should i be looking for to make hot punches and chisels?   I have not got all of my equipment set up yet but want to start collecting material for when I do.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

High Carbon steel. If you're looking for junk yard steel old car springs will work. Join up with MABA and they have tuesday night hammer-ins in Romeo, MI. 

Thanks for the info.  I joined MABA a year ago and went to my first meeting this past saturday.  I am going to have to try arranging my work schedule so I can go to some of the hammer-ins.

Actually the high alloy tool steels like S7 or H13 really excel for use where the tool gets buried in hot metal and you want to retain high hot hardness.

 

However they are expensive and a bit trickier to work.

 

If you are just getting started then car coil spring is a reasonable material to work with being both cheap and fairly easy to work and heat treat.  You will also learn better technique using it as you can't "cheat" as much as you can with high alloy tooling...

5160 from coil springs and the like is always a good choice, and as long as you are using the tools for hot work only you wont need to harden them.

When your punching hit once and take the punch out each time so you can see how your hole is shaping up and allow the heat to wick back into your piece, It will also keep the punch from getting too hot and deforming.

I wanted to start making some hot punches/chisels but i dont have any 5160 and cant find any for sale at the usual online retailers.  What type of steel would be comparable that I might be able to find online?

Coil springs