Tool holder ideas

[Black Frog]

I'm now up to 8 tool blanks as pictured above. Probably have enough 1.5" stock left to do 4 or 5 more.
With a total of 12 tool blanks, I think that'll be plenty to start with.

Now the question is welding the S7 to my tool blanks. I was thinking preheating to add to weld penetration depth.
Good idea? I only have a 110v in my garage for my welder, so I'm sure I would be outside the desired metal thicknesses for it.

Also wondering about forming the S7 into my desired tooling. Grinding or forging?

[MOblacksmith0530]

I like the grub screw idea. I will start doing that on all my punches. hack most are round so I will just chuck in in the lathe and turn a groove.
As to the s7. I forge it close and grind it to finished size. WARNING s7 will crack if not annealed after forging. Forge it to shape and reheat and put in wood ash or vermiculite overnight. grind it to shape and weld it an re anneal it.
Once you get it annealed use a torch to heat the working end up to critical and let air cool. I only use s7 for tools that are going to take a lot of abuse on hot metal and will be in hot metal long enough to ruin the heat treat on regular steel. I use sucker rod for a lot of tools and heat threat as medium carbon steels and they hold up well.
I have welded some ball bearings onto some tool holders for decorative effect, and have used them as welded on cold mild steel with no detrimental effects.