fuller. Thanks.

plenty of people would be happy to trade you other steel for A2; I don't think you would get as much bang for the buck as a fuller. May want to mark it clearly and save it for later.

I agree with the above save it for a time when you skillls have grown slightly and you can put it to better use or you will be kicking yourself later.

Do not use it for those applications, and welding it is harder than just sticking it together.

Forge temps need to be held in a close range to avoid cracking too. Save it for later, or sell/trade it for material that you can use. I use A2 to make gages at work, and have made jaws for corking machines in the past. It is good for blades, and other items that need to be hard. If you have a band saw , strip it down, and use stock removal methods to make knives.

I've made a guillotene butcher with A2. It is a tricky steel to handle. Fortunately I did not have to do anything other than cut a mitre with a hot saw and then make a C-frame to handle the drops. It seems to have very good heat resistance but the shock handling ability of the annealed end is pretty crappy. The end of the tool that is struck has spalled worse than just about anything else.

For whatever reason it does seem like it's fairly common at auctions/on-line, etc. I wouldn't kick it out of bed but I'd prefer S-7 or H-13 for the hot work.

Annealing an air hardening steel is tricky; what works for "normal" steel ends up hardening an air hardening steel!